Rocketing to Success
Summer 2012 · Comment ·
Dakeesha Wright is a numbers person. A proposal manager for Hamilton Sundstrand, a company that designs and manufactures aerospace systems for commercial, regional, corporate, and military aircraft, Wright 鈥�03 had an affinity for math and science at an early聽age.
鈥�I was always good in those subjects,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 got interested in engineering in high school after taking classes at a local college.鈥�
Wright bucks the numbers trend for her profession. She was among 1,859 U.S. women鈥攁nd one of only 123 African-American women鈥攖o earn a mechanical engineering degree in 2003. As of 2006, an estimated 1.4 million men worked in science and engineering fields compared to 187,000 women, including only 11,000 African-American women.
She joined Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, eventually becoming a senior systems engineer responsible for maintaining rocket engine systems. Her work focused on the RL10, the world鈥檚 highest performing, most reliable upper-stage rocket engine.
鈥�I worked with a machine that is used to power vehicles into space. Testing rocket engines is one of the coolest jobs to聽have!鈥�
She traces her career successes to her undergraduate studies at UT Arlington. 鈥淓verything I accomplished at 糖心Vlog视频 I can relate to currently working in the聽field.鈥�
Though a recent career move has her focusing more on the business end of things, Wright hopes to stay in engineering.
鈥�I wanted to get more into the inner workings of an organization, and this position gives me global insight into how we do business,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut I want to stay tied to engineering in some way. On the business side, I actually rely on my engineering background quite frequently.鈥�