Engineering director: understand how systems are used

  • Published
  • By Chuck Paone
  • 66 ABW Public Affairs
HANSCOM AFB, Mass. --  Electronic Systems Center engineers need to demonstrate expertise on the systems they work on, and they must fully understand how those systems are used in the field, ESC's Engineering director told an industry gathering Aug. 21. 

"I stress this because I know this isn't typically the case," Steve Wert said, addressing the Hanscom Representatives Association during its monthly luncheon meeting at the Minuteman Club. "I know that some of our engineers have never seen the system that they worked on through the years actually being used." 

That engineers understand the system and appreciate its day-to-day operational use is a realistic expectation for ESC's customers to hold, one "that should be a given," he said.
He also said that engineers need to be savvy about both engineering principles and business matters. 

"At the end of the day, engineering ends up supporting every function at this center," he said, noting that technical skills and systems engineering knowledge are essential, but not enough. 

"It's about professionalism, precision, reliability and technical leadership," he said, stressing that engineers are doing important work. 

"I think you'll see an increasing recognition of that importance, and along with recognition there comes responsibility. We have a responsibility to work with a sense of urgency, to fight for an understanding of our customer's requirements, and to make sure we're addressing their needs." 

He also talked about the responsibility to engage, with the warfighter and with industry, to make progress on things that are important. 

"We need to have a burning desire to work at a standard of excellence that is unparalleled," he said. 

How engineers and program managers achieve a desired end is just as important as achieving it, he cautioned. Engineers must eschew "cowboy" approaches that focus on doing whatever it takes to reach a goal. 

He stressed the need for discipline and rigor, referring to military systems engineering as "grown up work." Engineers, he said, must follow the scientific method, which calls for constant testing and verification. 

He also emphasized the need for agility, to respond quickly to changing requirements and circumstances. And he said that engineers must recognize and accept the rapid pace of change within the information technology arena. 

"We need to understand that laying out a five-year IT program is no good," he said. 

He spoke, too, about the need to build and maintain credibility. "When we celebrate or reward a program for delivering two weeks ahead of their third re-baselined schedule, we lose credibility," Mr. Wert said. 

He also laid out some priorities, which he labeled "big, scary challenges." 

First, he hopes to fill all wing, group and squadron lead engineering slots with organic personnel by the end of the next fiscal year. For an organization that had effectively dissolved its organic capabilities in the late '90s and operated that way for most of the next decade, this is difficult, he said, especially when constrained by a sometimes sluggish hiring process and a more modest pay scale than industry can often offer. 

Mr. Wert also said his staff is working to streamline policy. It has rescinded three local operating instructions already. Uniqueness is generally not needed, he said, arguing that ESC should, for the most part, be able to work under Air Force Materiel Command and Air Force engineering guidelines. 

He also noted that comprehensive portfolio integration should be a center-level challenge, saying that wings should be devoted to program execution. 

"There are a lot of enterprise management issues that we could be taking on at the center level, and we need to step up and do that," he said.