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Connor Dolan

Lead Engineer at Boeing Commercial Airplanes

Connor Dolan worked at a company called Orbital Sciences before Boeing, and he got to work on a NASA satellite. They put it on a big table called a "shaker table" and shook it really hard to mimic the vibrations it would feel on a rocket.

YEARS AS AN ENGINEER: 17

COLLEGE(S) ATTENDED: University of Virginia

COLLEGE MAJOR/DEGREE: Master of Engineering in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

EXPLAIN YOUR CURRENT JOB ROLE: I work at Boeing, a company that makes airplanes. I've got a team of 10 people, and we work on the fuel systems for several different airplane models. Just like a car that runs on gasoline, airplanes have giant tanks filled with over 6,000 gallons of jet fuel. My team works on designing new parts, making improvements, fixing problems and working with our factory on how to build airplanes better.

WHY DID YOU BECOME AN ENGINEER? I've always been interested in designing and building things myself. I remember I took an aptitude test in school, which is a test that helps figure out what types of jobs you're naturally best at. One of the questions on that test was, "Have you ever doodled or sketched out designs for things like a space station?" And just earlier that morning, I had literally been daydreaming and then drawing out a cool design I had for a space station! After the test was done, my guidance counselor looked over my results and she said to me, "You should definitely think about becoming an engineer."

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOUR JOB? Sometimes, other engineers or mechanics at Boeing call me up when they've thought of a neat idea or a better way we can build one of our airplanes. And then I get to go spend days crawling around inside a partially built airplane on our factory floor, testing that idea and figuring out how to make it work. A lot of people, like me, enjoy puzzles or figuring out the perfect way to build something. I love the idea of making an airplane just a little bit better than it was before.

WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING THING ABOUT YOUR JOB? Paperwork can be boring! In a perfect world, engineers would be able to spend all day making new parts and playing with new designs. But in reality, you do have to spend a lot of time explaining things to your bosses or other people or writing emails and filling out forms. Being able to speak well in front of crowds of people is a really important skill, especially as an engineer!

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR KIDS AGES 8-12 WHO MIGHT WANT TO BECOME ENGINEERS? You should think about trying to make something on a 3D printer. Lots of cities or schools have things called "Makerspaces" where you can use their 3D printers to make your own projects, like designing your own toy figurine or a keychain or a whistle! Engineers design or build almost everything we can see in the world today, from airplanes to rocket ships. Bridges or cars, skyscrapers or new roads. You can write code to build a new video game or help create a new space satellite. If you want to work on creating something new in the world that didn't exist before, maybe you should think about becoming an engineer. Anyone can do it!