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Engineering role model encourages women to pursue technology careers

by Anne Straub
Brevard Technical Journal

Janet Nickloy is Vice President of Engineering for Melbourne-based Harris Corporations' Government Communications Systems Division. Photo by Mike Giannacco, © 2005.

When Janet Nickloy participated in career day at her daughter's school, she started her session by asking whether any of the children were considering becoming engineers. "It was all boys" who raised their hands, Nickloy remembers.

That's a dangerous trend. "As a nation, we need more people entering technical fields," she said, noting that the figures are now flat. "It's important for the health of our country." Cut out half the population, and you've drastically reduced the pool of workers.

Not only would more women in engineering help bolster the numbers of people in math and science fields, but they would add a valuable perspective. "It's been proven that by having a diverse team, the group will result in superior decisions," Nickloy said.

Nickloy grew up with a more traditionally female-dominated career in mind. The Troy, Ohio, native originally wanted to become a teacher. She enjoyed math and science in school, and those subjects eventually led her to choose engineering.

She graduated summa cum laude with bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering form the University of Cincinnati and worked for Milacron, which makes and sells plastics processing equipment and supplies. After five years in the advanced robotics group, she was ready to leave the snow behind. Nickloy and her husband, Gary, joined Melbourne-based Harris Corp. in 1989.

Today, Nickloy, 43, serves as vice president of engineering in the Government Communications Systems Division, responsible for technical execution of the National Business Unit.

She'll share tips from her experience during a keynote address, titled "Practical Advice to Accelerate Your Career," at a daylong workshop sponsored by the Society of Women Engineers this month.

Nickloy is a valuable role model for women, said Judy Kersey, a founding member of the local SWE chapter. "It's someone who can say, 'I made it, and you can, too,'" she said.

Kersey can say the same thing herself. She joined NASA in 1968 and retired in 1995 as deputy director for electronic engineering development at Kennedy Space Center.

She could have benefited from an organization like SWE. Kersey excelled at math and became the first person in her family to pursue higher education. "I didn't know what an engineer was when I went to college," said Kersey, who was inducted into the Florida Women's Hall of Fame earlier this year.

She loaded up on engineering electives and earned degree in math with a minor in physics. The combination was enough to qualify her as engineer with NASA. While working for the space agency, she earned a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Florida.

Only 13 women were working in engineering and science for NASA at Kennedy Space Center when she started, she remembers. The numbers have improved overall: 10.8 percent of engineers nationwide were women in 2002, according to the nonprofit Commission of Professionals in Science and Technology. That's up from 8.5 percent in 1992 and 5.8 percent in 1983.

Nickloy credits Harris with creating opportunities for growth for its employees, and for women in particular. "I really liked the breadth Harris had to offer in technology and career,"she said to explain why she has made the company her career. "There were many different paths you could take without leaving the company."

And many different challenges she could take on without even changing parking lots, she said with a laugh. Soon after joining Harris as a structural analyst, Nickloy volunteered herself to be a group leader, Harris's low-rung management position. She progressed through several positions, including program manager for the Space Station High Gain Antenna program and engineering manager, then became Harris's first female director of engineering. Since then, two more women have become directors.

Nickloy's current position marks another distinction: She's Harris's first female vice president of engineering. Although the management aspect of her job has grown over the years, being responsible for engineering has kept her involved in technology so that she still can experience the excitement of new advances.

The National Business Unit focuses on providing secure communications solutions to government intelligence agencies. A recent coup: Harris won a three-year contract with a potential value of $77 million to develop and deploy a single-user interface for National Security Agency analysts. The tool will help the analysts share information more easily.

Earlier this month, the company landed a potential three-year, $37 million job from Lockheed Martin to provide unfurlable mesh reflectors for Defense Department Mobile User Objective System satellites.

Her variety of positions over the years illustrates a point Nickloy wants to make to women who attend the seminar this month. "Broaden your scope as much as possible,"she said. Some people tend to stay in their comfort zone where they know they're doing well. Instead, they should seek a variety of experiences with different technology, functions and people, she said.

Nickloy seems to apply the same philosophy to her home life. Having run for exercise for years, she recently challenged herself to compete in her first 5K race. She's also taking guitar lessons with one of her daughters.

The couple has two girls, Sophia, 13; and Sarah, 10. Her husband's strong involvement in their home life, as well as help from family nearby, has enabled Nickloy to balance work and family. "Every morning we have breakfast as a family, and every evening we have dinner together as a family," she said. "As hectic as our lives are, we try to make sure their lives have structure."

For more information, visit www.harris.com