2007 Issue 2 - Raytheon

Getting to Know Your Raytheon Certified Architects
The Raytheon Certified Architect Program (RCAP) is the culmination of Raytheon’s systems architecting
learning curriculum. RCAP focuses on providing our customers with the expertise needed to support their
long-term transformational goals. In recognition of their certification, we continue to highlight our
Raytheon certified architects.
Edwin Lee
Senior Principal
Engineer, Space and
Airborne Systems –
Years with Raytheon: 20
Q: Can you tell us about
your current program?
A: My current program
is called the Raytheon
Reference Architecture Enterprise Campaign,
Hard Real-Time. It just started this year. Before
that, I worked on the Raytheon St. George
Enterprise Campaign for two years. Enterprise
campaigns are corporate-level programs with
participation from all Raytheon businesses.
Q: In terms of the three pillars of Customer
Focused Marketing (CFM) — Performance,
Relationships and Solutions — what’s been
lacking in your current role, and what has
worked well?
A: In my current role as IPT lead, my customers
include stakeholders in the Corporate
and Local Technology, Business Development,
and Engineering areas. Trying to satisfy the
needs of all these areas and promoting the
use of our product (Reference Architecture)
has been challenging due to its exploratory
and “disruptive” nature. On the other hand,
by using a combination of remote collaboration
(using tools such as teleconference and
Sametime), face-to-face meetings, workshops
and awareness seminars, we are producing
good results.
Q: How would you improve Raytheon’s
Performance, Relationships and Solutions?
A: Get out of the comfort zone, think out of the
box, reach out to peers and other experts across
the company, and participate in community
activities inside and outside of the company.
Most of all, share, collaborate and leverage
with each other to create a “force multiplier.”
Q: How do you see CFM affecting the future?
A: CFM will still be a key measure of customer
satisfaction. In fact, I believe it will become
more critical in the future because the market-
place will be open to more competition, and
customer expectations will continue to increase
in terms of fast turnaround time and costeffective
solutions.
Q: What about your job keeps you up at night?
A: There are indeed moments when my job
keeps me up at night. Luckily, they’re mostly
good moments when I found a solution to a
problem or have a creative idea for expressing a
concept. I like those moments! However, there
are also moments when I feel like pulling my
hair out searching for an answer.
Q: How would you describe your job
parameters?
A: My job has no requirements in the traditional
sense. Only very high level guidelines
and objectives are given. That leaves lots of
room to explore, investigate and create, along
with opportunities for problem solving. I think
“degree of challenge” could be a good job
parameter; the other one may be “opportunity
of innovation.”
Mike Stemig
Program Chief
Engineer, Space and
Airborne Systems –
Years with Raytheon: 23
Q: How long have you
been working with your
current program?
A: My current program
is Silverthorn, and I’ve been working on it
from the proposal stage in January 2005
through the present time. Our Period of
Performance lasts through 2012, so it’s a fairly
long program. Since early this year, I’ve taken
on the role of being a program chief engineer.
It’s a relatively new role within SAS, and I’m
excited about being on the frontier, both technically
and organizationally.
Q: Why do you think you have excelled in
your career?
A: Early in my career, I benefited from identifying
role models for myself, people who were
at higher levels of the business and who exhibited
traits I admired. They would be my measuring
sticks, and although I may never fully
measure up to the gold standard, I knew that
every step I made toward it would help me.
On the technology side, the two people I tried
to measure myself against were Joel Mellema
and Mike Wong. Both gentlemen are awesome
technically, wonderful communicators, and
always enable a positive teaming experience by
treating everyone at all levels of the organization
with respect. Organizationally, my measuring
sticks are Debbie Ybarra and Steve
Jackson. From them, I’ve learned enterprise
perspective, collaborative leadership, and organizational
excellence. All four have the ability
to see the forest … and the trees.
Q: What advice would you offer to enhance
Performance, Relationships and Solutions?
A: Find ways to fill the white space — and
architects are ideally suited to filling the white
space. As engineers, people want to draw a
clean boundary around their components and
make sure they have everything covered.
Everyone’s components may work great on
their own, but when it comes together into a
higher level product or system, it may not
work at all. The architect’s role is to make sure
that doesn’t happen. Organizationally, the
same thing can happen, and someone has to be
willing to fill the white space. You can learn a
lot by filling the white space, and the teams
you participate in or lead will be more successful
because of that.
Q: What about your job excites you? What
concerns you?
A: Interestingly enough, the same things both
excite me and concern me. System Integrity
Programs has experienced amazing growth
over the last four years. We’re a world-class
leader in a key domain that’s in high demand.
So every day, there’s interesting work waiting
for me when I walk through the door. Every
night, when I go home, I’m afraid there will
be even more interesting work the next day.
I’m usually right!
RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGY TODAY 2007 ISSUE 2 33