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Franklin W. Olin, |
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Company
Cultures: Large versus Small Companies Panel
Description: If a company employs over 500
employees, it is generally considered large; one with less than 100 is small.
The working atmosphere at a small company will be very different than that at
a large company. Usually, in a large company, there's more of a set career
path within the company, a more rigid job structure, and both your title and
job description will mean a lot. In a smaller company, the job description is
less important, as you'll probably have responsibilities that grow with the
company. In short, you'll need to take more initiative in a smaller company;
however, your career progression may be more volatile. However, size alone is
not a definitive indicator of company culture; some large companies have
structured themselves as “mini-business units” in order
to get that autonomous “broad-skills” small
company feel. Other factors to consider when deciding whether a certain
company is a good match for you:
location, international and branch structure, public versus private
sector, the company’s stock history, mission statement,
company executives, quality of product or service, bonuses and benefits, even
the office style and company dress code!
About the
Panelists: Rachel Gitajn is currently
employed as a Project Engineer for Burton Snowboards. As a snowboarder, Rachel has combined her
passion for the sport with her knowledge of mechanical engineering to
personalize her career. Utilizing CAD
tools, Rachel designs various products for the snowboard industry, primarily
for snowboard bindings. She takes
these designs through prototyping, lab testing, on-snow testing, and
production specification.
Additionally, Rachel organized and chairs the new Women's Mentoring
Network at Burton Snowboards, and is an active member of Burton's Women's
Professional Association. In addition
to snowboarding, Rachel also enjoys ice hockey, painting, bicycling, and
DJing her weekly new music radio show. Rachel graduated from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute in May 2006 with a dual degree in Mechanical
Engineering and Product Design. Esther Simpson is currently a
Senior Electrical Engineer at Goodrich Corporation. Her career has allowed
her to experience the cultures of both large and small companies, beginning with
her first job at Raytheon Company after graduating from Worcester Polytechnic
Institute. After Raytheon, she moved to ATI Technologies and earned her MSEE
part-time at WPI. In 2006, ATI was acquired by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
This allowed her to experience the changes as a small company is absorbed
into a large one. Last year, she moved to Goodrich. Esther has entrepreneurial goals outside of
engineering. To that end, she started Bright Star Enterprises Inc. in 2007.
Her hobbies include singing, photography and hiking. Leslie Griffiths (panel moderator)
is a Senior Engineer with over 25 years experience with IBM Microelectronics
Division in Essex Junction, VT. She is
currently working in the Division Quality Operations group, managing the site
ISO Program and is a RAB Certified Lead Assessor. At IBM, she has worked in multiple
engineering roles, including Line Support, Product Engineering and
Development engineering, supporting the Bond, Assembly and Test of
Semi-conductors and Cards. In her career,
she has been fortunate enough to travel to numerous countries, and, as an
auditor, to be able to see many other companies, large and small, and
see how they are the same, as well as
different, from IBM. She received her
BSME from Michigan State in 1981, and received a Master's Certificate in
Project Management from George Washington University in 2000. She is a State Problem Captain for Odyssey
of the Mind, Hockey Mom, and loves to knit and go on bicycle trips with her
family. She resides in South
Burlington, VT, with her husband and has three children. Her oldest child recently graduated
college with a BSME, and Leslie was able to observe first hand the process
and many variables to consider when choosing a company for a recent college
graduate! Laura M. Dauphinais is the
Director of Growth Programs for the Deployable Collections Programs business
area of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS). In this role, Laura works along with the
Missile Defense Agency to deliver X-Band Radar capability that meets the
current and future requirements of the Ballistic Missile Defense System. She joined Raytheon in 1985 after receiving
her BS in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts in Lowell,
MA. She has also taken graduate and
executive courses at Boston University, UMASS Lowell and MIT, as well as
completing numerous leadership programs at Raytheon. While working at Raytheon, Laura has held
numerous positions of increasing responsibility in functional line
management, including Director of the Weapon Systems Design Laboratory. Prior to her current assignment, Laura was
Director of a $1.6B proposal and Lead Engineer on multiple other
programs. She started her career at
Raytheon in software and system engineering working on air traffic control
display and missile programs. Laura is
active in the Raytheon Women’s Network and the
Raytheon Protégé program and provides mentoring through all levels of the
IDS engineering organization. Laura is
a member of SWE and AIAA. Lastly, and most importantly, Laura is a single
mother of two active boys and that includes participating in the local sports
programs, PTA and church activities. Kristine L. Wheeler, P.E., New York
State Department of Health, Bureau of Water Supply Protection. Kris Wheeler graduated
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