Mechanical Engineering Overview - Overview PDF - PowerPoint - Podcast

	MBA, Pepperdine University MS, Mechanical Engineering, California State University/Fullerton BS, Mechanical Engineering, California State University/Fullerton
	International project management and various functions in design, finance, development of proposals and interaction with clients.
	Caecelia's projects involve buildings of every type, from hospitals to convention centers. Each raises questions and issues that require expertise in architectural, electrical, mechanical, structural and human factors engineering.
	"One thing that an engineering background gives that is very, very strong is to be able to attack a problem in a methodical way, find the solution, and solve it."

"I continued on to a Master's degree in mechanical engineering because credentials are important when you are working with international clients. In Europe, for example, the Master's has a higher status than the Bachelor degree. When you are seeking professional recognition overseas, it's better to have a Master's or Ph.D. But I didn't stop there. As I moved up in the company I found that I needed business and "people" skills. So I went back to school for an MBA degree."

"A performance appraisal, as I view it, is actually the time for that particular person to set up what his or her goals for the upcoming year are. So if I give a performance appraisal, that's the time when I can sit down with that person and give him or her feedback of what's good about their performance and what needs improvement. Because that person, as they grow, can capitalize on their strengths. And, on the other hand they can take steps to lesson their disadvantage, or work on what they need to grow. And, as that person grows, we can better capitalize them as well."

Q: So tell us about your lifestyle. Three days out of five or seven, it's eight to eight. What's the lifestyle of an engineer?
Gotama: Well, I hope the days that I'm not staying late I get to exercise a little bit, because that's the way I can maintain my stamina. And I try very hard to have my weekend free, because that's when I actually do socializing with my clients. Free from work, that is, but I do go out with my clients, get to know them personally. And because my husband also is a professional, I get to know his clients as well. So, a lot of the time in the weekend, we spend socializing with people we work with.

Q: Tell us about the jobs you've had since you've been out of school, including changes within the various companies.
Gotama: I made a few changes in my career because part of engineering, I found out very early on is, if one made changes, you got to advance a little faster. On the other hand, changes have to be made very carefully. Because too many changes -- it seems like that person would not be able to fit in an organization. So, whenever I changed, I made sure that I advanced and I carefully planned that I got quite a good variety of backgrounds. A broad base of backgrounds, because I knew that it would help me in the future to better understand all aspects of engineering. And so I started as a summer intern in one company, and then I worked for another company that is no longer in business. And every time I moved, I started with just a project -- just a junior engineer. And then I started to become the main mechanical engineer. And then, I moved to another company as a project engineer and I moved up to Syska & Hennessy starting as a project manager. And now, I'm a project manager and also starting a brand new division in a brand new area.

Q: Can you say anything about that new division and the new area and where you want to take it?
Gotama: It will be in Asia. -- the new divisions will be in Asia. As far as the office -- where the office will be -- we're not sure yet because a lot of it will be dictated by the work. Currently, we have work in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Probably, it will be in Singapore because that's a hub. But on the other hand, if the work dictated us to be somewhere else, we'd probably be somewhere else. So right now it's still open.

Q: What kinds of things have you seen in international communications? What have you learned?
Gotama: Yes, in most places outside the U.S., relationships are very important in the business dealings. In the U.S., if you're good you can actually enter just about any market. The market is not as open outside of the U.S., so it takes time to build up a relationship, to let people know who you are. And they're interested in you as a person. Not so much the company. They give you a project. They want you to run the project. They don't care about the company. Which makes it interesting because it gives you more of a "loyal" approach to the whole thing. But at the same time, if you promise something, you are tied down to that promise. You can't just go on and chase another project because this particular project is no longer interesting. You have to deliver your commitment. And it has to be you as a person to deliver that commitment.

Q: Did you expect these sorts of things when you were a student?
Gotama: No, because when I was a student -- I guess most engineering students will sort of look down at the other side of the campus. Those people who learn English, you know, English major or psychology major or art major. We never wanted to have anything to do with those people. And yet, the first thing when I got out of school, a person said "Go and write a letter." And I first said, "Well, we didn't write letters in engineering school." It's something that as we grew up in the professional life, we learned that there's a lot more than engineering. All those aspects of general education tend to be quite important. That's another reason why I took the MBA, because I felt the need to have better people skills. Accounting, all the business skills.

Q: Well, there are scores of engineering students out there who share the same thing. And who really will begin to find their joy in being more people-oriented directions. Where would you advise, in the engineering profession, if that's where they also have their "joys," where would you advise they look for such things?
Gotama: Well, one thing that an engineering background gives that is very, very strong is to be able to attack a problem in a methodical way, find the solution, and solve it. And those are the abilities that, whether you become an engineer or not later on, are valuable abilities that we learn from school. As far as where an engineer can use their talents as well as involving people at all times, I've seen engineers that eventually went back to school and became stockbrokers. They deal with computers, they use their engineering methodical approach, and deal with people -- customers and corporate clients -- all the time. There are lots of engineers that become lawyers; there are lots of engineers that become doctors. There are lots of engineers like myself who are still involved with engineering but act as a consultant. So there are a lot of opportunities outside of engineering school, whether it's using your engineering background or not. But the skills will always stay with you.

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