04 February 2025

Interview with Bill McDermott

The expert I decided to interview within the industry is Bill McDermott, the Technical Director of Test Operations at General Atomics. Bill is responsible for the research and development of the technology used and also manages special projects. He used to be the supervisor for my current mentor in the company, Roy Lara. It is through Roy that I became acquainted with Bill (I have a different supervisor). Now Bill is managing the Collaborative Combat Aircrafts (CCA) project for a contract we recently secured with the Air Force. I chose Bill as the expert I wanted to research because he is not only very knowledgeable, but the impression he leaves on me is different compared to other higher-ups in the company. Unlike other supervisors, Bill is rarely found in his office, but rather working hands-on tasks on the floor, whether it be routing fiber or connecting the different systems that compose a Ground Control Station (GCS). Bill is also personally writing the programs that will be used for the many interfaces of the CCA project.

To my surprise, Bill shares with me that he holds no degrees and was still able to make it to his position as Technical Director. His advice, that encompasses all his success, is to simply be curious. Instead of just focusing on referring to a document instructing us how to solve an issue, we should question why it works the way it does and understand how the system behaves. With that mentality, Bill explains that as time goes on, the troubleshooting process can be narrowed down much more easily. An important skill to have because he explains that the biggest technical challenges in this field is troubleshooting the various problems that occur. Therefore, he also advises that I spend some time looking into “Troubleshooting Theory” to hone in on this skill. Bill is also a self-taught person, learning everything from hardware to programming on his own time, with the help of books and video tutorials. Although the projects we are working on for the CCAs are confidential, I can say that I have personally seen the graphics Bill has written up on a video game platform that he has never used until recently.

    Some of Bill’s biggest challenges working on the CCA project range from a multitude of disciplines. He has to put together a budget report for the project, host meetings with executive officers to propose the budget, in addition to making compromises to ensure he gets all the necessary equipment to get the project operating before the deadline. It means putting together plenty of documents in an organized manner and being able to effectively communicate his plans to those who lack the technical understanding. Overseeing such a large project means he has to be willing to assign smaller aspects of the project to others and trust them to handle it so he can focus on other matters. He then has to follow up with these team members to get a better understanding of the progress he is making towards the many different deadlines. Bill has shared that we are in the process of finalizing contracts with many other customers, dating out as far as 2029, therefore making the need to expand facilities and hire more employees a very real situation. 

    My interview with Bill has shown me the importance of having a positive attitude towards approaching problems and how being curious about everything will offer a good driving force towards my success. Afterall, he has no degrees but is continuing to make great accomplishments within the company. It also taught me that networking both inside and outside the company offers better reliability in achieving success. Bill goes around asking other employees for help everyday regarding his program, networking issues, and infrastructure issues, in search of more efficient solutions. If it were not for Roy involving me in his special projects with Bill, I would not have the opportunity to understand the infrastructure of our GCS better. I would not be exposed to different problems from my coworkers and be presented with opportunities to be flown out to other countries to help solve their problems. Furthermore, my network continues to branch off with each person I meet after Bill. I get to hear about all the positions other directors are discussing about creating and be one of the first ones to express my interests. I always had a passion for programming and being hands-on with hardware, thinking I had to decide on one. But conversing with Bill, I learned about the Urgent Field Support Engineer role and another one they are working on creating. Both these roles will allow me to dabble with both the hardware and programming. 

    With all the advice and experiences Bill has shared with me, I plan to approach every challenge presented to me, both academically and in my professional journey, with a curious and positive mindset. I will view it as an opportunity to learn something new and hone in my competitiveness into challenging myself to achieve higher levels. I will also ensure I take more initiative into learning something personally on the side. I will ask the seniors at work to give me questions about the system for me to research, before presenting them with my answers. I have also asked my mentor to assign me different Linux projects that will better prepare me for future troubleshooting. 

Part 1: Write down your educational goal(s) in the CS program (and beyond if you'd like)

My educational goal in this CS program is to gain a better understanding about programming. I want to be able to dedicate enough time every day to my studies where I am not changing a bunch of small things around in my program just to get it to compile correctly. I want to be able to understand exactly what I did wrong and what changes I need to make to correct the program. I also want to gain a better understanding of how networking works. I will accomplish this goal by allocating enough time to not only finish assignments, but to take extra time to work on personal projects.

Part 2: Write down your career goal(s)

My short-term career goal is to get a promotion and continue to gain a clear understanding of the infrastructure on the systems. I will continue to incorporate the knowledge I gain from this program into work applications. My long-term career goal is to gain my degree and be eligible to become an Urgent Field Support Engineer. I don't just want the title, I want to be someone who can actually understand and help solve problems at work. When people ask me questions about the systems, I want to be able to explain it to them in an understandable way.

Part 3: After viewing the ETS page, the test description, and sample test, how do you feel about taking the test in 18 months?  What percentile do you feel you will get, why?

After doing the sample test, I feel anxious about taking the test in 18 months. Although following the pseudocode is not the problem, I am having a hard time understanding the directions clearly. For example, the first question asks "which of the following statements is (are) true at the end of the while loop?". I cannot determine if they mean once the while loop is done executing, or literally, the next line of code after the while loop. Currently, I do not have the knowledge or understanding for any of the other questions to answer them logically. I am confident I can get question number 9 correct, but it only displayed the different logics, no question was presented with it. 

Part 4: Include what have you learned from this week's readings and activities

This week, I learned about the seven career goals that will help ensure my success in my career. A study conducted showed that the students that set goals earned on average, twice as much than the students that did not set one. It includes having humility and conducting a self-assessment periodically so I can understand where I am now compared to the past. It can be motivating to see the progress or be the push needed if I am not where I intended to be. My favorite tip out of this reading is to also take some time off from studying to avoid burn-out and still enjoy life.