Lynn Sementilli

• Buffalo, NY

• Moog, Inc. Aircraft Group

• Electronics Product Engineer Co-op
• Associate Electronics Product Engineer 
• AG Commercial OEM Electronics Product Engineer

What types of work have you performed? What projects have you worked on?
In my position at Moog Aircraft Group, I work on the production (coordinating new builds, maintaining build and test processes, troubleshooting failures, analyzing electronics test coverage and field reliability) for Boeing and Gulfstream aircraft electronics control units.

What have been some favorite aspects of your work?
Some of my favorite aspects of my job are the dynamic characteristics of my field. No day is ever the same, and there is always a new challenge to every product and project. There is always more to learn, and, being in the production department, I have had the opportunity to learn about all aspects of the engineering field. From design and development, to manufacturing and processes, materials and components, test and reliability, management and aftermarket.

When I was a young student prior to college, I always said to myself that I did not want a boring job sitting at a desk all day. God definitely granted me my wish, as every day I am either facing new technical challenges, in meetings with customers or managers, in the lab testing products, or in my office brainstorming with fellow engineers on how to approach certain problems that arise in our department.

What was one of your most satisfying days as an engineer?
Any day that I find the solution to a problem that I had been racking my brain about for weeks is a good day as an engineer. However, seeing the solution actually implemented to a final state is even more satisfying. Finding problems in industry are easy, developing a solution is harder, but the hardest step is being diligent enough to follow through on implementing a solution.

Was it worth it? What has your engineering background made possible for you? What value has it added to your overall life?
The most important thing that being an engineer has taught me is how to approach problems with a solution-based mindset. Just listen to people complain about the world around them: anyone can point out an issue, but engineers look to solve the issues that others may only point out.

Some other important aspects of being an engineer is working with a team and maintaining a positive attitude. In order to implement solutions or develop new designs, you have to have good communication skills and teamwork! We might be stereotyped as the "nerdy" engineers, but just because we have fun talking about technology does not mean we all struggle with communicating effectively with others! On the contrary, good engineers learn how to relate to people around them in order to help them understand the technological products they work with. Learning these skills has helped me in all areas of my life, especially in my hobby of local and national politics.