America Airlines – Celebrating Native American Heritage Month with Laura Smith-Velasquez

November is Native American Heritage Month (NAHM). This month was established to honor and acknowledge Native Individuals as the primary individuals of this nation and to rejoice each their cultural heritage and integral significance to our previous, our current, and our future.

To assist rejoice NAHM, we reached out to Laura Smith-Velasquez (Cherokee Nation): SWE Member, SWE Native-American Affinity Group lead, and winner of the 2020 American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) Technical Excellence Award. Try our interview with Laura to study extra about her STEM background and her connection to the Native American neighborhood.

Joyful Native American Heritage Month!

What initially impressed your curiosity in engineering and/or tech?

I grew up watching Star Trek with my Grandmother and studying science fiction novels corresponding to Anne McCaffrey Dragonriders of Pern the place they colonize one other planet. As well as now we have a Cherokee story about how the the Milky Manner got here to be.  I liked staring up into the deep darkish skies of Michigan the place I may see the Milky Manner with my very own eyes since there wasn’t that a lot mild air pollution. It was laid out like a river of stars. It was so stunning and I used to be interested in what was on the market and possibly who was on the market and wished to Captain my very own starship to discover the galaxy. This stuffed me with marvel and began my coronary heart as an explorer. After I was eight years outdated my dad and mom received me a telescope for Christmas and this sealed it; I wished to be an astronaut.

The place did you go to highschool, and what did you main in? Why?

It will be significant right here to know that I’m the primary individual to graduate highschool in my household, although I’m not the primary to go to varsity. After I was little, my dad—at about 36 years outdated with six kids—determined to go to varsity and get a bachelor’s diploma in Anthropology to raised our lives and get a greater job. He studied laborious to get his GED and enrolled at Grand Valley State College. My older siblings took jobs and my mother took a second job and we made it occur. Dad stayed house, took care of us children, and accomplished his diploma. This confirmed me how superior a university campus was and I knew I wished to go to varsity, too.

We solely had one automotive so my grandmother drove dad forwards and backwards to courses or when my mother was off she would attend with my dad. I’d play within the Anthropology Lab dressing up a skeleton named Twiggy and I’d sit and pour over books within the campus bookstore. With out this affect I’m certain that I, too, would have by no means graduated highschool or received a university diploma. For a lot of Native households we are sometimes busy simply surviving… placing meals on the desk, attempting to get electrical energy, plumbing, and so forth. Many—particularly on reservations—make do with out these fundamental requirements.

Within the 1830s, in the course of the elimination, my dad’s household hid within the Missouri caves to keep away from the militia. We misplaced all the pieces again then. My mother’s household have been trappers within the Blue Ridge Mountains and it was troublesome to be Native within the South. It was like that they had to enter hiding. So my grandparents began life from scratch. It’s wonderful how far that they had come regardless of all the pieces!

There actually isn’t a direct path to changing into an astronaut. It’s not like one thing you go to highschool for therefore I regarded up all of the astronauts prior to now and noticed what they took to turn out to be astronauts. They have been pilots and so they have been engineers. I like fixing issues, I like serving to individuals, and I actually was fascinated about flying.

I considered going into the Air Power or the Navy and changing into an aviator, however at the moment, ladies weren’t allowed in fight and there have been solely 4 ladies within the Air Power that have been pilots. They have been all trainers of pilots. Two of them went on to turn out to be astronauts. One was commander of the house shuttle and the opposite was a commander of the Worldwide Area Station, nonetheless these odds are usually not good. So I selected to go the civilian route. I wasn’t actually certain the place to go to highschool, however someday on the varsity profession bulletin board there was an data card on Embry-Riddle Aeronautical College. After I discovered that the whole College was dedicated to Aviation and Aerospace I made a decision that that is the place I wished to go to highschool and I didn’t apply wherever else; fortunately I received in.

I initially twin majored in aerospace engineering and aeronautical science, nonetheless I couldn’t afford to pay for each as I used to be working full-time and paying for my very own school training. Because it was, that first yr I had bother even paying for meals and housing. I had come to Embry-Riddle going from Michigan to Florida, finagling my very own manner down with a journey from a stranger (one other scholar’s father or mother) with $20 in my pocket and a duffel bag of requirements purchased from the greenback retailer. So I selected the pilot route as a result of I wished to Dance the Skies and I wasn’t certain what kind of engineering I wished to do.

I discovered my ardour as an intern for American Airlines. I had my business pilot certification and a minor in Meteorology and Flight Security Accident Investigation. I used to be going to do their pay for rent program the place you’re employed for the airline and also you pay $10,000 on your flight coaching. When a spot opens up and you’ve got sufficient hours to maneuver in, you get a pilot slot. It wasn’t like at present the place there’s a scarcity of Pilots. Again then Pilots have been a dime a dozen and it was actually troublesome to get a flight place. Nonetheless I used to be doing line coaching throughout my internship and flew in nearly each make and model flight deck that American Airlines had. I used to be instructing line Pilots the best way to use their new stormscope and right here I noticed that I used to be manner too hyper to fly an autopilot for eight hours a day. Nonetheless the system design had many human elements and issues of safety that I noticed I may design a greater Flight Deck.

At the moment, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical College had began a brand new grasp’s diploma program known as human elements and programs. I had found my ardour for operator interface design, serving to to make programs simpler, environment friendly, and protected within the aviation and Aerospace trade. I enrolled in human elements & programs main and did a twin focus in human elements engineering and programs engineering with focuses on lengthy length house flight and habitation module design and a backup focus in flight deck and automation design. This MS in combos with my aeronautical science diploma (which is admittedly plane programs and navigation sciences) actually made me a wonderful programs engineer.

What was/is your expertise as a minority in engineering? Who did/do you flip to for assist and/or mentoring?

What a loaded query! Sorry if this can be a little bit of a stream of consciousness. I discover that my Cherokee tradition could be very completely different from American tradition. We’re very “we” oriented with a collective id. This leads to being an awesome staff participant, personable, proactive, and centered on the bigger image. As well as my tradition doesn’t have a hierarchy system like conventional American tradition and sometimes now we have what is known as a management of equals. Company America is cut-throat and the person is commonly praised above the staff with the staff lead getting a lot of the acknowledgement. Managers are sometimes insecure and craft a picture and message for his or her larger ups. Inside company America center managers are additionally pressured to give attention to close to time period even when it’s a long-term detriment to success.

My open, clear fashion of communication and Cherokee tradition (which can also be matriarchal versus American Patriarchal tradition) is in battle with this (nonetheless in analysis the place failure isn’t the doom product design and growth is and is commonly understood as effectively a a lot flatter, extra open group, with extra clear communication, I’ve had much less of those issues). Persons are at all times amazed after I can converse simply with our CEO and managers get nervous when their workers have a direct line of communication above them. I want this wasn’t the case, however within the multitude of corporations I’ve labored for, this has been my expertise no matter what the company values state.  With my character and cultural background I don’t match the normal worker mildew. I don’t do effectively in a hierarchy autocratic type of administration.

I’m what is known as “white passing” as I don’t seem like the stereotypical Plaines Indian you see in western motion pictures. This leads individuals to imagine I’m the identical tradition and I ought to robotically assume the best way they do and am evaluated on norms that I don’t match with none clarification. Even when they acknowledge I’m completely different I’m mostly guessed at as Turkish or Israeli primarily based on my options. So many managers have stated “you can only change yourself”, however what they actually imply is change your self so you possibly can match their mildew. I used to try to spend a lot time and power attempting to be one thing I’m not that it actually affected my work and private well being. I don’t do that any longer. I’m my authentic self and work to have this dialog early on with my coworkers and managers in order that they don’t assume and so they perceive my variety and the value I convey. This enables us to stage set one another and accommodate with constructive outcomes.

Being a lady and my team-oriented tradition has led many to attempt to push me into administration and out of the technical realm. For me the technical aspect is what I like to do, however there are only a few ladies right here. I’ve resisted this push my total profession. I don’t need to be a Program Supervisor. Sadly as a lady in tech, it’s more durable to get promoted. In my final job I typically was the best performer and doing the identical job as the lads who had already been promoted (this yr alone received four awards) but I’ve not been promoted in 9 years regardless of having many conversations of why. I skilled the unreachable targets adopted by imprecise targets to lastly getting a comfort elevate to acknowledge my laborious work and success but nonetheless no promotion. Previously I’ve needed to go away the corporate to get promoted.

As for being the one Native and ladies within the room… I’ve skilled imposter syndrome and a little bit of bullying (attributable to my lack of cultural match). It’s laborious to show these and the easiest way I’ve handled them is to get mentors who may assist me with navigating these points and or to discover a new position. Sadly, HR has not been useful.  I’ve needed to search my very own position models as there are only a few Natives and Ladies in STEM. As well as, in human elements engineering, typically you’re the one engineer within the firm so there are only a few technical mentors. I’ve needed to look outdoors of my firm typically for mentors which is why SWE and AISES are so vital! Most corporations don’t also have a useful resource group for Native Individuals.

At the same time as a staff lead and profitable worker, I’ve needed to demand raises and work rather a lot more durable to realize what others have gotten. But I’m at all times randomly chosen to be on the variety panel and counted. Generally this has annoyed me, however ultimately I’ve discovered to advocate for myself, to discover a company champion who is devoted to advocate for me (this is essential!) and even when I’m not promoted I normally have negotiated a greater wage and confirmed myself in trade. Ultimately if it doesn’t work out, search a greater match for your self!

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