Why Dr. Arik Brown applies these 5 life lessons in engineering

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Kenneth Robinson, vice president of operations for Northrop Grumman Corporation's Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance division within the company's Information Systems sector, presented the Professional Achievement in Industry Award to Dr. Arik Brown at the 2019 BEYA STEM Conference.

“Dr. Arik Brown spent ten years working on innovative technologies as a system architect,” Robinson said at the BEYA Gala. “ He's been a Northrop Grumman Presidential Leadership Award recipient twice… authored and coauthored more than 25 patent disclosures, and has exemplified Northrop Grumman values in technical leadership reflected in his selection as a Northrop Grumman Technical Fellow.”

Brown was named a Northrop Grumman Technical Fellow in 2018.

Technical Fellows conceive new product ideas and pursue R&D efforts. They establish or direct technical centers of excellence or advanced research laboratories within the company, provide on-call expertise to help address the most challenging technical problems in the company's programs; and mentor younger technical professionals as well as represent the company to the outside engineering and scientific communities.

"Growing up my parents taught me that the goal of each generation is to make sure the next generation has access to opportunities,” Brown said. “My parents sacrificed careers and material items to make sure I had what I needed. As a child, I witnessed their examples of hard work, never allowing circumstances to become excuses for failure. When I embarked on my engineering career path, the lessons I learned from my parents inspired me to apply them to my own life. Thanks to them I am a grateful benefactor of their sacrifice and example. Thanks, Mom and Dad."

  • Ensure access to opportunities for others.
  • Be prepared to make sacrifices along the way.
  • Work hard.
  • Don't allow circumstances to become excuses for failure.
  • Be inspired by good examples and apply.

Brown was an Antenna Tech Lead for a first-of-its-kind sensor electronics system supporting a key national security program and developed a unique algorithm which allowed Northrop Grumman to unseat the competition, leading to a multi-million dollar program. He is an active volunteer in his local science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) community.

Brown earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a master’s and a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan.