Recap on the October 2023 Department Wide Speaker Event

The CS department had the lucky opportunity to host several speakers from the military last Thursday, for the biggest speaker event of the semester so far! Hosted in the student center, students got the opportunity to talk with a brilliant software engineer at Lockheed Martin, and the bright minds over at the Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC).

Lieutenant Carl Hausman III is a systems engineer at Lockheed Martin, also serving as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army National Guard. Lieutenant Hausman began his part of the seminar by detailing that he wasn’t all that great in college; he didn’t have the best grades, nor did have that passion in CS, choosing the major based on how high paying it was. He didn’t do any internships either. Lieutenant Hausmen stressed that the way he got into the job market was through his service in the army, with the background further assisting in his application for graduate school. Lieutenant Hausman stressed how colleges are actively looking for military students. His time in the military helped him prepare for his job at Lockheed, where he had more responsibility than a typical entry level job. Speaking directly to students, Lieutenant Hausman gave crucial advice for the workforce; you will work for stupid people, you will be asked to do stupid things– but you are getting paid for all of it. 

NIWC is a government association that researches and develops new technologies in warfare. Based in San Diego with Philadelphia offices, the four speakers from there that night were James Thomas, Information Systems Security Engineer, Conner Fech, Software Developer, Rebecca Crites, User Experience Designer, and Gregory Mirenda, Information Technology specialist. The group gave both a general overview of their roles at NIWC, and NWIC as a whole. 

James Thomas went first; he spoke of having a hard time finding jobs after college, and managed to get lucky at NIWC. He works also as an IT specialist, which further involves working a lot with prospective employees and student coders, giving speeches at events and running internship programs. He talked about all the opportunities the job gives you, such as flying out all over the country during the work week. 

Connor Fech is another Rowan alumni who graduated from Rohrer College of Business. He designs full stack web applications. Similarly to Thomas, he also works with interns, and operates as the deputy for his branch. He didn’t come into the career with a CS background, and came into NIWC purely through networking. He was then able to learn different coding languages from the ground up in a rapidly short amount of time. Now, he leads several different projects, and a sizable group of people– something he contributes to his soft communication skills. 

Rebecca Crites graduated from Temple University in 2020 with Software Development and Psychology degrees. She started as a Software Developer but moved into her current role a few months in. Crites creates designs that solve and simplify problems. As a UX designer, Crites focuses on research, where she interviews website users for accessibility, usability, and visual design. She also helps plan events for other employees to boost morale and encourage communication within the company. 

Greggory Mienda is currently the Program Manager and Technical Lead for the Command, Control, Communications, Computers (C4) Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) contract to the United States Coast Guard’s Sea Commander and Athena weapons systems on board the National Security Cutter class, in Moorestown, NJ. He spoke about his long journey to his current position; battling moving across the country, serving in the military, developing brain cancer, and going to college for cyber on a dare. Working in the military allowed him to move up and work in cyber. 

NWIC deals with hardware, software, research development, and engineering. They run support for integrated C4ISR, cyber, and space systems across all warfighting systems. They work with navy and airforce offices across the fifty states, the six territories, and all over the world via their own web applications. 

NIWC is currently offering internships to undergraduate and graduate students. The internship gives perspective on how real world software development operates, without being too intense for students, but still offering a decent challenge. The internship could also be a path for students to apply and work for NIWC full time. It also aims to help teach students soft skills, such as collaborating with team members. 

Students were overall very pleased with the speaker event, and especially enjoyed the intense focus the event had on internships, especially since students had the opportunity to talk with the speakers after the main event. The speakers were also very pleased with the turnout, appreciating the opportunity to give back to the student community.

The CS department is very grateful for our speakers taking the time out of their busy schedules to come visit us, and would also like to extend its thanks to the students who attended. If students want more information about an internship with NIWC, click here.

Written by Kiley Parker | Posted 10.27.23