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1
I KNEW I WANTED TO BE A
SYSTEMS ENGINEER
T
he work of a systems engineer isn’t always
obvious.
It’s an airplane that flies smoothly and lands
without incident. It’s an automobile that gently
alerts the driver when drifting out of its lane or
sensing a vehicle in its blind spot. It’s a nationwide
package-moving company that relies on dozens of
independent software packages to move millions
of parcels every day from point A to point B. It’s
a rocket that blasts off into space, taking human
beings and supplies to a distant space station—able
to safely complete its mission and return to Earth.
In fact, the success of a systems engineer might be
noted more by the lack of a problem than by any
fanfare or hoopla. And systems engineers like it that
way.
To put it another way, what is the value of a
problem not encountered? David Long, CEO
of Vitech Corporation, often asks this koan-like
question when speaking to audiences about systems
engineering. Dealing with a problem once it occurs
is much more expensive than avoiding the problem
altogether.
Long founded Vitech Corporation in 1992. The
venture which began as an undergrad project has
grown to become an enterprise with a product used
by thousands across the globe. It all started rather by
accident.
Long was a science-minded undergrad at Virginia
David Long, CEO of Vitech Corporation