Nuts and Bolts of Engineering

When the U.S. began fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, improvised explosive devices (IED) were one of the biggest threats to our soldiers. Booz Allen engineers were able to not only develop specialized armor for Army and Marine Corps vehicles, but also a jammer with the ability to block the wireless signals that detonate IEDs. Together, in just over a year, these technologies cut the number of U.S. casualties from IEDs in those countries by approximately 85 percent.

“These are the kinds of solutions that draw clients to Booz Allen,” says Senior Vice President Brian Abbe, “and the ability to work on these kinds problems for our clients—some of the largest and most complex problems imaginable—are what draw the most talented engineers to the firm. They love to be challenged and to work on projects with such incredible impact.”

Booz Allen has worked on engagements with critical engineering elements for over a century (like contributing to the design of the Hubble Telescope and the Apollo 11 moon launch), but it was largely in a consulting capacity until the technology and digital revolutions of recent years. Since then, Booz Allen has been building our engineering workforce to ensure we have specialized expertise in a wide range of engineering fields. And our engineers deliver a unique advantage to our clients—they’re not only accomplished in their respective fields and leading the way in other disciplines such as policy, business, and management fields, they also embody the firm’s management consulting heritage as they innovate solutions for clients. It’s a new way of providing engineering services that sets Booz Allen apart: consultative engineering.

“Our engineers not only roll up their sleeves and perform hands-on, cutting-edge work for our clients, they’re able to provide them with the broader picture, as Booz Allen consultants, to deliver a more holistic solution,” says Brian.

Because our success in this—and every—market begins and ends with our people, we’ve created a systematic approach to growing a diverse and talented engineering workforce that includes:

• Targeted acquisitions of companies like the Defense Systems Engineering and Support division of ARINC Incorporated—which added approximately 1,000 employees to our engineering body in 2012 and added depth and scale in the fields of C4ISR; sustainment engineering; aviation and naval shipboard systems; and positioning, navigation, and timing; and SDI Technologies Corporation—which helped build our rapid-prototyping, manufacturing, and production capabilities, and our expertise in customized electronics and radio frequency communications
• Partnerships with—and often leadership positions within—professional associations like the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA), the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Relationships with associations that have professional, university, and diversity touchpoints—such as Great Minds in STEM, the National Society of Black Engineers, and the Society of Asian Scientists
  
• Strategic recruiting within the industry that helps us hire world-class engineers—like Dr. Dave Stoudt and Tom Hastings, who joined the firm as Booz Allen Fellows in early 2016; and university recruiting at select schools with top engineering programs—reaching students before they graduate.
  

This year, Booz Allen is also taking steps to increase the pipeline of talented engineers who’ve left the workforce and may be ready to return. “Often these are women who’ve left to raise a family and now aren’t sure if they can return as engineers,” says Senior Vice President Natalie Givans, Booz Allen engineer and winner of the 2016 AFCEA Women’s Appreciation Award for her efforts to further the careers of women. In partnership with SWE and iRelaunch, the firm is launching a new internship called the “Return-to-Work Program.” The program will provide paid re-entry internships in 2016 for talented, experienced engineers with high-demand skill sets—like electrical and systems engineers, and software developers/engineers—looking for a hands-on program designed to jump-start their return to the workforce.

Together, these approaches are helping to create a powerful workforce—now 3,000+ engineers strong—that’s ready to take on any engineering challenge our clients throw at us and offer solutions as diverse as the engineers making them.

Download the full PDF of the 2016 Impact Report.