The Y-12er Spotlight shines on one of our own. It takes all Y-12 employees to make the mission happen successfully and safely. All views and opinions are the employee’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of CNS.
As chief electrical engineer since 2015, Terry C.’s role is to be the go-to resource for all things electrical engineering. But his job isn’t just to be the technical authority for Y-12’s electrical engineering needs. In his words, “There is a lot more to it. It’s like Amazon’s messaging on their trucks, ‘There is more to Prime. A truckload more.’”
Terry C. has been Y-12’s chief electrical engineer since 2015.
His duties also include investigating failures in the site’s power systems, working with Infrastructure and Electrical Safety to assess hazard controls, helping develop and implement work processes and procedures, and mentoring engineers across all disciplines.
It sounds like a lot, and it is. It’s also Terry’s dream job.
“I am never bored, and I never sit at my desk and wonder what I am doing with my life,” he said. “I rarely do the same thing twice, I am challenged every single day with a wide variety of difficult situations to resolve, I am in the thick of things daily, and I get to work with literally everyone at every experience level, from an apprentice craft person up to our CEO. It is literally my dream job.”
According to Terry, he would never have become an electrical engineer without his parents’ influence. His father, an amateur radio operator, helped develop his love for electronics with project kits and radio sets—and he still has the 50-in-1 electronics experiments kit from Radio Shack that started it all.
His mother instilled a never-quit attitude in him that he still carries today. “I remember telling her that I couldn’t do something, and that didn’t sit well with her,” Terry said. “To paraphrase, she said, ‘You are capable of learning anything. You just have to want to.’ Something clicked in me and it was game on.”
Outside of work, Terry has been (jokingly) accused that he “cheated and got back in the talent line way too many times.” His two biggest hobbies are motorcycling and music. He grew up dirt biking on trails in the woods in Claxton and now rides an adventure bike on any curvy road. He also plays piano and collects synthesizer keyboards, starting with his first Moog that he purchased with his second post-college paycheck in 1982.
What is the top lesson you have learned by applying problem-solving skills to an issue?
The very first step in problem solving is identifying and defining the problem. Not clearly understanding, identifying, and defining the problem before setting about trying to solve it can lead you to inadequate solutions. It is always a good workflow to dig a little deeper and ask more questions. Read the manual. Test theories and assumptions to see if they hold true. I would like to say that I’ve learned this lesson so well that it doesn’t happen anymore, but it is easy to get in a hurry and misjudge something as being simple when there was a deeper root cause for an event. Take your time. Being in a hurry is not your friend when problem solving.
What work advice would you offer someone who is new to Y-12?
Becoming successful is never just one thing. It is a package of mindset and skills. These are some things I have found to be important during my career.
- Take responsibility. Don’t wait for someone to give you responsibility. If you see something that needs to be done and you know you can do it, go to your supervisor and tell them, “I see this issue and I believe I can make it better by doing this!”
- Begin with the end in mind. Know what “done” looks like before you start.
- Make the Right Decision for the Right Reason. Know what the requirements are so you know that “done” is also complete.
- See the big picture. Understand how all the other parts work and how your part fits in.
- The details matter. Many good plans have been wrecked over small errors and omissions.
- Become versatile. The more things you confidently do, the more valuable you are.
- Be helpful. Be the person who can get someone around a roadblock even if it is just knowing the right person to call.
- Be dependable. Be the person who is there when other people don’t show up.
- Don’t give up on the hard stuff. Be known for digging deeper and finishing what you start.
- Adapt and Deliver. This one mindset will see you through a whole lifetime of personal and professional situations.
- Own your signature. If it isn’t technically correct or doesn’t meet company standards, work with whoever you need to get the product to a state where you can sign it.
What CNS principle drives you to be successful?
Make the Right Decision for the Right Reason – When we execute work, we have to ensure that we understand both the intended way the work is to be done and the intended outcome of the work to be accomplished. In Steven Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Habit 2, “Begin with the End in Mind,” has been one of my tenets since learning it early in my career. Making the right decisions for the right reasons has become my number two tenet because those two principles fit hand in hand. Whether you are planning to accomplish anything from the most mundane task to designing the most complex machine, if you can’t define what the end state is before you start, you will never know when you are done. If you don’t understand why you are doing it, there is a good chance you may not choose the right end state. Knowing your end state is important, but knowing your end state is complete is even more important.