Napreya Brumfield is a Staff System Engineer at Oceaneering’s Hanover, Maryland facility.
After earning her Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Napreya worked in the aerospace/aviation industry as both an Electrical Design Engineer and a Systems Engineer depending on the program. To achieve her professional goals, she decided three years ago to focus on Technical Systems Design.
“As I became more involved, I understood that digital engineering and agility were going to play a significant role in the industry. I became interested in new tools and processes using a model-based systems engineering approach.”
Since joining Oceaneering in March 2023, Napreya’s found every day to be unique and entirely dependent on the demands of the program she’s working on, its phases, and deliverables.
“While some days are devoted to meetings, collaboration, document review, or research, others are spent modeling the system architecture design in response to feedback from stakeholders.”
She’s currently involved in an exciting underwater vehicle design project that allows her to stretch her skills and abilities.
“I enjoy contributing to the technical decision-making and pushing those ‘do not touch’ buttons you don’t normally get to push. That is the cool thing about Systems Engineering, you get to be engaged in every step of the design process, interacting with design engineers (electrical, mechanical, and software), contract workers as well as customers, and you get to participate in testing the finished product.”
Finding a healthy work/personal life balance can be difficult when you have high career ambitions, but Napreya has found it easier with Oceaneering’s self-directed holidays, paid time off, and hybrid work schedule.
“I’ve realized over the years that striving for perfection in engineering will only make you less productive and increase stress. I make the most of my resources to help me learn and develop, so that when I work, my productivity increases.”
Napreya’s advice to those interested in applying for a similar role at Oceaneering is simple.
“Do it! Systems Engineering is fun, especially if you like flexibility in your roles but want to remain technical and contribute to program success. Not to mention, we have our hand in every industry, so there is a lot of room for growth.”