Y-12 Blog
Engineering & Science Senior Manager Rebecca Boser (center) with Career ONE participants Joe McVeigh, Matthew Willard, Meredith Manning, and Sarah Cruise.
Sarah Cruise certainly has made the most of her first two years with Consolidated Nuclear Security. She’s worked rotations in engineering design, special processing, and Development — not to mention a three-month stint at Pantex as a process engineer.
For Cruise and other new hires in Mission Engineering at Y-12, the Career Opportunities for New Engineers (Career ONE) program has been a way to explore different career paths and meet new people.
When Cruise started in the Career ONE program, she was the only female in the class, and she wanted to find “a strong female role model.” With the support of program lead Mike Ellis, Cruise reached out to Rebecca Boser, senior manager, Engineering & Science.
“We connected initially because we’re both chemical engineers with MBAs,” Cruise said. “We began meeting for lunch, and she would introduce me to other female engineers in Development and on the west end, as well as people close to my age. She was open to any questions I had.”
During her job rotations, Cruise gained perspective from her engineering colleagues on the types of work performed in different areas. When the time came to decide where she wanted to work permanently, Cruise looked to Boser for advice.
“I was glad to have found someone who had been where I am and where I may want to go,” said Cruise, who now has a permanent position in Development and a new role in Career ONE — mentoring other new hires.
Meredith Manning, who joined Y-12 a year ago, said, “Sarah has been super helpful. I met her on my first day, and she introduced me to people and showed me around. She helped me get my feet wet.” As Manning completes her final rotation, the two still keep up with each other. “Sarah continues to be a good resource if I have questions,” she said.
As Cruise and Manning’s experiences prove, Career ONE’s success lies in people helping people.
“In Career ONE, we typically match engineers who have been through the program with those just coming in,” Ellis said. “They haven’t forgotten the questions and concerns that they had as a new employee, so they can help address them, but they also have gained enough experience to be able to address more technical questions and issues that a new hire may have.”
CNS’s Travis Howerton, senior director of Transformation, serves on the Cyber and Information Security Consortium board of directors.
Travis Howerton, senior director of Transformation, is representing Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) on the Cyber and Information Security Consortium. The group is a non-profit corporation formed last year by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Tennessee (UT), along with Cisco Systems, Y-12 National Security Complex, Sword & Shield Enterprise Security, the East Tennessee Economic Council, and other private corporations, to position the region as a national leader in the development and deployment of cutting-edge cyber security technologies.
“The consortium is still in early phases,” said Howerton. “Membership is growing, and they do two big get-togethers per year. We are working at the state level now to gain grant money to expand capabilities.”
Howerton said the consortium has a variety of roles and interests, including peer networking and recruiting of cyber talent; workforce development (partnering with colleges and universities on a talent pipeline, just signing an agreement with Pellissippi State Community College); and public awareness of policy issues (currently working with UT’s Baker Center on education about cyber issues). Most of the research and development is driven by ORNL, but there are some longer-term interests based on CNS work.
“Right now, it is a chance for CNS to be seen in the community and working with others on an initiative that could solve some meaningful problems in our area and grow jobs over the mid to long term.
The Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) was the top fundraising team in Tennessee for the Polar Plunge, raising more than $14,000 for Special Olympics.
“The generosity of our colleagues at UPF is always inspiring,” said Sarah Troutman of the NextGen group, which sponsored the Polar Plunge at UPF, “but this year they outdid themselves and exceeded our highest expectations.”
Individuals collect donations to determine who will take the Polar Plunge, a leap into the University of Tennessee’s outdoor swimming pool. The UPF team total was $14,230, nearly $5,500 more than last year’s fundraising total.
The Polar Plunge raises funds for Special Olympics Tennessee, which provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
NextGen is an employee resource group focused on supporting the orientation, development, retention, and empowerment of employees as they begin and build their careers.
Megan Houchin, president of the Oak Ridge chapter of Women in Nuclear (WIN), recently received the WIN Region II Leadership Award.
Megan Houchin, president of the Oak Ridge chapter of Women in Nuclear (WIN), recently received the WIN Region II Leadership Award. Houchin, a Six Sigma black belt for CNS, has been president of Oak Ridge WIN for four years after serving one year as vice president of the chapter. Under her leadership, the chapter has expanded, with an average attendance of 35 members at each monthly meeting. As part of WIN, Houchin was also instrumental in organizing Y-12’s annual Introduce a Girl to Engineering event, which encouraged more than 200 female high-school students from 15 area schools to pursue engineering careers. Houchin is also an alumna of Leadership Oak Ridge and a member of CNS’s Y-12 Community Investment Fund board.
The Region II Leadership Award is presented to a chapter member who exemplifies leadership through chapter and/or community involvement. The recipient of this award has helped their chapter and/or community by serving in a leadership role that contributes to women and men in nuclear, thus ensuring the chapter and/or community is informed about nuclear energy and nuclear technologies. Specifically, Houchin was cited for actively demonstrating leadership in WIN’s three core values of networking, professional development, and outreach.
The Y-12 Fire Department paramedics and Security Police Officer who gave Freida Williford, front, lifesaving CPR visited her and her husband at the Harriman Care and Rehabilitation Center. From left behind her are, Justin Blackstock, Joe Perian, Keith Williford, Rick Dettmering, Brad Holt and Loyd Williams.
Radiation control technician Freida Williford and two coworkers had been working in the Y-12 Protected Area and were headed to lunch one day in a van. She remembers feeling strange — dizzy, with a severe headache. No, she didn’t need to go to medical, she told her coworker; it would pass. That was the last memory she had before waking up in the hospital.
As she later learned, the time during her memory gap included lifesaving steps taken by Y‑12 employees and medical professionals that gave Williford a second chance at life.
What happened in between, lifesaving steps taken by Y‑12 employees and medical professionals, gave Williford a second chance at life.
Williford woke up on a ventilator in the hospital after surviving an aneurysm, a stroke, a heart attack, three cardiac arrests and brain surgery, all within a 24‑hour period.
Two months later, Williford is recovering at a rehabilitation center in her hometown of Harriman. That she can look forward to a full recovery is nothing short of a miracle, and that’s why they call her, “Miracle Lady.”
The nickname is not an exaggeration, said CNS Occupational Health Director Dr. Warren Sayre. American Heart Association statistics show a person who has one cardiac arrest has only a 12 percent chance of living.
“When you add in the complications of a heart attack and stroke with aneurysm, the percentage would be even lower,” Sayre said. “If it had not been for the rapid response of her coworkers, this would be a very sad story. As it is, she is a living, breathing miracle.”
The first link in Williford’s miracle chain was Security Police Officer Joe Perian, who heard a van passenger exclaim, “She’s not breathing,” which triggered the first responder instincts of the former sheriff’s deputy and city policeman.
Inside the van, Perian found Williford, collapsed to the floor, wedged between the seats. He called for an ambulance on his radio. He snaked his arm down to feel for a pulse, not finding one.
The driver moved a seat so Perian, a brawny 6’4”, could maneuver Williford up, onto the van seat. Perian could see her airway was blocked, and her mouth was blue. He tilted her head back and to the side to open her airway and compressed her chest two or three times. Williford gasped and began breathing again, but it was labored. The men got her moved outside to the ground where Perian monitored her pulse and breathing.
All of that happened in fewer than three minutes before reinforcements arrived: two fire engines and an ambulance. When Williford’s heart stopped again en route to the hospital, five paramedics took turns administering CPR: Trey Lawrence, Rick Dettmering, Eddie Johnson, Capt. Brad Holt and Loyd Williams.
Perian never thought he’d have to use his first responder training at Y‑12, since the site has its own emergency services. But he realizes a medical emergency could just as easily happen at a grocery store, restaurant, home or church.
“People need to not be afraid to render aid. Just clearing the airway could mean the difference between life and death,” he said.
Fire Chief Scott Vowell praised Perian and the paramedics that formed the next links in the chain.
“The quick actions and response from Joe Perian and the fire/EMS response increased her chances of survival,” he said. “It is a credit to the dedication of the Security Force and Fire Department working hand‑in‑hand to serve our family at Y-12.”