Follow Us:

Brian Blake

Somehow, Brian Blake has figured out how to get more hours out of each day. That can be the only way to explain how he's able to successfully juggle a busy part-time schedule at MITRE, a full-time teaching post at Georgetown University, and plenty of time volunteering in the community where he helps young people prepare for careers in interesting fields.

By the time he'd reached his 28th birthday, Blake, now 30, had already earned his Ph.D. and had begun his software engineering career at MITRE's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD). "I went straight through and worked while I was going to school," explains Blake, who earned an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech, a master's degree in electrical engineering jointly from Mercer University and Georgia Tech, and a Ph.D. from George Mason University in computer science. Prior to coming to MITRE, he spent several years with Lockheed Martin. "I knew I wanted to get my Ph.D., and I thought it made sense to just keep on going until I was finished."

Blake had originally planned to pursue a career in consulting, but instead discovered a niche he finds even more fulfilling in teaching and research. "It's a hectic schedule, but I really enjoy the balance I get from my positions at MITRE and Georgetown. Thankfully, I have managers who are supportive on both sides." And, he says, there are enough peaks and valleys that life stays full, exciting and sane.

His work schedule has been a win/win situation for both of his employers. He's been with MITRE for three years and Georgetown for two. At Georgetown, the school is pleased he's been able to pull real-world industry experience into his classroom. "I can discuss my experiences as a software engineer and talk about real industry problems." At the same time, MITRE has benefited too. Blake's former students Todd Cornett and Nick Sklavounos interned at MITRE, Cornett working on a project that was proposed and developed by Blake. Now, both Georgetown graduates are full-time MITRE employees. "Brian exposed me to conferences, writing papers and areas of research that made me a good match for a company like MITRE," says Cornett. "He's young, so he's able to share recent experiences and career decisions that make sense for me, too. He's opened a lot of doors for me—for my research at Georgetown and my career at MITRE."

While at MITRE, Blake has worked on a variety of projects that have taken advantage of his software engineering know-how. One of his first efforts was developing a computer simulation program of operations at Brussels airport in Belgium. "The simulation allows users to see actual traffic to determine congestion and other situations at the airport," explains Blake. "It allowed them to quantify their operations and make necessary suggestions to alter airspace in the region. It was a big software engineering effort and an important diagnostic tool for the airport."

Brian Blake offers career advice at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia

Another significant activity for Blake was the development of the front end of the CAASD Repository System (CRS), which makes it much easier for employees to find, use, and reuse information and products developed to support CAASD research. "The data now resides in one place; countless hours have been saved because of this system," notes Blake.

MITRE also funded the grant that allowed Blake to hire Cornett, Sklavounos, and several other college interns to work on developing intelligent software agents that mine data. "I developed a proposal and MITRE liked the idea enough to fund it. In a sense, it's a way MITRE allows employees to create our own destiny — to be our own boss. I was able to lead a project with college students that MITRE thought had potential value to our customers. That was a great opportunity for me and members of the team. I value and appreciate the flexibility MITRE has offered me."

Outside the office and the college classroom, Blake is just as enthusiastic about his extracurricular activities. He founded a "pre-college" initiative program at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, in 1998, which introduces students to future careers in science and engineering. He meets with students twice a month, providing information on career fields, bringing in industry speakers, and conducting experiments such as a bridge-building competition or egg-drop competition. "I think it's important to help guide kids as they consider careers and plan for the future. Maybe some of these kids will end up working at MITRE one day. That would be great."