Rosa Sandoval
Electrical System Responsible Engineer
Northrop Grumman
Featured: 01-18-2010
Rosa the daughter of Mexican immigrants grew up in the city of South Gate, California. Growing up her parents instilled in her a great set of values including the belief that her future was in her own hands; and through hard work anything was possible.
Academically Rosa had always been a good student. Her middle school years started out rather tumultuous as she found herself struggling between completing homework and wanting to hang out with friends. While facing this inner struggle, her parents were committed to guiding her path to ensure she would succeed in life. At a poignant moment, Rosa realized how hard her parents had to work to provide the household necessities. This revelation helped Rosa get back on track she never again let her grades slip. Rosa graduated in the top 3% of her class from South Gate High School, which consisted of over 700 students.
After high school Rosa moved away from home to attend the University of California at San Diego, (UCSD). While in college she participated in various organizations such as Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the Minority Engineering Program (MEP), and the Math Science Tutorial Program (MSTP). As a member of these organizations she was involved with various outreach activities. Rosa found mentoring and tutoring of STEM students to be the most rewarding. She learned how important it was to help students of similar backgrounds and also what a positive impact her influence could have on their futures. Her dedication and commitment to helping others led to Rosa’s selection as the MEP’s Tutor of the Year.
During her senior year Rosa was contacted by Northrop Grumman to check if she would be interested in a job as a design engineer. Rosa was thrilled about the opportunity to work in the Aerospace industry. However, soon her initial excitement was mixed with feelings of insecurity as she questioned her ability to effectively contribute to the project. Once on board a female engineer took her under her wing and became Rosa’s mentor. After having been a mentor for so long, Rosa had forgot the value of having a mentor herself. With her mentor’s guidance she went from being completely overwhelmed to believing in her capabilities and becoming an asset to Northrop Grumman.
Currently Rosa is an Electrical System Responsible Engineer in this capacity she prepares and releases component procurement packages for the electrical power generation and distribution equipment. She is also responsible for managing the performance testing of the data submitted by suppliers.
Wanting to renew her involvement with outreach activities Rosa became involved with Northrop Grumman’s Hispanic employee resource group, ADELANTE. With the group she has been able to represent the organization at national events including the HENAAC and SHPE conferences. Currently she serves as ADELANTE’s Co-Chair.
With guidance and nurturing from people around her Rosa has already accomplished many of the goals her parents had hoped for her. Rosa has the aptitude, confidence and drive to continue to expand her contributions both professionally and with the community.
Rosa earned her BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from UCSD and her MS degree Engineering Management from California State University, Northridge.
