2007 Issue 3 - Raytheon

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LEADERS CORNER Continued from page 15 Once Brian has his arms around making Raytheon a world-class systems engineering house, he will expand those efforts to other engineering disciplines. For Raytheon to truly be an MSI, we need our businesses to be able to work as one company. That means that in addition to a common core process — IPDS — we need to have as many common tools as is rational. Engineering is pursuing an initiative to move toward a common Product Life Management (PLM) suite of tools to make “design anywhere, build anywhere, support anywhere” a reality. The foundation of this suite is a common Product Data Management (PDM) system. Today, Raytheon has almost 30 different PDM tools as an artifact of the legacy companies. Many of these are archaic and no longer supported. We have selected a common tool and are in the process of planning a strategy to implement it across the company. Other initiatives that will help include developing a common approach to Health Management Systems — loosely defined as prognostics, a common strategy for RF spectrum management; working with Performance Excellence to improve our Supplier Rating System; and working with the Raytheon Six Sigma community, supporting the implementation of a Green Belt Program, to name just a few. TT: There have been some exciting CMMI ® milestones in the businesses. Is that also part of this strategy? PB: Absolutely. CMMI is a very powerful tool to help ensure efficiency, reduce variability and ensure the same excellent standards of quality from project to project and location to location. The businesses have done a commendable job of achieving higher appraisal levels, which have enormous benefits for the company — giving us the ability and agility to design anywhere and build anywhere. This year, NCS achieved Level 5 across all of its business’ sites for systems, software and hardware engineering — an astonishing achievement. Most other businesses have been appraised at level 3 or 4. We’re well on our way to our future goal of reaching CMMI Level 5 across the entire Engineering function. TT: Switching gears, you have had quite a varied career at Raytheon. What do you attribute your success to? 16 2007 ISSUE 3 RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGY TODAY PB: Well, it started with a solid foundation. The reason I became an engineer is that I was fortunate in that my father was an educator. He taught math and science, and he instilled in me an interest in these subjects. We always had puzzles when I was a kid. We were always fixing things around the house. And I just became very interested and curious about those kinds of things. He encouraged me to become an engineer and to continue my education in that direction, by being very supportive. I was lucky in that regard, because I had parents who had the ability to encourage me and coach me, if you will, in becoming an engineer. Earlier this year, I celebrated my 38th anniversary with Raytheon. I’ve enjoyed working here all these years, because Raytheon has provided an encouraging and exciting environment for me to operate in. Yes, I’ve had a varied career at Raytheon. When I first joined the company, I worked in several different organizations and programs. I saw various forms of engineering, test engineering, analysis, and did design work. I got to see those designs actually built and tested and come to fruition. I was also able to work with customers to ensure that we met their requirements. Through the years, Raytheon also encouraged me to further my education. I went to graduate school under Raytheon’s advanced studies program, and I was able to get my master’s degree and eventually, my Ph.D. through that program. Raytheon has been great to me. I’ve gotten to see many different businesses and many different functions. Although I was a mechanical engineer when I first came to Raytheon, I’ve done electrical engineering work, and I’ve done some systems engineering work. So, over the years Raytheon has provided the environment where engineers are encouraged to be the best they can. TT: As you know, the Raytheon environment values diversity of all kinds. How does diversity relate to Engineering? PB: In many ways, but let me highlight two. The first is in diversity of thought. As I mentioned, we have great, smart people at Raytheon. But sometimes that confidence and ability could be perceived as arrogance. We are not as open as we need to be to other people’s ideas, perspectives and input. As a result, programs can get dis- Q&A With Peter Boland jointed, team health suffers, and we might not be effectively collaborating to come up with the best solution for the customer. The second reason an inclusive environment is important to Engineering is that our workforce is becoming more and more diverse. If Raytheon wants to retain and attract the best people, we need to be able to tap into every available talent pool. If you’re a talented individual, we want you to feel like you can make a contribution to Raytheon, and that you’re welcome here as an important part of the company. I believe we are a leader in our industry in this area, illustrated by the recognition and numerous awards Raytheon has received for its work in diversity and inclusion. TT: So, what advice would you give to early-career engineers at Raytheon? PB: First, I would recommend continuing your education. This could be done formally through Raytheon with a master’s degree, a Ph.D. or even an MBA; or informally, by taking in-house courses or courses on your own. It’s a lifelong learning process. Most of our engineers, I believe, really understand that, and, in fact, are pleased with the opportunities that Raytheon provides them. Another recommendation would be to make your career as varied as possible. Don’t get cornered into doing the same thing for several years. There’s certainly nothing wrong with learning a trade or a specific aspect of engineering over a few years. But every few years, you should be asking yourself, “What do I need to do next?” Look for variety — not only in the engineering and technical skills, but also in leadership skills. Whether it be a line manager, a section manager or a department manager; whether it be a program leader, an IPT leader or a project leader; whether it be a subcontract manager working with suppliers to ensure that they’re providing Raytheon the best that they can. They need to understand that they have to plan their careers and not expect things to just happen to them. They need to be proactive with either their local management, or I really encourage them to get a mentor and discuss their career path with that person. Careers aren’t cast in concrete — every few years they should be reevaluated. Develop a plan, but don’t be afraid to change it.
onTechnology The Many Benefits of Collaboration and Reuse A new hire needs to convert vast amounts of data from ECR to LLA in Matlab, but she doesn’t know what ECR refers to. Is it the same as ECF? ECI? Her mentor wants to pass on his expertise before retiring, but hasn’t met others who need it presently. Where can he record his knowledge for later use? A systems engineer who has to present at a conference is unsure of security and proprietary issues and has forgotten travel rules. Where does he find this information? An engineer needs to prepare a unique proposal. Where can she find examples and guidelines? Has someone down the hall or at another Raytheon facility ever written a similar proposal? Have you ever spent hours or days unsuccessfully researching something, only to later discover that the answer was well known within Raytheon? How often have you rewritten code because you didn’t trust what was available? Have you ever run into a problem that you know must have already been solved, but you still spend precious time recreating the mousetrap? These and similar stories of wasted time and missed communication are played out daily in a large company like Raytheon. Well, just imagine the gains we could make with well-used collaboration and reuse. CART: Dedicated to Reducing Wasted Time The Collaboration and Reuse Technology Interest Group (TIG), or CART, as it’s known, is working to address these issues. The effort began last fall at an impromptu “Birds of a Feather” meeting at the Processing Systems Technology Network (PSTN) Symposium. Many employees and at least one customer representative agreed that we need more collaboration and more reuse to keep pace with competitors and increase our efficiency. Many stories were told describing experiences of wasting time repeating efforts. One concern with the development of these tools was how the government may limit them. However, Mission Systems Integration requires massive integration and reuse of components and software. The Department of Defense (DoD) intends to establish a GForge-type installation, and at the PSTN Symposium the customer strongly encouraged collaboration and reuse. CART will help Raytheon move ahead of the curve in this regard, by providing the tools, culture and understanding to help with the DoD’s goals. Since the 2007 PSTN Symposium, CART has searched out similar efforts around the company, partnering with these activities whenever possible. To start the process, CART has developed three tools — all of which can be accessed through SSO by anyone with ITAR approval. Export Controlled Regulated Data is permitted, but not classified information. 1. Raytheon Wiki (http://openwiki.app. ray.com/Main_Page) Wikis are articles that may be edited by anyone. Using this model, Wikipedia.com has rapidly built the largest, most complete and accurate encyclopedia in the world. If you’re knowledgeable about a certain topic, you can submit articles, edit other articles, or provide comments supporting or challenging the accuracy of the information. The wiki home page has a “Related Links” section which will lead you to several more collaboration and reuse projects across the company. 2. Raytheon Forum (http://openforum. app.ray.com) Forums allow you to collaborate with people across the company. It’s a place to hold discussions, find experts and exchange knowledge. New groups can be formed around specific topics of interest. 3. Raytheon GForge (http://gforge.rms. ray.com) Based upon the SourceForge model familiar to many young engineers, this site allows software project management, storage of code and the search for code snippets in a variety of languages. A wiki-based software repository may soon allow for rating of scripts. YESTERDAY…TODAY…TOMORROW PROCESSING Having these tools available to every branch, department and division of Raytheon naturally creates communication across our boundaries. You can share anything from instructions for synthesizing the new Lattice soft processor to a list of the best lunch restaurants in McKinney, Texas. People at every level can contribute. Younger engineers in particular are already familiar with the many tools and habits of reuse, like Wikipedia, blogs, SourceForge and MySpace. Managers can encourage broader communication and reuse. Senior engineers could make their valuable knowledge available across the company through wikis or forums. Each person who solves a problem can record their solution as code or an article. Your contribution can help Raytheon do more — more quickly and more reliably. Collaboration and reuse tools are a great framework, but the usefulness will grow as people record what they have learned. Readers can immediately edit or filter information on the pages to make sure that they are both accurate and helpful. As a result, the quality of the knowledge and code will grow as users add their knowledge and opinions. Imagine that our young engineer finds wikis on the two coordinate systems and an article explaining the different methods for calculating latitude. She follows links to repositories of coordinate transformations, sorted by language (maybe even by program), if that information is not classified. Finally, someone on the forum gives her tips speeding up Matlab. The same research which may have taken her a week to complete, only takes a day thanks to collaboration and reuse! In turn, she can now help her mentor write wikis so that his knowledge is available to everyone in Raytheon for years to come. Our presenter reads his department’s wiki on external conferences and suggests a proposal library for his boss, where she learns of examples and tools from a similar project on the other side of the country. How can you save time today? Michael Bajema michael_l_bajema@raytheon.com RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGY TODAY 2007 ISSUE 3 17
Page 1 and 2: Technology Today HIGHLIGHTING RAYTH
Page 3 and 4: Technology Today is published quart
Page 5 and 6: Raytheon is developing enterprise a
Page 7 and 8: Raytheon was awarded a $100 million
Page 9 and 10: ENGINEERING PROFILE Guy Germana Sen
Page 11 and 12: Leveraging Technology to Realize Se
Page 13 and 14: as separate services (or be replace
Page 15: LEADERS CORNER Dr. Peter Boland Vic
Page 19 and 20: There are currently limitations to
Page 21 and 22: Getting to Know Your Raytheon Certi
Page 23 and 24: The National Air and Space Museum
Page 25 and 26: Raytheon Technology Network Spring
Page 27 and 28: corporate technology goals for 2007
Page 29 and 30: Raytheon Acquires Percy Spencer’s
Page 31 and 32: CHINA, SOUTH KOREA JAMES FLORENCE P

2007 Issue 3 - Raytheon

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