Who would have ever thought one math class could have such an impact on one's career path? In my case, one class made all the difference in the world. While in graduate school, I took a class called “Mathematics in Industry” in which I met and worked with professionals in industry who made a living solving real world problems. During this class I worked with a senior engineer at Raytheon, worked on some very interesting “mathematical forensics” problems and was able to develop a productive friendship/mentor relationship. This relationship resulted in a collaboration enabling me to complete my PhD. It was a natural fit to work for his group at Raytheon and I have been there ever since.

I am a senior physics engineer at Raytheon. In this position I am a team leader for several projects, primarily in the area of digital image/signal processing. We develop image exploitation algorithms for data from sensors such as the Space Imaging's IKONOS satellite.

I use mathematics every day. I regularly use a lot of applied linear algebra in my group's projects, but my problem-solving abilities are the true benefit of my mathematics background. Many of the algorithms we design are so complex and involved that having outstanding problem solving skills is a necessity. I found that the true problem-solver takes a set of vague specifications and crafts them into valuable workable algorithms. One can always find workers who just want their problems clearly stated so they can “solve the odd numbered problems.”