07/10/2025
Suncoast Polytechnical High School invited Apollo Engineering Solutions to lead a discussion on careers in engineering. Suncoast Polytechnical High School (Sarasota, FL) is an innovative Technology Magnet High School that offers a rigorous curriculum to prepare students for college and careers. Many thanks to Ms. Cindy Schlotterback and Mr. Stephen McCormack for hosting the event with support from Mason Dryden (my grandson). First-year through Senior classes attended throughout the daylong discussion. The discussion centered on the opportunities afforded by a career in engineering, traversing my 40+ year career with NASA in the Apollo Program (Apollo launches 8 - 13), forensics expert in crash investigations with the Navy at the Naval Air Rework Facility in Jacksonville, Advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington for determining shore manpower for Naval bases in the Southeast U.S., Central and South America and standing up the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC). REAC assesses and inspects affordable housing communities across the country to ensure decent, safe, and sanitary housing. My Federal career concluded as Program Manager for HUD’s Energy Performance Contracting Program, responsible for over $1B dollars in energy investments in Public Housing. The message to students promoted a broader approach to a single focused discipline, considering a renaissance engineering perspective that combines several disciplines, integrating artistic vision with scientific and engineering principles with a sense of stewardship, sustainability, and responsibility.
