StM News

Attended St. Martin’s 10 - 12th

University of Virginia, BS, Mechanical / Aerospace Engineering

University of North Dakota, MS, Space Studies

Systems Engineering Verification and Validation Lead at BWX Technologies

When you think back to your days as a student at St. Martin’s, what first comes to mind?

When I think back to my days as a student at St. Martin’s, I think of the friendships that I made along the way.  I transferred to StM in 10th grade from the Jefferson Parish public school system.  I had only joined my parents in the New Orleans area a couple of years before that, so I did not have as many childhood connections as most of my peers.  They had grown up together, so they had such strong bonds beyond just childhood friends. They weren’t just people who grew up on the same street, these were people who had spent most of their waking lives together since they were five years old!

I certainly didn’t feel left out, but it can be a little hard to “break in” to that sort of group, but I found what that allowed me to do was to reach out to people in other classes. I became really good friends with some people from the Class of ‘89 and a couple of people from the Class of ‘91. Being in different clubs allowed me to do that a bit more easily because we all had these common interests. StM provided opportunities to join these various diverse circles of common interests.  I fondly remember the bonds with friends who participated in fall and spring plays with Carol Lawrence and other performing arts groups, like chorus with Candy Armstrong and Show Choir (Glee Club) under Jimmy Cox.  I remain friends with many of them to this day.  I remember coming to campus on Saturday mornings for Quiz Bowl practice under the tutelage of Ouida Rellstab, and staying late for swim practice with Billy Bower and Alan Smith (and sometimes until 8pm or 9pm for the fall and spring play rehearsals).  I also remember friendly academic competition within some peer groups, even taking summer courses to advance in math and science, which pushed me to be the best student that I could be at StM.  

The cross-class culture made me put a lot of stock in the relationships I made at StM. Some of my most rewarding friendships came from outside of any shared affinity groups and were based solely on the personal skills that make people good friends.

How do you think your time at StM shaped the person you are today? 

The college preparatory curriculum at StM provided me with a well-rounded education academically.  I was able to establish a firm foundation of knowledge in the sciences and the humanities, especially in advanced courses like the Humanities program with June Wells and Dr. Mooney, calculus with Jim Marsalis, and AP Spanish with Sr Pedro Perez.  StM also provided me with a service-minded attitude that probably materialized later in college as I studied to become an engineer in society and grew to understand the societal responsibilities of the profession.  When I read Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as an engineering student, it was reinforced by values of service and stewardship that were first introduced to me at StM through community service and volunteering as an acolyte with Father Mesa.  I also realized that participating in the performing arts was, in many ways, a cipher to viewing and understanding the human condition, and those coaching experiences in music, drama. and speech and debate were probably the best life lessons that could have been gifted to me at that age.

When you left St. Martin's for college, you felt _____

When I left St. Martin’s for the University of Virginia, I felt prepared academically for such a competitive institution.  That’s a credit to St. Martin's college preparatory program, which pushed me to do things I think I otherwise normally wouldn't have done, like service learning, biblical studies, and all the extracurriculars. UVA was the only school I applied to; I got in early decision, and I didn't even need to worry about it.

My biggest concern, though, was leaving for college 1,000 miles from home with limited financial resources.  Thankfully, StM taught me skills in resourcefulness, planning, and organization that benefited me in the long run. Unfortunately, my family didn’t have the luxury of visiting schools like many of my classmates, but UVA came highly recommended to me by Doc Mooney, who was also a UVA grad, and I knew several schoolmates from the classes ahead of me who were enrolled at UVA, so I knew that I would have several connections already in place for social support.

Talk about your career path into the Aerospace Industry. Did you always know you wanted to pursue space studies?  

I am currently a Systems Engineering Lead with BWX Technologies in Lynchburg, Virginia, and the team that I support is working to build a nuclear reactor for NASA and DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) that will serve as the thermal energy source for a new type of space rocket that moves away from traditional chemical propellants, fuels, and oxidizers. 

My first exposure to space was the first shuttle launch; I saw it on the morning news when I was young, and just thought it was really cool! I remember learning about Sally Ride when I was about in seventh grade, then not too long after that, we had the Challenger accident, and I think that was the moment I probably realized I would go into something technical because I wanted to understand what happened, how could this happen? I think that's where it all started, and it gave me direction to lean into understanding materials and science and mathematics and things like that. 

My current role and many others throughout my career have required that I rely on principles of physics, chemistry, and mathematics that I trace all the way back to StM.  In fact, I rarely think of UVA classes when I think about these principles in my work; instead,  I think about fundamentals that I learned from teachers like Dr. Aguiar-Netto and Mr. Marsalis.  It was these particular interests that led me to engineering as a profession.

Throughout school, I was just trying to make myself remarkable. I just had an aptitude for maths and sciences in terms of coursework, I've always been mechanically inclined. I have always wanted to know how things work, so I think going into mechanical engineering was an easy choice for me. I did not know that I would end up in aerospace. Since I had demonstrated proficiency in math and science courses at StM, I applied to the UVA engineering school.  I think my pursuit of this path was a set of progressions. I declared my major in mechanical engineering in the fall of my first year, but soon switched to aerospace engineering to benefit from the Academic Common Market tuition arrangement between Louisiana and Virginia.  However, once I established residency in Virginia, I switched back to mechanical engineering major and was able to earn a minor in astronautical engineering by the time I graduated.  During my undergraduate years, I worked at the UVA Automobile Safety Lab and interned at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center outside of Washington, D.C. I took my first job on contract at NASA Johnson Space Center (Mission Control) in Houston as a safety engineer, and then as a spaceflight instructor for the International Space Station environmental control and life support systems.

Time spent at Mission Control made me more curious about engineering development processes for complex hardware systems than their actual implementation in spaceflight operations.  I left Houston in the early 2000s to take a test engineering position with a division of Eastman Kodak (now a division of L3Harris) in Rochester, NY.  In this role, I spent several years writing and executing procedures for thermal vacuum testing and vibration testing on optical and weather observation hardware systems, and eventually rose to the position of Environmental Test Lead, where I had the opportunity to contribute to segment development of some very exciting programs such as the James Webb Space Telescope, the Advanced Baseline Imager for the GOES-R weather satellites, and the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

Looking to grow beyond the Test Director role, I briefly served as Test Architect in developing the life support systems for the planned Lunar Gateway program, slated to become the world’s first space station in lunar orbit.  This role allowed me to combine my test development expertise together with previous operational experience on space station life support systems.  That combined role was the catalyst for branching into the more comprehensive role of systems engineering, which encompasses test campaigns, in my current work.

What do you find most rewarding about your job?

The most rewarding part of my job is seeing the impact of the outcomes on the general public, whether it is the contributions made to advanced weather satellite imagery for the public good or to helping spark the public imagination about the immense size and structure of the universe.  Without the general consensus of the American people and our representatives in the federal government, none of this would be possible.  Fortunately, pursuits and advancements in space systems have been sufficiently insulated from partisan politics in recent decades, so programs whose development and implementation require ten years or more to bear fruit and reap benefits are actually more viable today than in the past.  I truly underestimated the public excitement that the James Webb Space Telescope would generate, and I hope that the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will continue to galvanize interest in STEM/STEAM fields.  If the Lunar Gateway program and the DRACO nuclear thermal propulsion demonstration eventually transition to successful operations, I will have considered the span of my career a remarkable achievement, representing not only my personal and organizational successes, but also showcasing the personal influences of communities like StM that have guided me throughout my adult life.

You know, the learning process never ends. I think the overall exposure and experience has given me opportunities to see a bigger picture. There are still things that I want to do. I’m excited to help transform my company that is looking to be one of the premier providers of nuclear equipment.

You are a member of the Alumni Council, and you recently returned to campus for Homecoming. Talk about how it felt being back "home." 

It had been many years since I attended a Homecoming game at StM, so I was excited to see familiar faces on campus, if only for a few hours, between the Fall Fellowship late Friday afternoon and the Friday night game itself.  I think the Fall Fellowship event is a great precursor to the game and Homecoming court festivities that we did not have in my time at StM.  The robust turnout among current StM families, staff and administration, and parent volunteers was very welcoming.  It was wonderful to see friends I hadn’t seen since graduation, many of whom are now StM parents and employees themselves.  I hope that StM will continue to make concentrated efforts to invite local alumni to join in these celebrations in coming years.  As a remote volunteer member of the StM Alumni Council, I have offered the outreach committee a suggestion for expanding Homecoming celebrations beyond the game and the school dance, to be more inclusive of alumni who might not otherwise come out to Metairie or travel to New Orleans for a Friday evening game.  It would be nice to see turnouts of more alumni in the fall at some additional “Homecoming Weekend” style events that might even rival attendance numbers at the Annual Spirits Party held every May.

Lastly, what advice do you have for our students, particularly those preparing for college?

My best advice would be to establish good notetaking practices and to really make the time to read the textbooks and literature assignments.  Another recommendation that I would make is to establish and manage a small budget of your own at some point while you’re still in high school.  That is an important life skill for making good decisions that find balance between income sources and the multitude of college expenses, like room and board, entertainment, and personal maintenance.  Also, it’s important to learn to manage your time wisely.  College life is a constant shuffle from one event to another, whether instructional or extracurricular.  Make time for all of your commitments, and know yourself well enough to know where your personal limits and opportunities for growth are, but feel free to explore them.

Lastly, I'd say just follow your passions. I think if you're inclined to do something and you do it well, that should be your job. You should do what you like to do. So, if you're mathematically inclined, then maybe engineering is the role. If you are a people person, perhaps a human resource director role. I think it really depends on being in touch and aware of what your strengths are. It can guide you to doing something fun, exciting, and productive.