Sosa
Santiago Sosa has learned two concepts during his time at Lockheed Martin:
what it means to be an electrical engineer for a major global security and
aerospace company; and the importance of having a passion for your chosen
career.
Sosa says that he has always had an engineering mindset: carefully
thought-out, with step-by-step problem-solving. “Mix that with a natural
passion and curiosity for STEM, and I fell in love with engineering,” Sosa
recalls. He started learning about robotics and applying mathematics and
computer science to the real world, which led him to find his passion in
electrical engineering.
When looking for his co-op, Sosa knew he wanted a job that could push him
out of his comfort zone – something challenging and meaningful. “Lockheed
Martin checks all those boxes [for me] as we pioneer in the defense
industry and solve problems that keep people safe,” he claims.
Lockheed Martin saw the potential in Sosa and hired him as a Power Systems
Engineer, with the responsibility to analyze, test, and enhance the
hardware of the power systems behind radars. One notable radar he works on
is the Space Fence Radar, where it’s his and the team’s responsibility to
ensure that the system that powers the radar is running effectively.
Radars are one of Lockheed Martin’s biggest and most successful products,
and Sosa knows his work is important. But he also needs to know that
passion and meaning are behind it. Growing up as a child of Venezuelan
immigrants, Sosa felt empowered to help those in less fortunate positions.
“Working at Lockheed Martin allows me to solve meaningful problems to keep
the world safer, and it has shown me that engineering allows me to do just
that,” he says.
Now that Sosa has found his path, he’s learned an important lesson about
choosing a career for life. “Passion is subjective to each individual in
this world," he says. "Finding what that means for you is a journey everyone takes on
their own, and this co-op has been one step in that path.”
Sosa is excited to bring the technical skills he’s learned on co-op back to
the classroom, including experience with advanced circuits and data
analysis. But he's even more excited that the experience has given him
something even more crucial: “The lesson of following your heart and doing
what you love, as that is a luxury that no material thing can buy.”