Marisa N. Medina
Senior Staff Systems Engineer
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
“Once I knew what Engineering was, that
it paid well, and was a form of applied
math/science, I knew that’s where I was
headed,” shares Marisa N. Medina when
asked what drove her to pursue a STEM
career. “I enjoyed being good at, or able to
do Math and Science. I liked that it was
considered hard, and that it was a
respected industry. I know STEM is
important for our country and planet as
well.”
Born in New Orleans, Medina has
spent most of her life in Tulsa, Oklahoma
City, New York City, and the Dallas-Fort
Worth area. As the senior staff systems
engineer she is working in the Skunk
Works®, on a few Advanced Development
Programs in the Systems Engineering and Architecture Team. Her team develops
design documentation, requirements, functional decompositions and modeling
diagrams. She also serves as the scrum master lead to one of their capability
teams, and is a project manager.
Medina attended Columbia University School of Engineering and
Applied Science for her freshman and sophomore years with the intention of
pursing an Applied Math degree. She graduated from the University of Texas
at Arlington, with both Math and Electrical Engineering Bachelor degrees.
She joined Lockheed Martin Aeronautics after graduation, as an Electronics
Engineer. She completed her coursework for a Master of Science in
Technical Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, while
working full-time.
During her 17-year career in Fort Worth, she has served in various System
Engineering roles across Avionics Design, Test, Software, and Hardware. She has
also served in various Integration and Project Engineering roles. She has
supported the F-35 Lighting II program for over 16 years, and most recently the
Skunk Works® team.
“Being Latina has given me that Familia at work,” she shares. “I’ve spoken
about how I didn’t really have that many LatinX peers before I joined the workforce.
They were either younger or older due to my outreach or networking activities.”
Her advice for Latinas aspiring a STEM career is to learn Spanish.
“The number of people expecting me to speak Spanish is continuously
increasing,” she shares. “I would encourage people to know factors that may
prevent someone from obtaining a security clearance. I feel knowing this in high
school/college would be beneficial.”
Medina has been involved in several Employee Resource Groups, and
Diversity, Communications, Culture, New Employee, Organizational, Leadership,
Vitality, Generational, Recruiting, and STEM Outreach efforts. She is also part of a
Young Philanthropy Group, and on the STEAM side, a Bass Hall Young Patron
member.
Marisa N. Medina receives the SHPE Member Award.
November, 2007.
LS
Marisa Medina at the Hispanic Heritage Festival. October, 2006.
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