LaAndrea Seay is a government ballistic missile defense system test data manager at the Missile Defense Agency.

She began her federal service in 2012, after earning a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Tuskegee University, followed by a master’s  in material science and engineering from the University of Alabama.

LaAndrea’s rise at the agency that protects the U.S and her allies against ballistic missile attacks is directly linked to the young engineer’s ability to take on technical challenges and develop her people management skills.

Over the last five years, LaAndrea has led a flight test data team geographically dispersed across five time zones.

In 2016, she delivered technical guidance for the ground-based midcourse defense controlled test vehicle, as well as the 2017 flight test ground-based interceptor. The midcourse defense system is one of the most technically complex U.S. weapons systems, designed to intercept ballistic missile threats against the homeland.

In her current role as test data manager, LaAndrea is responsible for planning flight test data collection, verifying readiness of test instrumentation, test analysis, and other test support for the Ballistic Missile Defense System flight testing.

LaAndrea won the 2018 Most Promising Engineer award for her ability to combine technical and management skills as she climbs the career ladder at the Missile Defense Agency.