GROWING GREATNESS


AFTER-ACTION INSPECTION


Propulsion and Structures Directorate junior engineers Matt Smith, left, Nathan Mathis, Lance Hall and Amy Gerards inspect a successfully fired Kinetic Energy Active Protection System rocket motor after disassembly. (U.S. Army photo by Merv Brokke, AMRDEC Public Affairs)


consequence, WDI developed a program to mentor and develop young engineers and scientists and to grow future experts and mentors.


Te program began by answering one basic question: How does a newly grad- uated person gain the knowledge and experience necessary to lead complex design and development programs and evolve into one of the nation’s top defense scientists or engineers?


Te answer, in part, is to foster an


atmosphere in which the workforce, young or not so young, can take smart risks,


learn and succeed without fear


of retribution or the untimely end of a career. Another part of the answer is to put young engineers—with appropriate


38 Army AL&T Magazine


backup and mentoring—into a situation that takes them out of their comfort zones and makes them stretch their limits.


Mathis and many other young engineers exemplify the kind of engagement with mentors that makes both them and the program succeed.


Mathis was development of tasked to lead the the propulsion system


for an active protection system program designed to protect lightly armored vehicles from attack. His team consisted of both young engineers and senior propulsion experts.


“It was very encouraging to have literally hundreds of years of propulsion


July–September 2013


engineering expertise to support us and our work,” Mathis added.


“I’ve learned a lot in the four-plus years since graduation. A formal college education in propulsion could never have equaled the hands-on experience Army has provided,” he said.


the


FROM SUMMER HIRE TO FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE Patrick Taylor worked as a summer hire in the propulsion division at WDI while completing his doctoral work in electri- cal engineering at Vanderbilt University. Later, the newly minted Dr. Taylor joined the team full time.


One of the first things Taylor did was develop a lab where he could conduct


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