 Christopher Gonzalez
Chemical Engineer
U.S. Navy
Indian Head, MD
 |
 B.S. - Chemical
Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez |
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Chemical Engineer |
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"Study things like
management and finance, in addition to chemical engineering and
engineering." |
Gonzalez:
I'm Christopher Gonzalez. I work in the CAD-PAD Department in the Quality
Evaluation Branch. I'm a chemical engineer.
Q: What is CAD-PAD?
Gonzalez:
It stands for Cartridge
Actuated Devices and Propellant Actuated Devices. Most of them are parts
used in missiles and ejection sequences of combat aircraft. They're the
energetic materials that activate and eject clear out of the aircraft.
Q: What do you do on a
day-to-day basis here?
Gonzalez:
I'm a project engineer. My
branch has assigned probably 30 projects and I get to work with 10 in a
fiscal year. What we do is we receive these CADs and PADs from the Fleet
and conduct testing to evaluate their performance against age. We see how
good the unit is, and assign service lives and install lives. We're in
charge of receiving the items and conducting a sample selection to select
the sample that best represents the population for testing. We go ahead
and conduct non-destructive tests and ballistic tests. Then we collect our
data and we perform statistical analyses on them. Finally, we sit down and
evaluate the performance and make a report, with recommendations on how
well the unit is performing, and reliability within certain confidence
levels.
Q: How does your chemical
engineering background help you in this job?
Gonzalez:
Basically the most that I use
is problem-solving, or the way of conducting the test-looking at the type
of propellant used, how stable it is, how it ages, and the output. Most of
the cases are pressure outputs and understanding the nature of the
chemical-how it's going to perform later. So I use a lot of statistical
analysis to help me there.
Q: Who are some of the
other people you work with on a day-to-day basis?
Gonzalez:
There are a lot of engineering
technicians and industrial engineers, along with mechanical and chemical
engineers. They would also be in testing facilities and in my department.
Q: And you work for the
U.S. Navy, but you are a civilian?
Gonzalez:
Yes, practically all of them
are civilian personnel.
Q: Can you tell us what
it's like to work for the Navy, how that might be different maybe than
working out of industry?
Gonzalez:
There are a lot of things
happening together. We get to see the point of view of the contractors, as
well as the point of view of the Navy, and try to see where they focus
their attention. It's interesting to see that.
Q: What are some of the
things that you like about working for the Navy?
Gonzalez:
Right now, I'm in charge of
different programs and working on different activities. Each program is a
different phase basically, so sometimes I'm testing, writing reports, or
analyzing data. That's one of the things I like the most-the huge variety
of things they do together in the same place.
Q: Are there some things
about working for the Navy that you don't care for as much?
Gonzalez:
When I have to get something
done and there's a lot of paperwork involved and a lot of levels of
approvals involved.
Q: What was school like
for you?
Gonzalez:
I studied at the University of
Puerto Rico, Mayaquez Campus. I started my bachelor's studies in 1989. Our
program is a five-year program, so I finished the requirements in December
1994. I tried looking for jobs in Puerto Rico and it was hard, even though
there's a lot of industry, a lot of pharmaceutical companies. I think it's
saturated right now with engineers. It's hard to stay there on the Island
and work. So I started submitting applications all around the States, not
having in mind that I wanted to be here or there. I was just sending
applications all over. Then I got an interview from here.
Q: Was finding a job a
difficult process?
Gonzalez:
Actually, it took me nine
months to get the job, or at least the interview. It was hard. People are
looking for a 3.8, 4.0 Grade Point Average and it's tough.
Q: If you could go back to
your first year in college, are there any things you would do differently,
or are there some things you would do the same?
Gonzalez:
I'd do practically all the
same things that I did. I pretty much made up my mind in the second year,
on chemical engineering and I stayed there. No problems.
Q: Working with the Navy,
do you ever have to worry about a budget shut-down or money that is spent
on defense?
Gonzalez:
Not to the point that it would affect my job, but right now I'm in charge
of the CADs and PADs of the Tomahawk Missile, the Quality Evaluation part
of it, and they are experiencing some cuts in money. So we're trying to
come up with different options of whether it will be worthwhile to test or
not, and try to justify testing and stuff like that.
Q: Besides chemical
engineering, what are some of the other things that you do?
Gonzalez:
In my programs, we come up
with estimates on how much it would cost for the quality evaluation. We
also deal with test planning. When there's a new item, or new system,
we'll work with what kind of testing we'll propose to do for the actual
items that are in that system.
Q: What advice would you
offer to someone who is interested in chemical engineering?
Gonzalez:
I would tell them to study
things like management and finance, in addition to chemical engineering
and engineering. I would say to consider that because everything goes
around money now. It sounds nice to come out with programs but, if money's
tight, you're not going to do it. So look at that part of engineering. The
cost estimates, control of costs, are very important.
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