The first Alumni Spotlight features Chris Curtis. I got to work with Chris when he was VP for two years. His ability to learn is amazing and he was instrumental in improving the club to what it is today.

1) How long were you involved in SAE and what were your duties?

I was involved with SAE for all four years at Cal Poly and was a part of
the Baja team. I was Safety Office (aka Safety Boy) for three years and
Vice President for my last two years.

2) What’s your favorite SAE memory?

I have many great memories of my time with SAE but one that stands out
is during the Mini Baja 2005 endurance race. We led the pack for most of
the race and it felt good to see people yell out “try to catch that Cal
Poly guy.” Even though parts broke and we had to perform pit repairs, we
still had that car running when it crossed the finish line.

3) What are you doing now?

I am working as a design engineer at Lockheed Martin Space Systems
Company in Sunnyvale, CA. I am currently working on a military satellite
program. You can find it on Lockheed’s website but anything else I say
about it is classified.

4) How has SAE helped you?

SAE has helped me in so many ways. I learned about real design problems
and how to build parts that I designed. It also was a great way to meet
friends that shared the same interests. It has also helped me get a job
by showing I had a life outside of just school work.

5) What’s a normal day at work like?

Depends on the day, but usually I spend some time designing with a CAD
program, creating drawings, working with the techs on the shop floor,
and a few meetings. I tend to get a lot of variety through out the day,
which helps when you work 9 hours a day.

6) and any other words of advice you’d like to pass on

To any future or current SAE team members, you are always behind when
building the cars. There is no doubt in that. If you think you’re ahead,
that just means you have more time to test at the end. We have had too
many great cars fail at competition because of some stupid little thing
that could have been found with more testing. So just remember to test
your cars as much as you can.