Her Story
About Ana
I've been in the aerospace defense industry for 22 years now, and I recently transitioned into my current role as a program manager for a ground system about a month ago. In this position, I handle overall management of the team, scheduling for the program, cost and budget analysis, direct interaction with the customer, and alignment with technical scope. Before this, I was a chief engineer for 3 years. Much of my work is classified, so I can't speak to specific details, but what I can say is that my most notable achievement has been developing four really amazing teams across different programs. Each team has been able to execute missions and do them really well. My journey into this field started from a young age when I used to tinker a lot with electronics with my dad, which sparked my curiosity. I attribute my success to a combination of my military background and having great mentors along the way, particularly Dave Bernal, who was a fantastic mentor when I was a junior engineer working out of Palmdale.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Ana
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think my success comes from probably a combination of my military background and just having great mentors along the way. My military experience gave me a foundation that has served me well throughout my career, and the mentors I've had have been instrumental in my growth and development in this field.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Be willing to move. That's the best career advice I've ever received, and it's something that has opened up opportunities for me throughout my career.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Resilience is going to be your best tool in your tool belt. This is a challenging field for everybody, not just women - it's challenging in general. There are going to be lots of difficulties along the way, but it is absolutely doable and absolutely possible. It is hard for everybody, as it is for women, but you need to build your team, the people that you rely on and trust, and develop your relationships. That is what sees you through a lot of it.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think the biggest challenges we face are just the ever-constant changing environment. There are so many things that are impactful to us - literally everything impacts engineering, anything from global pandemics to, right now, the AI increase and how that's going to impact federal programs. These are some of the challenges we're facing: always keeping up with the developing technologies and adversarial technologies as well. On the opportunities side, I think they are significant just for young engineers to come and join the field who have the desire and the passion to grow into that and always continuously improve the systems that either exist or come up with new ideas for brand new systems.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I would say grit - to be able to have the grit to get through a lot of situations - and passion for whatever it is that you're doing. These two values guide both my work and personal life.
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