PCSI Design

With her mocha in hand at Starbucks in University Village, the 22-year-old Vietnamese native easily blended in with the bustling university coeds and hum of conversation that filled the coffee shop late one recent Wednesday night. She appeared calm and collected after a long day at work. Attired in jeans and a button-down shirt sporting her company’s logo, she joked that she missed college as she looked around the buzzing room.

Although her passion for engineering didn’t arise until college, it didn’t take long for Tran to realize her affinity for the industry. “I thought if I did that [aerospace engineering] as a career, that would be phenomenal,” said Tran. And she has done just that.

The 2009 University of Washington graduate has left the days of late-night studying for a new lifestyle of four 10-hour shifts a week at PCSI Design, a Bothell- based engineering firm. PCSI Design clients include Boeing, Microsoft, LeMond Fitness, and Puget Sound Energy. Tran was an intern for PCSI Design during the summer of 2008 and transitioned as a part-timer as she finished her senior year at the UW. She then joined the company as a full-time engineer this year. Although the transition at the end of her senior year was a large time commitment, she com- mends PSCI Design for its flexibility allowing her to balance school and work. But she found comfort in knowing she would have a job after graduation.

“I feel like I didn’t have to settle,” she said of taking the job at PCSI Design. “I am very grateful for this security especially when everything else is so turbulent.” While trying to get a job in an unstable economy and in a profession with few female peers for support may have been daunting to anyone else, Tran approached her situation differently.

In the UW Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics there are currently 115 undergraduates, 12 percent of them women, said Professor Eli Livne. “Being in a male-dominated field really challenged me. It was a positive challenge though,” Tran said. “It encouraged me to work harder and involve myself more.”

As part of her senior Capstone project, Tran was a key member of a team that designed and built a small, unmanned aerial vehicle. Livne, a former professor of Tran, recalled one of the first days they attempted to fly it; the engine mounts failed and the engine became loose.

“There Quynh was, on the runway at the side of the airplane, with her hands deep into the engine attachment section to assess damage and devise a quick fix,” said Livne. “And when Quynh said that we needed to get the airplane back to the shop because the problem could not be fixed in the field, that was
that. She was an authority that we all respected.”

“She does not get stressed easily and works well under pressure,” Livne added. “I remember her always upbeat, positive, willing to take the initiative.” Tran’s desire to get involved set her ahead of her peers and is now evident in her work at PCSI Design.

Tran is the sole female engineer at PSCI Design and one of four women on the staff, according to Chris
Follett, vice president of the firm.
“We very excited to have her on the team,” said Follett. “She is professional in every sense of the word and she has great engineering basics.”
Tran’s work at PSCI Design extends far beyond the reaches of traditional engineering. “She has taken a very strong role in our diversity program, mentoring minority groups, both in high school and college,” said Follett. The company also sends her to networking events because of her ability to talk with other professionals. “She has an amazing work ethic,” said Follett.

Tran attributed this work ethic to her parents and upbringing. She and her family moved to Lacey (near
Olympia) from Vietnam a few years after she was born. She gave her parents credit for giving her a strong work ethic.

“My parents worked really hard to give my siblings and me what we have today,” she said. Being Vietnamese at the University of Washington did not make her feel like a minority because of its large population, but in the industry she said her ethnicity is much more apparent.

“When you’re a person of color, especially being young, it has been difficult,” she said. “Not that they treat you differently, but they are more tentative and wary of working with you.” But she has found strong support from other Vietnamese-Americans she has come across in the industry.

“The Vietnamese community is very willing to support each other, even across generations,” she said. Tran has felt very comfortable at PSCI Design because, as a minority-owned company, they celebrate diversity.

“I don’t want to over use ‘synergy,’ but that is really what it is,” she said. “We challenge the status quo.” Carlos Veliz, CEO and president of PCSI Design, adds that “because we are a minority owned business, (Tran) did catch our eye initially because she’s a minority female in aeronautics. … A better, more diverse team equals more skills to offer when going after contracts.”

“We have two pending contracts because of her,” added Follett.

For now, Tran plans to continue working hard and learning all she can. In the world of aeronautical engineering, she’s flying high.

(KAETLYN CORDINGLEY is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.)