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Meet Distinguished Alumni Award Winner Brynn A. Watson ‘89

Brynn WatsonBrynn A. Watson ‘89 is an award-winning leader in the aerospace industry, nationally recognized for her technical expertise, executive leadership, and advocacy for STEM education. She currently serves as Lockheed Martin’s vice president for the Future Enterprise Program overseeing the corporation’s transformational digital technology operations.

In her nomination letter, the Augsburg Women Engaged (AWE) Council said, “Brynn’s accomplishments during her career at Lockheed Martin stand for themselves. We are so proud to see an Auggie woman pioneering for other women in STEM.”

Watson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, in mathematics from Augsburg University and a Master of Science in applied mathematics from the University of California at Riverside.

In prior leadership roles at Lockheed Martin, Watson was vice president of Navigation Systems Operations and deputy for the Global Positioning System (GPS) III program for Lockheed Martin Space. GPS III is the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation program improving position, navigation, and timing services to all users.  Before that, she was vice president of an engineering organization in the Space line of business leading more than 5,300 engineers, responsible for personnel management and development, engineering and technology strategy, engineering processes, tools and training, and product technical validation. Prior to that assignment, she served as director of software engineering, responsible for the execution and strategic direction over 1,200 software engineers; leading a strategic initiative focused on maximizing digital integration and end-to-end system modeling. Additionally, she served as director of engineering, collaboration, and operations for Corporate Engineering and Technology, and deputy to the vice president of Engineering.

Watson began her aerospace career as an engineer at Aerojet Electronic Systems in Azusa, Calif., where she held positions in a variety of systems and software engineering areas.

Watson is a member of Women in Aerospace, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Lockheed Martin Women’s Impact Network.

She has been recognized for her leadership, receiving the 2013 Lockheed Martin Space NOVA Full Spectrum Leadership Award; the 2012 Tribute to Women Honor by the YWCA of Silicon Valley; and the 2008 Lockheed Martin Space Ed Taft Diversity Leadership Award. In 2015, Watson’s essay, “A Look Inside Lockheed Martin’s Space-Age Operations,” was published by the Harvard Business Review.

Watson’s enterprising spirit and accomplishments mirror the tenacity of Auggies around the world, who, through study, experience, and hard work, ascend to prestigious positions among today’s leading companies.

Watson credits her time at Augsburg as helping her to think big and believe that she can accomplish anything with hard work and perseverance. She also feels that her strong advocacy for women was built by the dedicated women she interacted with during her time at the university.

Alumna Chalks Up Another Patent

Audrey Sherman pictureAs a girl, Audrey Sherman ’97 loved science classes so much that there was no hesitation when her college-student mother asked for help with her own science classes. Going to local lakes and ponds together to collect water specimens, examining them under microscopes, and then recording the findings gave Sherman a taste of what her own college experience might be like. But she didn’t expect to someday become an inventor!

One day in her junior year of high school, Sherman heard a pitch about a program that tickled that love of science—a program that would lead her to the career of her dreams. The speaker was describing the STEP program, a science encouragement program sponsored by 3M, the global St. Paul-based company famous for innovations such as Scotch tape, Post-It Notes, and over 60,000 other products.

Sherman was told that, in a 3M classroom, she and other high school students would learn from 3M scientists about chemistry, math, and polymers; learn how to do research; and at the end of the sessions, have an opportunity to interview for a full-time paid summer job in the 3M laboratories.

Becky Kreckel, the woman introducing the STEP program, described the joy of cooking with chemicals and making new molecules, outlined the opportunities that science could offer, and—the clincher for Sherman—talked about the sports car she owned. Sherman liked the idea of making new things, and being rewarded for it, and she was hooked. Continue reading “Alumna Chalks Up Another Patent”

Urban Scrubs Campers Explore STEM & Health Fields

Augsburg hosted Urban Scrubs Camp for the sixth consecutive year this July. Scrubs Camp invites high school students interested in science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) and medical fields to immerse themselves in an experience-based program that exposes students to many fields, including dentistry, psychology, engineering, nursing, and more. During the week-long day camp, students participate in hands-on sessions, tour medical facilities, experience a variety of healthcare activities, and are exposed to numerous career options. It’s a fun way to learn about health-related careers, meet others, and get a sneak peek of life as an Auggie.

This year, Augsburg hosted 76 students and several alumni engaged as volunteers. Alumna Mary Ann Kinney MAN ’04, DNP ’11, a registered nurse at Mayo Clinic’s St. Mary‘s Hospital in Rochester, served as a keynote speaker and discussed her work in community building. Kinney has had extensive immersions through her graduate studies at Augsburg in Mexico and Guatemala and with homeless populations in Minneapolis and Rochester. She served as delegate to the first International Conference on Women’s Health in Beijing, China.

Urban Scrubs
Urban Scrubs campers at work in the Boston Scientific engineering workshop.

This camp provides a unique experience for metro-area students who otherwise might not have access to healthcare education. Last year, 70% of participants were students of color and 20% of campers were local to the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.

Scrubs Camp is made possible by generous support from corporations, foundations, and community members. For the third year, Boston Scientific employees volunteered at Scrubs Camp. Steve Oommen facilitated two engineering workshops for campers.