The Transformers

Being considered a “nerd” might not be such a bad a thing anymore. Science and technology are standout growth industries for the U.S., with the Bureau of Labor Statistics projecting a 22% increase in the number of such jobs from 2004 to 2014, or more than 2.5 million job openings. Those working in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math) earn about 70% more in wages than the national average. And the global marketplace is constantly on the prowl for new innovations to change the way we do any–and everything.

On the cusp of change and with the ability to embrace technological advances as fast as they upload, young professionals in the STEM fields–from agricultural and food scientists to computer software engineers to operations research analysts–excel by doing what they do best. They waste no time identifying, crafting, and developing products or processes that could potentially reinvent tomorrow. Operating under the charge of their organizations, or as independent contractors and consultants, they take calculated risk for the purpose of igniting measurable change.

Sure, education, experience, and skill are key components needed to deliver within their respective organizations or for their clients. But becoming a well-respected change-agent doesn’t occur at any age haphazardly. These rising stars are advancing in tandem with the technology of today, influencing their companies, colleagues, and peers.

It’s no longer news that there aren’t nearly enough young professionals, especially minorities, taking on the challenge to innovate the business landscape. Organizations such as the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Tapping America’s Potential, as well as industry-specific colleges and universities, such as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute–among other leaders of academia and government–are independently pushing to increase the annual number of U.S. science, technology, engineering, and mathematics bachelor’s-level graduates in the coming years. Realizing the potential that stands to be lost, these activists know the urgency of building our nation’s innovation capacity.

Perhaps the best motivation will come from the recent activity in the STEM fields. Here black enterprise takes a look at a group of BE Next business leaders pursuing standout careers in the technical, scientific, and mathematical fields. The backdrop

may be different for each, but the passion remains constant. Collectively encompassing initiative, a fresh outlook, and adaptable intellectual capital, the young achievers we’ll introduce to you are hardwired for success.

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Folu Okunseinde
Solutions Architect
Company: IBM/Financial Services Solutions Group
Location: Cambridge, MA
Education: B.S. in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, MIT; M.S. in Computer Science, University of Texas at Austin
Innovation: A market data platform used by clients in the financial services industry to move directives and dollars

What Okunseinde does is sort of a mishmash of jobs: software developer, computer programmer, and business consultant. As a solutions architect for IBM, where he has worked for almost eight years, the 29-year-old builds high-performance systems that support solutions to specific business problems. With a focus on the financial markets industry, he has a calculated job on his hands.

“It’s a fantastically intense industry,” says Okunseinde, a self-professed techie who also has a passion for finance. “I’m specifically looking at all of the operations that go into the financial markets’ trade life cycle–high-performance trading, risk analysis, etc.–and how we design the IT systems that support them. It’s a constant challenge to try to stay ahead.”

Okunseinde and his team built, from concept to implementation, a solution that functions as a market data and trade processing platform, or high-speed messaging software, to help disseminate information and execute orders for financial trades. The market data distribution product, which became publicly available at the end of 2007, operates at the single-digit microsecond level–meaning it can move a message from one place to another in one-millionth of a second. “Analysts within other areas of the financial markets industry have been able to quantify its need and say that a millisecond, a thousandth of a second, can translate into a million dollars for a company,” he says.

The platform saw tremendous growth last year both in terms of revenues and customer usage with a number of high-profile stock exchanges, including client Deutsche Börse Group looking to implement the product in 2010. IBM is already looking at introducing the technology to other industries. “We started with financial

markets because they have some of the highest demands in the way they consume technology,” says Okunseinde, who started work on the product more than four years ago, first as a developer, then as lead developer, and now he’s in charge of strategy. “But this product is well poised to help other industries deal with significant waves of data as well.”

Developing successful solutions is what he considers the most exciting part of his job: “Watching [the client] put something in product and then them coming back to you and saying, ‘This is doing exactly what we need it to do, this is doing better than what the competition is doing, better than what we could’ve built ourselves, it’s a really superior solution,’” he says. “Or watching a customer’s problem go away or a business process really being done in a highly efficient manner because of us is what I enjoy.”

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Latoya L. Wall
Lean Sigma Six Process Improvement Facilitator
Company: The Bulsard Group L.L.C.
Location: Houston, TX
Education: B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Louisiana State University; M.S. in Project Management, Boston University
Innovation: Using data and statistics to improve the efficiency of her clients by re-engineering their business processes

Wall plays the numbers game, and the impact to a company’s bottom line is serious. Take her work with Chevron. The 29-year-old is at the forefront of its extensive corporate-wide initiative. The Chevron Gulf of Mexico Business Unit Materials Management Project is currently underway to create updated standard operating procedures for the billion-dollar oil corporation. “This is a huge initiative Chevron is taking on. Some processes are from the 1950s that they are working to bring up to speed,” she says.

Wall was brought on for her extensive expertise in Lean Six Sigma–a fusion of two innovative and rigorous quality assurance methodologies. While Lean production looks to eliminate waste yet still produce top-quality products and/or services, Six Sigma is a disciplined systematic process well-rooted in mathematics that uses statistical analysis to improve a company’s performance by eliminating “defects.”

“We’re trained as engineers to go straight to the solution, but the thing

about Six Sigma is that it drives you to look at data and to make the most logical conclusion,” says Wall, who has the highest level of certification for administering Six Sigma compliance, a Master Black Belt. “The most interesting part of my job is taking something as basic as a spreadsheet and turning it into a solution.”

When implemented correctly, Lean Six Sigma is a proven performance and quality assurance driver. (Six Sigma is said to yield a return of at least 20 times the investment in three years.) Wall’s company, The Bulsard Group, is working to complete Chevron’s Gulf of Mexico Supply Chain Operations management restructure. The update will affect the materials used for offshore facilities and drilling, at a total production value of more than 700,000 barrels of oil a day. Her efforts have already seen a successful implementation of business management software.

Wall actually worked for Chevron in a Lean Six Sigma and project management capacity before striking out on her own in February 2008. Her other clients include defense firm Raytheon and Houston-based Precision Medical Billing. The Bulsard Group is on course to gross more than $500,000 in revenues by year-end.

“These processes have been used in healthcare, manufacturing, electronics, and, for decades, the automotive industry. But the oil and gas industry is just coming on board and seeing the value,” says Wall. “Now that we’re in this economic environment, it makes perfect sense to take a look at bottom-line savings and cost-cutting measures, and that’s where Lean Six Sigma comes into play: How can we do more with less?”

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Jason Pratt
Yeast & Fermentation Scientist
Company: MillerCoors
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Education: B.S. in Biology, Hope College; M.S. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University
Innovation: Optimizing yeast quality and training microbiologists to produce beers worthy of raising a glass to

Jason Pratt has no problem taking one (maybe two, sometimes) for the team. “I evaluate beer every day,” says the 30-year-old with pride.

Since joining Miller Brewing Co. in 2007 prior to the merger between Miller and Coors, Pratt has provided his scientific expertise in microbiology to support the fermentation process. Pratt maintains the global culture collection housed in Milwaukee (at a frosty -80 degrees Celsius); it is specific strains of that yeast that help give the company’s beers their signature taste, color, and texture. “As funny as it sounds, yeast is one of the most important parts, because if you don’t keep your yeast happy, your beer is not going to come out well,” says Pratt. “But we have a ton of process checks that we go through–and we have innovations at each point–to make sure we’ve got the right quality.”

Pratt is responsible for providing yeast strains to MillerCoors’ international licensees that brew Miller Genuine Draft all around the world in places such as Italy, Australia, and Vietnam. “Developing the yeast is a relatively quick process,” he says. “I can pull something out and over the weekend it will grow enough where I can send it out to someone.” Samples of those batches are then sent back to Pratt and reviewed by a tasting panel to ensure that both the process and product are consistent and of high quality.

While 60% of his time is spent in the lab, Pratt also trains all new MillerCoors employees in the basics of the frothy beverage through Beer University. In addition to overseeing audits and troubleshooting, he makes sure that the more than 50 microbiologists at the company’s breweries receive training as well.

When he doesn’t have beer (or yeast) on the brain, Pratt’s professional interests gravitate toward cost savings and sustainability, like a project underway that could potentially reduce the reliance of chemical cleaning agents in the breweries. Pratt admits he isn’t reinventing the wheel but rather reinventing its use. “It’s a matter of taking innovations from other industries and applying them to the brewing industry,” he says. “Anyone can add standard ingredients: water, malted barley, hops, and then yeast and you get something at the end of it. But it takes a lot of care to be able to do that consistently, over the course of decades, and in different locations, to produce a product that people enjoy.”