Mark Coats, a chief software engineer for Scottsdale-based General Dynamics, is the latest industry leader to present his work to ASU students as part of the Advanced Technology and Innovation Center's colloquium series.
Over lunch on Monday afternoon, about 50 students gathered to hear what someone who has been a software engineer for NASA could tell them about working in the programming industry.
The event was part of a series of seminars supported by the Entrepreneurship at ASU Initiative and the Polytechnic's Advanced Technology and Innovation Center (ATIC). According to ATIC program manager Jane Laux, ATIC works to connect University resources with leaders of small-business enterprises throughout all industries.
"We hold a seminar just about every month with an industry leader who has been recommended," Laux said. "We ask them to come and talk to students about what their field is like right now, what kinds of challenges they have encountered, … and what they are looking for in employees."
"And then we can look at if ASU is equipping students with these skills," she added.
At the event, Coats emphasized the importance of communication when working on a project.
"When you have 12 people on a job, you can all get together, and it's not so hard," he said. "But when you have 1,200, there has to be very clear and direct protocol for how to make decisions."
Coats is currently the head of software in the C4S division of General Dynamics, a division of 7,600 employees spread all over the world.
Recently, Coats served as the chief software engineer for the development of a new cell-phone technology called the Mobile User Objective System, an $850-million project.
When Matthew Klein, an electronic engineering technology senior, asked where you would start in managing a project that involves 1,200 people, Coats highlighted the need to first remember the user of whatever service is being offered.
"You must think about the user from the beginning and then break down all possible events and scenarios and what should be the response," he said. "If you do that from the beginning, you'll save time in the long run."
Monthly colloquiums presented by ATIC are announced on the Poly Insider at insider.poly.asu.edu.
More information on ATIC can be found at its Web site, atic.asu.edu.
Reach the reporter at: kbielski@asu.edu.
