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Mary McWilliams, Lead Engineer for the Department of Defense: A Phenomenal Lady of Substance and Style!
Meet Phenomenal Woman, Mary McWilliams: devoted mother, mentor, fashion-conscious, trained Chaplain, and Lead Engineer and Government Liaison for the United States Department of Defense.
Mary is indeed a phenomenal lady of both substance and style!
As the Lead Engineer and Government Liaison, Mary works with companies, where she leads a team to transform the government’s vehicles into fiber optics, a faster form of virtual communication. In particular, she and her team designs and writes the specifications to overhaul the government vehicles “to make sure it does what it is supposed to do.” She says: “there are specifications that goes with the fiber optics that will make its airplanes lighter, along with making communication faster. She goes on to say “you don’t want a plane to fall out the sky” because of all of the instrumentation” isn’t coded to the correct fiber optics specifications. She is responsible for all those controls that the pilot has throughout the plane, even air conditioning for making sure the cool air works. Just imagine how much wiring was involved in the communication system of a plane using real wiring. She says of the old system “the wiring touches each other and sometimes would overheat.” Her job is to write fiber optics specifications for each of the functions in government vehicles from the old wiring, and to test it to make sure it works in fiber optics. As a result of this major overhaul, the wiring is getting smaller and smaller and that makes for lighter planes and more efficient forms of communications inside, not only government planes, but all of its vehicles. Mary puts her role and its importance into perspective: “You want your stuff to work, so that submarines don’t sink, that planes don’t fall out the sky, and Humvees are fortified so that it protects the soldiers.
How long is this project? As technology continues to change, this is an ongoing project that continually needs updating and new specifications. As the Lead Engineer and Government Liaison, she and her team works with other companies, and are responsible for making sure they have the best information available as they design and test their specifications to ensure they work as the technology continues to change.
Mary's Backstory: Mary’s humble background didn’t include a lofty, or the potential for a great paying career like engineering. Actually, quite the opposite. Mary was raised in Gary, Indiana the home of the Jackson Five. Despite the town’s famous entertainment family, Gary was a city in decline in the 1970s. Mary’ said “we didn’t have many opportunities growing up. She says: “engineers don’t come from Gary, Indiana, at least not until Purdue University showed up. One day Purdue came to our high school and they did a presentation. "Me and my girls immediately said to one another, we ain’t gonna drive no trains.” But, in the presentation, they asked: “…were we good at solving puzzles; good at math and science, and I was good at both.” But Mary still wasn’t impressed until they showed "a picture of a red sports car; I was done” she laughs. That shiny red car got her attention because, Mary said “I knew I was money driven",’ more laughter. She said they told us “the starting salary was $20,000 now that was a lot back in the 70’s” and putting all this together she “was sold” in tenth grade on an Engineering degree. She said she knew what she was going to do, but she also had a “love for music because she was introduced to classical music. She remembers telling her parents she was going to be a classical pianist.” Her parents said…”the hell you would and a few more choice words.”
Her parents put it in perspective for her. They told, “me I had to support my habit.” Back in the day, this would equate with the old saying, "champagne taste and beer money." Her dad elaborated, “you like to eat on a regular basis don’t you because you are getting out of here.” Mary said, “I knew I had to support my habit." At 16, Mary made her decision to go to Purdue and become an engineer. When she got to Purdue there weren’t many students who were women and even fewer who looked like her. She learned that making alliances were necessary, and she got introduced to the National Society of Black Engineers and that’s where she found her support system, and she never looked back. She said they were responsible for helping "us to learn how to study, making sure we gave back and ensuring that more of us graduated." She says of the kids today, “going into engineering they can make $80,000 coming out of college.”
What Engineering did for Mary: In addition to a great career, Mary said it taught her how to think, and it trains your mind to think on a number of levels. It is humbling she said “because we (engineers) touch every aspect of life. There is nothing in society that an engineer doesn’t touch. There are so many levels of creativity.” Her son, Ashton, who is attending North Carolina A &T State University, is majoring in Computer Science to become a Meteorologist, was exposed to the professions and the many black engineers that Mary has interacted with. She said she “exposed him to black male professionals doing positive things and he has a network of his own." Giving back is part of the NSBE’s mission statement, by positively impacting the community. NSBE’s mission statement is to “increase the number of culturally responsible Black Engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community."
Mary has not only given back by mentoring her own son but countless other students aspiring to become engineers. She has provided educational resources, advising, exposure and financial support to young people. Many says they affectionately call her “Mom”
Mary’s Spiritual mission: Mary’s mission work doesn’t stop with Black Engineers but extends into her spiritual avocation where she is a practicing Chaplain in Columbus, Ohio. Being a clergywoman is not something Mary wanted in her life. As a matter of fact, she fought it for many years even though she knew this was something that was inside of her. Mary says: “I wasn’t trying to do it only because I come from a family of ministries on both sides. My mom is a ‘pk’ (Preacher's Kid).” Mary said, “I acknowledged my calling, but it was not what I wanted to do." When her son was about three years old, she couldn’t hold it off any longer. She cried for weeks because "this was not what I wanted to do.” But, she could no longer ignore God’s voice and calling on her life. When asked how did she know God wanted this for her? She said, “God talked to me just like I’m talking to you right now.”
Mary heard her calling during a visit to conference her pastor had invited the church’s kids to. She said her pastor had always told us, “anyone called to ministry should go to study, but I had already had two degrees, an MBA and an Engineering degree.” She said, “I’m good" until at the conference she heard God say, “you are going to seminary; you go right over there and find your school.” Mary still fighting said to herself, I am a single mother who had to go to work, but God had that covered too. She discovered at the conference there was a program that she could maintain a job and do her seminary work. Mary enrolled and finished the program. But years later, her pastoral friends would not let her stop there, they wanted her to pursue a Master's of Divinity, which she got in 2018. It was at this time that she realized that there were other types of ministry work aside from preaching. She began working as a Chaplain at a senior resident hall in Columbus, Ohio where she preaches, visits the sick, does hospice and talks to the residents. Mary said, “sitting with their families who have sick ones dying is a very humbling experience or giving someone a kind word.” She said, “they just want someone to talk to who genuinely cares. When you lose people at that level, they don’t care they just want hope and to know that you care about them.”
On what has been the most challenging time in her life: Mary says a “defining piece” was when her marriage dissolved in 2001. She never expected to be a single mother raising an infant by herself. It was not in her “original plan.” There was a time in society where being a single mother was frowned upon and looked at in a more negative light. Mary was raised during this time period and her perspective is reflective of this. She explains that as a divorced mother she had
“to deal with the circumstances and shame around divorce and the shame of being a divorced mother. I did everything I was supposed to: I got married, went to college, get your degree…all those right things…make your own money and this happens and what do you do? I had to stop thinking I did something wrong. There was nothing I could have changed. I was totally crushed. I did the right things.”
She makes a distinction between being a single mother and being a divorced mother. She says, “it doesn’t mean the same, and I would correct people and say I am a divorced mother.” She goes on to say of her marriage, “it wasn’t an easy environment, early on my ex-husband was very violent, and I had to make some decisions,” because she didn’t want her son, Ashton to grow up in that type of environment thinking that was ok behavior. “It was a deal breaker.” Looking back Mary, says of her ex-husband whom she is still friends with today, he never showed those tendencies while they were dating. To move on from the pain and hurt of her marriage, she turned to one friend who told her she “would stand by me until God stood me up." Mary said he friend listened to everything “I was going through, but there was nothing I could have changed. This season was over and it was time to move on.
Fast forward to today, Mary lives in Virginia in the Washington, DC area to be closer to her job project. She loves living in the DC area. She has overcome the economic challenges of living in Gary, Indiana to land one job that takes care of all her needs and desires; she has overcome the emotional and mental trauma of divorce to live a more peaceful, spiritually fulfilling life. Not only is her life changing, but her "ministry is shifting. She says, "you have to be smart enough to know when your season is over. Change is good.” Part of the change is in her ministry work where she is currently working on a book entitled Eight steps to a Wise Lifestyle. The WI stands for wisdom and the SE stands for Service. The concept of the book, Mary says is based on King Solomon because he prayed to be wise in his dealing with people. She says the book will be something tangible that people can hold on to and hopes will empower others on what leadership looks like and how to lead.
Mary's other favorite subject: Fashion Style: What a successful business attire looks like.
Mary has always loved fashion; remember she had a childhood "habit" that her Dad said she had to take care of and that included her passion for fashion. Mary says there were five sisters growing up in their household, and “we were stairsteps.” They had to share clothes, “If I had it on Monday, another sister had it on Wednesday. We had an affinity for clothes” She says, she and her sister still share clothes.
It is not uncommon (for her and her sisters) to get a box of shoes, clothes, a dress or a leather jacket or two from each other. Mary’s favorite brand is St John’s. She says, “you are always business ready and have a classic style.” She buys clothes as investment pieces and it transitions well from business to doing her ministry work.
As you can see, Mary is not only a lady of substance as a Lead Engineer for the Department of Defense but she is a lady of fashionable style. Making a strong, professional impression is one way this lady lives up to a phenomenal woman of both substance and style.
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Beautiful!!! Congratulations on your success Ms.Mary.
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