Rochester Engineering Society Honors Nine ɫ��ֱ�� Employees

Communication Systems

Apr 26, 2022 | 15 MINUTE Read

Founded in 1897, RES recognizes local engineers for outstanding community service. It also celebrates activities that promote engineering excellence and leadership in the Rochester area.

John Nieto, Senior Scientist and Senior Fellow from ɫ��ֱ�� Technologies, was selected as the 2021 Engineer of the Year.

Five ɫ��ֱ�� employees were honored as finalists for the 2021 Young Engineer of the Year Award:

Sage Keefer, Senior Supervisor, Software Engineering
Megan Smith, Specialist, Software Engineering
Maura Chmielowiec, Senior Specialist, Systems Engineering
Lydia Hays, Senior Associate, Software Engineering
Joseph Majkowski, Lead Engineer, Antennas

Three additional ɫ��ֱ�� employees were selected as 2021 Engineers of Distinction:

Jarrod Adams, Scientist, Electrical Engineering
Jacob Hillmon, Scientist, Electrical Engineering – Multi-Channel Products
Alan Pilecki, Director of Engineering & Chief Engineer, HF Products

2021 Engineer of the Year

John Nieto, Senior Scientist & Senior Fellow

John Nieto, Senior Scientist and Senior Fellow with ɫ��ֱ�� Technologies, is an internationally-recognized expert in Beyond Line-of-Sight and Line-of-Site communication systems and waveforms. He joined ɫ��ֱ�� in 1985, and today is responsible for tactical radio system development with an emphasis on digital signal processing and waveform design and development.

Nieto has played a key role in the development of approximately 75% of the current U.S. Military and NATO standards for High Frequency (HF) radio communication systems and waveforms. In addition to the HF band, Nieto has developed various other military waveforms for use in Very High Frequency, Ultra High Frequency and Long bands.

Nieto is the inventor and coinventor of 72 patents, author and coauthor of 67 technical papers and is a coauthor of the ARTECH House textbook, “Third-Generation and Wideband HF Radio Communications.”

He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Missouri at Rolla and has completed post-graduate courses in adaptive signal processing at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

Nieto is an active member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the High Frequency Industry Association and participates in many U.S. Military Standard Technical Advisory Committees and NATO Standardization Agreement development working groups.

2021 Young Engineer of the Year Finalists

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Sage Keefer, Senior Supervisor, Software Engineering

Sage Keefer is Senior Supervisor, Software Engineering, at ɫ��ֱ�� Technologies where she’s also a scrum master, release lead and feature lead. She joined the company as an intern in 2016 and was hired full-time in 2017. In 2021, Keefer won ɫ��ֱ��’ Technology Innovation Award for her work on the High Frequency 4th Generation Automatic Link Establishment.

Keefer graduated from the State University of New York at Potsdam in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a minor in mathematics, graduating summa cum laude. She reflects on the excellent professors who encouraged her along her career path and introduced her to other women in engineering through various conferences.

Once Keefer entered the workforce, she found several mentors who helped guide her through new experiences. Those mentorships have left a lasting impression on Keefer and she’s proud to now be a mentor herself. Keefer coaches junior and entry-level engineers toward improved leadership, prioritization, efficient software implementation and testing strategies. She is also active in recruiting, interviewing and compiling hiring recommendations for ɫ��ֱ��.

Keefer takes pride in the confidence she has in her work and repeatedly presents herself for bigger and more challenging opportunities, continually improving herself as a software engineer.

Megan Smith, Specialist, Software Engineering

Since starting with ɫ��ֱ�� Technologies in 2018, Megan Smith has risen to the level of Software Engineering Specialist. She supports various development and sustaining tasks for the company’s AN/PRC-167 multi-channel manpack tactical radio. Her main responsibilities include software support and bug fixing, new feature development, supporting field testing groups and factory manufacturing, and various other software-related tasks. From prototype development board to production line, Smith has had the great opportunity to see this product through its lifetime. She looks forward to continued support of the product with follow-up releases that include overall updates and new feature sets requested by the customers.

Smith believes that staying up-to-date on the latest knowledge and technology in the engineering field is an absolute must for her career. To do that, she has remained active with courses and conferences, such as the Women in Leadership Conference that she attended in November 2021.

Throughout her professional career in Rochester, Smith has been very involved in promoting other women in technology and engineering. She is also an active cyclist and has been organizing a biking group along the Erie Canal Trail with fellow ɫ��ֱ�� employees.

Smith received her bachelor’s degree in applied physics and master’s degree in computer science from Georgia State University.

Maura Chmielowiec, Senior Specialist, Systems Engineering

Maura Chmielowiec is a Senior Specialist, Systems Engineering, at ɫ��ֱ�� Technologies and the Chief Systems Engineer for the company’s Airborne Interface Backplane for U.S. Special Operations Aviation Regiment. She joined ɫ��ֱ�� in 2020 and manages the total systems development from requirements to verification and deployment of the system, making her the most junior engineer at ɫ��ֱ�� with full Chief Systems Engineer (CSE) responsibilities on a major project.

In January 2022, Chmielowiec was selected to be on the board of the PRIDE Employee Resource Group at ɫ��ֱ��, where she’s leading the charge to orchestrate volunteer efforts within the Rochester community. Growing up, Chmielowiec had many role models and experiences that inspired her to become the engineer and person she is today, and she’s passionate about giving back to her community in the hopes that she inspires others to also follow their dreams.

Chmielowiec is a graduate from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2016. She recently obtained her master’s degree in engineering from Purdue University in December 2021, and is now continuing her education with a master of business administration path at the Stevens Institute of Technology. Chmielowiec aspires to merge her technical expertise with business acumen to make more informed decisions for the business.

Lydia Hays, Senior Associate, Software Engineering

Lydia Hays is a Senior Associate, Software Engineering, at ɫ��ֱ�� Technologies, responsible for the design, implementation and testing of various features on High Frequency radios. She is a feature lead involved in designing, documenting and coordinating the implementation of new features. Hays is also the build coordinator, managing automated builds and smoke tests, making her a key point of contact between engineers and the software verification team.

Since joining ɫ��ֱ�� in 2020, Hays has taken on a mentorship role with two interns and a new hire, and is looking forward to more opportunities to be a career role model. Her drive to mentor is also reflected in her volunteerism with FIRST Robotics, where she’s been a team member since 2013. As a programing mentor, she teaches students with varying programming backgrounds and assists them with designing their own code architecture and solutions.

Hays attended the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) from 2012-2018 and graduated with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer engineering and a minor in creative writing. While at RIT, Hays received the RIT CE Teaching Assistant Award for her communication and debugging skills in assembly and was the Undergraduate Delegate for graduation. Hays was also a doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University from 2017-2019.

Joseph Majkowski, Lead Engineer, Antennas

Joseph Majkowski joined the systems engineering group of ɫ��ֱ�� Technologies in 2012 after graduating with his bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

After numerous promotions, Majkowski rose to the ranks of lead engineer in 2020, where he successfully led one of the largest cost savings projects at ɫ��ֱ��’ Tactical Communications sector. He currently supervises a small team of engineers and co-ops, and is responsible for some of the antennas team’s Independent Research & Development (IR&D) portfolio. This position includes responsibility for schedule and financial perspectives while also contributing and mentoring from a technical perspective.

In 2021, Majkowski was one of two Tactical Communications employees selected to the exclusive ɫ��ֱ�� Leadership in Engineering Achievement Program. This program will aid Majkowski’s growth and development as an engineer as he continues in his career.

Majkowski is the inventor of four patents and has received numerous awards during his tenure at ɫ��ֱ��, including the ɫ��ֱ�� Technology and Innovation Award in 2018, 2019 and 2020, and the ɫ��ֱ�� Golden Quill Award in 2018 and 2020.

Majkowski is a current member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

2021 Engineers of Distinction

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Jarrod Adams, Scientist, Electrical Engineering

From concept to production, Jarrod Adams designs radio frequency (RF) hardware for ɫ��ֱ�� Technologies’ military-grade handheld and manpack multiband radio systems that operate over a wide range of the communications spectrum. As a scientist in RF electrical engineering, Adams is responsible for discrete and integrated transceiver architecture implementation including Printed Wiring Board layouts, control algorithms and system level performance analysis.

Prior to joining ɫ��ֱ�� full-time in 2007, Adams completed four quarter-long cooperative education assignments with ɫ��ֱ�� as part of his undergraduate program for electrical engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). During this time, Adams was also active in the New York Army National Guard as a 21-B combat engineer. Throughout his six-year military career, Adams was promoted to level E5 Sergeant, participated in both Soldier of the Year and Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) of the Year competitions, was an active Squad Leader, led multiple training missions, and conducted formal weapons, navigation and combat training.

Adams holds an associate’s degree in engineering sciences from Genesee Community College and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from RIT.

Adams currently has a patent application submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office for ‘Agile Harmonic Filtering’ implementation.

Jacob Hillmon, Scientist, Electrical Engineering – Multi-Channel Products

Jacob Hillmon, Scientist, Electrical Engineering, for ɫ��ֱ�� Technologies is the Radio Frequency (RF) Technical Lead for the AN/PRC-163 Multi-Channel Handheld Radio. His responsibilities include leading the RF team, RF design, data analysis, operations support and yield improvement.

Since joining ɫ��ֱ�� in 2008, Hillmon has helped teammates build their engineering career foundations while growing his own foundation throughout the experience. During this time, he has focused on building his career skills in adjacent areas that complement his RF design background: statistics, data analysis, data visualization and computer programming, to name a few.

Hillmon states that he’s been fortunate to work on industry-leading projects during his career at ɫ��ֱ��, which has gone a long way toward keeping him current in RF hardware and system design. Seeking out and evaluating the latest technologies has been a critical and constant part of developing radios in his career, and he’s remained focused on continuing education and training.

No stranger to achievements, Hillmon has received numerous professional awards over the past few years, including two ɫ��ֱ�� Technology Innovation Awards, two ɫ��ֱ�� Business Excellence Awards, an Engineering e3 Award and most recently, the 2022 Black Engineer of the Year (BEYA) Science Spectrum Trailblazer Award.

Hillmon holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in applied statistics from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

Alan Pilecki, Director of Engineering & Chief Engineer, HF Products

Alan Pilecki supports ɫ��ֱ�� Technologies’ High Frequency product line as Chief Engineer, working collaboratively across the business to drive and plan for future investments on HF products. He is responsible for a project portfolio across internal Research and Development, product support and customer programs, and as a key contributor and leader to the technical solutions developed on the radio, he is also responsible for driving new technologies to the market.

Since joining ɫ��ֱ�� in 2001, Pilecki has been passionate about servant leadership and building highly collaborative teams. Gaining larger leadership responsibilities, Pilecki has adopted processes and principles that have positively impacted his team’s day-to-day productivity and flow. He is heavily focused on team building and career development for those that work with him.

Through mentoring and his dedication to help develop teammates, Pilecki directly contributes to growing the talent and leadership capabilities of the overall engineering organization to meet the evolving needs of the business. He feels the one thing more satisfying than individual success as an engineer is being part of a team’s success and watching those around him thrive.

Pilecki received his bachelor’s degree in computer science from the State University of New York College at Geneseo and later completed his master’s degree in computer science from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).