Employee Spotlight - Alan Takahashi

What motivates you to wake up and go to work?

Our business has been doing very well, and it's been an exciting and fun place to work, because we've been growing at about 10% for the last seven-plus years. Of course, with growth comes challenges in terms of staffing, equipment and facilities. But these are all positive challenges, because the outcome is growth for our people and the business, which means more opportunities for everyone.

 

What do you do at CAES and how long have you been with the company?

I’m General Manager for the Missile Systems Division. I’ve been with the company 34 years – through multiple ownership changes – except for a three-year period from 2000-2003 when I worked for a company called REMEC Wireless in San Diego.

 

What got you interested in becoming an engineer?

As a little kid, I played with Legos. A lot. That was kind of the toy of choice for me. I was especially fascinated with aircraft and aviation, and as I got older, I built model airplanes. 

I think that naturally led to my interest in engineering. Specifically, mechanical engineering, which was reinforced during physics classes when I was exposed to electricity and magnetism. I did not like E&M at all, and it quickly became apparent that I did not want to be an electrical engineer. I always gravitated back toward the physical realization of things, and so Cal Poly San Luis Obispo was a good school for me, because their motto is “Learn by Doing.” 

 

What is your proudest accomplishment of your career?

When my division won an award in 2019 at the last company conference we had in Florida. The award recognized Operational Excellence, and reflected on the whole business.  The award was brought back to the site and any employee could have the award for a few days to display at their work station.  The award was earned by every employee and this was a way for anyone to enjoy it.

I also feel like I'm a good example of opportunity in this country. I'm a first-generation college graduate, and I have consistently increased responsibility from beginnings that were pretty ordinary. My wife also is a first-generation college graduate, and I think that is something that we don't lose sight of.

 

Before working at CAES, what was your most unusual or interesting job?

I spent two summers at McDonnell Douglas in Long Beach working in the stress analysis group for the MD-80 aircraft. It was my first technical internship and very interesting.

What I learned from that job was that I did not want to work for a huge company. As an engineer in an aircraft company, for example, everybody's field of view gets narrowed down to a pretty small sliver of the aircraft unless you're very, very senior.

Before that I worked at a ski and tennis shop. That was that was a lot of fun, because I do both, and I also got to work with customers, which was a valuable experience. I think everybody should work in retail at some point in their career to develop their customer service skills.

Before that I actually worked for my dad. He was a landscape gardener, I helped him out on the weekends and summers.

 

What has been the most important innovation you have witnessed in your lifetime?

Access to information is probably number one. The internet really wasn't around while I was growing up, so finding information required going to a library and looking through a card catalog and doing a lot of digging. The web, in conjunction with the iPhone and smartphones in general, also allowed independent developers to create applications for anything. And that opened up the Internet of Things IoT and being able to control so many different things through a Wi-Fi connection.

 

Who was your most important mentor and why?

I worked for Andy Graven for eight to 10 years, and with him I really learned how to manage a team at a high level and to encourage collective thinking to ensure collective success. My other mentor, Eric Richardson, is actually still here at CAES and is my operations VP. He's the one who hired me way back and has influenced my career because of the amount of time he spends getting to know people and his problem solving skills. He’s a big part of making the business who we are. 

 

What skill do you think everyone should learn and why?

I think one of the most valuable skills is being able to effectively communicate. If you're an engineer, the ability to convey what your solution is and the thinking behind it is valuable. If you have poor communication skills that becomes much, much more challenging. It's not that you can't succeed, but I think it's definitely a lot harder to do. 

 

What’s the best advice you can give to someone just starting their engineering career?

Curiosity. And it relates to the previous question. Are there better ways to do things, and can I effectively bounce new ideas off my co-workers? That dialogue, that discussion is very powerful. And I think it's fun, too, because you’re not just by yourself, you're working with another engineer or a group of engineers. Thinking about different ways to do things, and then talking to other people and getting their ideas without being intimidated or afraid is critical to being a successful engineer.

 

What’s something most people don’t know about you (your secret talent)?

I’m an avid skier and cyclist. I race bikes, and I ski a lot of moguls. I’m part of a dying breed, you don’t see many good mogul skiers on the mountain these days, but it's the most fun you can have on skis. 
Another thing I do is at one of my favorite travel spots, Club Med. It’s the only place I know where I get to actually learn tricks on a flying trapeze. It's a lot of fun and physically challenging.  

I’ve also spent eight years on the city of Cupertino Planning Commission. The most exciting part of that was my exposure to the new Apple campus, the spaceship project as many called it, and being able to see the plans and talk to the neighbors to understand their concerns and agree on mitigation efforts like planting trees. If you ever get a chance to go inside, it's an amazing building.