CAREER OUTLOOK
and economics research organization. Last December he told US Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine that the U.S. co- nundrum is that the country is the largest industrial power, but manufacturers struggle to fill technical positions. That’s partly because
not enough Americans study science, technology, engi- neering and math (STEM), and also because says Waldman many graduates “are wasting their talents in finance when we need them to advance manufacturing.” Waldman says many
Professional Life C
liff Waldman is a senior economist at Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation, an Arlington, Va., public policy
DON’T PANIC: MANUFACTURING HAS OPENINGS
Cliff Waldman, senior economist, Manufacturers Alliance for Pro- ductivity and Innovation
STEM students are unaware that well-paying occupations are available at small- and medium-sized manufacturing companies. In 2011, the smallest companies on the Fortune 1,000 list still earned at least $1 billion in annual revenue. As STEM students research the giant companies, they should also look seriously at those under $1 billion. In 2012, an Ohio State University Fisher College of Business and GE Capi- tal research report stated that those mid-sized firms accounted for a third of the nation’s GDP and more than 41 million jobs. An unbeatable value for a STEM graduate at a smaller, more nimble and innovative company is that she or he will be involved more deeply in a wider array of tasks than at large firm. Waldman also urges STEM students to consider becom- ing entrepreneurs. Not everyone, he says, may create a global company but there are other multi-million firms waiting to be founded by a someone with vision.
Don’t Panic: Federally-Funded Laboratories Await You
Most things in life are not guaranteed, but one thing is
highly likely. STEM students that don’t attend a Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Conference, or Women of Color STEM job fair will miss out on internships and employment opportunities. Many of those are at the variety of federally-funded research and development centers affiliated with the following
www.blackengineer.com
U.S. departments, administrations, and commissions: Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, NASA, National Science Foundation, Nuclear Regulatory Com- mission, Transportation, and Treasury. Dr. Wayne Martin knows one lab very well. He is the direc- tor of the Project Management Office of the Chemical, Biologi- cal, Nuclear Surety and Signatures at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Wash. The unit’s projects are mostly lab intensive and their main value is the investigation of the sample and modeling and simu- lation for signatures, or markers, related to forensics. The PMO has oversight responsibilities for 150 plus research projects. PNNL could be the future employer for scientists and tech- nologists in many disciplines. The laboratory is ranked among the top 1 percent of research institutions in publications and citations in chemis- try, geosciences, physics, engineering, biology and biochemistry, environment and ecology, materials sci- ence, clinical medicine, and microbiology.
Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory has a budget of nearly a $1.1 bil- lion. It has more than 4,500 scientists, engineers and support staff, and customers include the Department of Energy; other federal, state and local agencies; universi- ties, and industry. PNNL is operated by Battelle, which calls itself “the world’s largest indepen- dent research and develop- ment organization.”
Dr. Wayne Martin, director, Project Management Office of the Chemical, Biological, Nuclear Surety and Signatures, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Martin, who has a Ph.D. in environmental and natural resource sciences, has advice for STEM students visiting the PNNL and other research lab booths at conferences. They should:
• Be well-dressed and showcase their focus on R&D in dif- ferent STEM fields.
• Know that the number and type of PNNL internships vary annually and depend on the nature of the research portfolio that an intern will support. The type of academic majors PNNL values also varies, but engineering and computer science skills are always appreciated.
USBE&IT I WINTER 2013 103
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