COMMAND/ORGANIZATION: Program Executive Office for Soldier, Project Manager for Soldier Survivability, Product Manager for Soldier Protective Equipment
TITLE: Senior product engineer
YEARS OF SERVICE IN WORKFORCE: 2
DAWIA CERTIFICATIONS: Foundational in engineering and technical management
EDUCATION: B.S. in biomedical engineering, Lawrence Technological University

BRITTANY WIELAND

by Susan L. Follett

As a senior product engineer for the Product Manager for Soldier Protective Equipment (PdM SPIE), Brittany Wieland is accustomed to the odd looks she gets when she explains her work. And that’s before she mentions the cadavers.

“From the get-go, people are shocked when I tell them what I do. I’ve even been asked a couple times if by ‘body armor’ I mean the sports drink,” she said. “It’s no secret that engineering is a male-dominated field. When you add ‘body armor’ in front of it and consider the makeup of the military and defense industry, it’s unlikely anyone would picture someone who looks like me, a 5’5” female.”

Wieland is a relative newcomer to the Army Acquisition Workforce, getting her start as an intern with the DOD College Acquisition Internship Program (DCAIP). Her dad is an Army civilian and her mom is a contractor for the U.S. Navy, and her dad’s work with Col. Gregory D. Gadson (USA, Ret.) played an important role in her career path.

Gadson lost both legs in an IED attack in Iraq in 2007, but remained on active duty. He was named garrison commander of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, in 2012 and retired from active duty in 2014. “It was really inspiring to see everything that he accomplished, and that motivated me to work with wounded warriors,” she explained. “I was pursuing opportunities to work with prosthetics, given my biomedical engineering background, and when I got the opportunity to work on body armor through the DCAIP, I took it. In a way, it’s like I’m working the opposite end of the equation: I get to prevent injuries and save lives.”

Her work as an intern led to a position with the Army Fellows Program. “I honestly didn’t know what to expect,” Wieland said. “But once I landed at PdM SPE, we hit the ground running. I quickly started filling everyday engineering roles and found myself doing work that was similar to the other engineers I worked with. I’m lucky that I landed on a team that used my full potential and supported travel and other opportunities that didn’t fit into the conventional scope of the program.”

She cited a handful of take-aways from the course. “Take initiative, and screw the status quo. I would have never known the full realm of opportunities to see and participate in exciting and educational events if I didn’t seek some of them out. Some opportunities take a bit of legwork to pull off, but the more you show that you are willing to put in that extra effort, the more often the opportunities start finding you,” she said. “And ‘because that’s just how it is’ is not an answer. Speak up for things you believe in and don’t be afraid to play the devil’s advocate. You’re not always going to be in the position to directly foster large-scale change, but your actions may create a snowball effect or, at the very least, excite others to do the same.” Lastly, she said, the course taught her the importance of taking pride in her work. “Sometimes it’s the first or only impression others will ever have of you; make it something worthy of respect.”

Most of Wieland’s work at PdM SPE focuses on the Army’s new hard armor, known as vital torso protection (VTP). “We’re always looking for new ways to lighten the Soldier load and increase mobility while maintaining protection through technology and material advancements,” she explained.

What she enjoys most about her work is the hands-on, interactive nature of it. “Sometimes when we conduct human factors evaluations, engineers get to participate too. I’ve jumped in a pool with the full kit to help test out the emergency release mechanism. This allows us to gain understanding and feel what the Soldier experiences,” she explained. “Some of the team’s testing involves human and animal cadavers. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I don’t think anyone denies that it’s cool,” she said. “We also spend some time visiting or hosting different senior Army leaders, units, countries and other services to gain feedback, show what we’re working on and find areas to collaborate on future testing and products.”

For the past year, she has chaired an integrated product team tasked with the purchase description rewrite for the VTP program. “Our goal is to rebalance the testing to optimize the time and cost spent, while maintaining performance. This will allow industry to redirect resources toward developing more advanced designs and technologies, which in turn, benefits the Soldier. We’re looking to make the test procedures more statistically significant, operationally relevant and aligned with the original requirements.” The work has “really forced me to get comfortable briefing to higher leadership and large groups of people, expanding my network and exercising different leadership skills,” she said.

She’s hoping to continue her career development through the Executive Leader Development Program (ELDP). “I think it would be perfect for my role as a body armor engineer. The warfighter wants someone like them creating gear, and we’re often asked how someone who has never had to wear the gear or experience first-hand the challenges that come with it can possibly create product of value,” she said. ELDP “is the next step past human-factor evaluations and user feedback. Apart from joining the Army as a Soldier, ELDP would be the next best thing for a civilian engineer like myself.”

When she’s not in the office, you might find Wieland on a softball diamond, where she coaches a local high school team. “After graduating, I struggled with feeling fulfilled and lacked an outlet for my competitive nature. I direct as much of that to my job as I can, but it’s not the same.” So she started coaching. “I got addicted to it. It is so rewarding to be able to give back and watch your efforts take form in a new way, through someone else. Similar to my work, it helps me to develop my leadership and interpersonal skills.”

She added, “One lesson I always find myself coming back to is that people respect those who are passionate and hard working in what they do. I think this makes me a better softball coach, employee and leader. Finding something you’re passionate about will motivate you to work harder and feel more fulfilled.”