Employment for Physics Students and Graduates (Including Computer Science)

1. Employment for Physics Students and Graduates(Including Computer Science) John Sohl, WSU Physics And Team Hill: Joyce Peters Kasey Thompson Larry Smith

2. Overview • National Physics Job Data • WSU Physics Job Data • Hill Air Force Base Jobs • How to Prepare Now • Class Choices • Projects • Research • Experience: Internships, Jobs • What Next

3. Stepping back for a moment: What one thing do all reviewers of applications (grad schools or employers) have in common? They want the best!

4. What are Your 3 Options? • Strive to be the best that you can. Work hard, it will pay off. • Hope that the best apply somewhere else. • Ski or beach bum.

5. In Today’s Standard Examiner

6. How to Prepare Now • Reference Letters Mirror What You Do Now • Class Choices & Performance • Projects • Flashing LED ornament or warp drive? • Research • Be aggressively involved • Present your work every chance you can • Attend all seminars • Internships

7. Graduate Study in Other Fields is mostly engineering. (39% of “Other Fields” group)

9. 55%

11. Major Physics Employers • Department of Defense (Civilian) • DoD Military Branches • Military Industrial Complex • Aerospace • High Schools • Colleges & Universities • Federal and State Agencies

12. Utah Employers 2006-’08 (Partial List)of New Physics Bachelors Air Force Civil Service Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd BlueHost, Inc. DHI Computing Services General Electric K-tecL-3 Communications Nate Coan Enterprises Simco Electronics Sohl Source Consulting Sylarus Technologies U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground University of Utah Hospital and Clinics Wasatch Front Regional MLS Wasatch Photonics Watson Pharmaceuticals Source: AIP Statistical Research Center, Initial Employment Surveys, 2006-2008

13. WSU Physics Alumni Job DataExamples of Actual Positions • Corporate President • Engineer Consultants -- self employed with own consulting firms • Design Engineers • Systems Engineers • Programmers • Research and Development Managers • Civil Engineers • Test Engineers • Teachers • Statisticians Source: Lisa Largent, WSU Development Office

14. WSU Physics Alumni Job DataSample of Employers • JR Simplot • Bureau of Reclamation • KempTriel • L3 Communications • ATK Thiokol • Boeing • Olson Peterson • Northrup Grumman • Autoliv • InfoCore, Inc • Ball Aerospace Source: Lisa Largent, WSU Development Office

16. World Class Capability • Software Maintenance Group The 309th Software Maintenance Group (309 SMXG) at Hill AFB is a recognized world leader in “cradle-to-grave” systems support, encompassing software engineering, hardware engineering, program management, data management, consulting, and more… BE AMERICA’S BEST

17. Present Workloads • F-16 Operational Flight Program (OFP) Avionics Embedded Software • Weapon Systems Mission Planning • Automatic Test Systems (ATS) • Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) BE AMERICA’S BEST

18. Present Workloads (Cont.) • Human Engineering Development Station (HEDS) • Common Modular Environment (COMET) • Common Aircraft Portable Reprogramming Equipment (CAPRE) • Software Control Center BE AMERICA’S BEST

19. Present Workloads (Cont.) • Milstar Space Communication and Warning System • Ground Theater Air Control • System (GTACS) • Range Support • Software • Technology • Support Center • (STSC) BE AMERICA’S BEST

20. Future Workloads • New F-16 and A-10 OFP Workloads • Future Automatic Test Systems • F-22 and F-35 Systems Software • Space and C4 ISR Workloads • Air Force Battle Control System (BCS) • Theater Battle Management Core System (TBMCS) • Command and Control System-Consolidated (CCS-C) • Expanded EFV Embedded Software Workload BE AMERICA’S BEST

21. Areas of Excellence • Software Engineering • Systems Engineering • Web-based Applications • Configuration Management BE AMERICA’S BEST

22. Areas of Excellence (Cont.) • Hardware Engineering • Modeling, Simulation • and Emulation • Technology Upgrades BE AMERICA’S BEST

23. Consulting and CrossTalkThe Journal of Defense Software Engineering • Software Engineering Consulting Services • CrossTalk, the Journal of Defense Software Engineering • DoD-approved, Bi-monthly, Peer-review Journal • Published by STSC for 21 Years • Over 22,000 hard copy subscribers • 415,000 electronic monthly readers • reach us at: • http://www.stsc.hill.af.mil/crosstalk BE AMERICA’S BEST

24. Software Maintenance Group Demographics • 850+ Employees • High Growth • Outstanding Work BE AMERICA’S BEST

25. Needed Skill Sets • Modeling, Simulation and Emulation • Artificial Intelligence • Robotics & Intelligent Systems • Printed Circuit Board Design • Software Assurance • Quality Assurance & Testing • Software Security • Certification & Accreditation • Software Configuration • Software Architecture • Database Driven Applications • Web Centric Application Development • Command Languages • Web Languages • Gaming Application Development • Sense & Avoidance Software • Virtualization • VMware BE AMERICA’S BEST

26. Hiring Projections Next 6-12 Months • F-16 Block 40/50 OFP: 100 new hires • A-10 OFP: 85 new hires • TBMCS: 85 new hires • Other additional workloads: 45 new hires • Attrition backfills: 35 new hires • TOTAL SMXG NEEDS: 355 new hires • next 12 months NOTE: These are conservative estimates BE AMERICA’S BEST

27. Software Engineering Workforce Challenges • Insufficient candidate pool of engineers • Cannot hire enough engineers • Mindset that “Only an engineer will do” • Need to restructure many engineer positions to create computer scientist positions • Need to focus on necessary skills sets and not just engineering degrees • Lack of business, acquisition and leadership skills • Technical excellence is not the only competency needed in Software Engineering BE AMERICA’S BEST

28. Software Engineering Workforce Challenges (Cont.) • Federal qualification and hiring rules • Control who and how quickly we can hire • Control pay and benefits that can be offered • Citizenship and security clearance requirements • Significant increases in workload • Need to hire large numbers of personnel quickly • Aging workforce soon eligible to retire • Over 275 of Hill’s Software Engineering professionals will be eligible to retire by 2015 BE AMERICA’S BEST

29. Aging Electronics Engineer & Computer Scientist Workforce Electronics Engrs & Computer Scientists Eligible to Retire BE AMERICA’S BEST

30. Qualification Requirements For Computer Scientists • Bachelor’s degree in computer science OR • Bachelor’s degree with 30 semester hours in a combination of mathematics, statistics, and computer science. • At least 15 of the 30 semester hours must have included any combination of statistics and mathematics that included differential and integral calculus • All academic degrees and course work must be from accredited or pre-accredited institutions BE AMERICA’S BEST

31. SMXG Work Environment • SMXG is considered best place to work on base • Ranks highest in Hill work culture assessments • Professional work environment • Very high retention rate • Worldwide career opportunities • Workload variety • Continuous training • Quality of life services • Fitness time • Work schedule flexibility BE AMERICA’S BEST

32. Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) • Paid internship with health insurance options • No tuition, no guarantee of permanent job • Must be ≥ half time student (Physics, CS) • Contact Greg Nielsen or Karen Doutre (WSU) for details • Awesome experience

33. NOW WHAT? • Physics Majors – Minor in CS, take the new Computational Physics Track • CS Majors – Minor in Physics • Take statistics class from Math Dept. • Get involved in HARBOR • Select GREAT projects and research tasks • Excel in everything you do.