Dr. Parrish Ralston, Director of Hardware for the Capabilities Maturation and Deployment Organization, Northrup Grumman Mission Systems
I AM...building advanced capabilities enabled by MW electronics
What made you want to work in this industry?
Getting to work on microwave sensors has presented me with interesting and creative challenges to solve. Nearly everything about a high frequency RF sensor design affects the RF performance - from the materials used, to the mechanical structure, to the foundry process node of active transistor components. So in order to be an effective system designer for these kinds of sensors you need a broad understanding of all these design elements and a team of very smart experts to support each attribute of the finished product. It's a difficult but often very fulfilling kind of job. I started career out of graduate school working in a small foundry setting overseeing the development of state of the art MMICs, moved into MMIC design and layout, and have grown into system management. Every step of my career has felt like an interconnected expansion of my knowledge and understanding; I still draw from the fundamentals I established in grad school while also learning new things every day.
What is your favorite part of your job?
My very favorite thing that I get to do regularly is solve hard problems with teams of smart people. There are plenty of problems I have encountered that no one person could possibly solve. Finding practical solutions to multidisciplinary design challenges requires us to be collaborative and, to me, there is nothing more exciting than bringing several people together with specific expertise, presenting them with a seemingly impossible challenge, and then working together to produce unique and innovative solutions.
What are you most excited about for IMS2024?
I am hopeful that having this conference in DC will bring in some unique faces from our government, military, and the think tank community that would otherwise not participate in such an event. This year, IMS will have workshops and panel sessions that are addressing issues which are relevant and important to many Americans; climate change, artificial intelligence, and an increasingly crowded spectrum. I'm excited to hear some of the perspectives from government and thought leaders who focus their work our nation's capital.