Is Engineering in the 21st century the same profession it was in the 20th century?

As technology, the economy, globalization and societal norms have changed, what does that mean for a career in engineering? Are the opportunities and demands the same? How can we, as engineers and as women, shape careers that we want? And how should we be advertising engineering to potential future engineers?

Margaret C. (Peggy) Burns, Vice President of Engineering for the IS&S Business Area since August, 2004, is responsible for engineering performance and personnel for IS&S. Her organization numbers over 8000 degreed engineers working across the country and internationally on over 200 programs. Her organization also drives IRADs, engineering Leadership Development Programs, and the IS&S LM Fellows program. She is sponsor of the IS&S East-Central Regional Diversity Council and Workforce Strategy IPT, sponsor of the IS&S Women’s Network affinity group, a Certified Program Manager in IS&S, and an adjunct instructor in the Lockheed Martin Corporate Program Management course series. Peggy also serves on the Montgomery County (MD) Business Roundtable for Education focused on the Engineering curriculum in local high schools.
Peggy was previously the Director of Navigation and Weather Programs and Program Director for the GPS Control Segment subcontract for the Boeing Company GPS IIF Program, where she received the Lockheed Martin NOVA Award for Leadership in 2004. Prior positions in Lockheed Martin included roles in program management, and manager of development, systems engineering, and integration and test on GPS and on classified programs. She first joined Lockheed Martin as a systems engineering developing simulation software.

Ms. Burns previously held positions in systems engineering and software development for U.S. Air Force, Westinghouse Electric Corporations, Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company (now Verizon), and Betac Coporation, Ms. Burns earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Drexel University, 1979, and studied graduate computer science at George Washington University. Peggy is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the IEEE Computer Society, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the Air Force Association. She is a licensed private pilot and resides in Gaithersburg, MD.