“I’ve always heard that the engineering
program at Old Dominion was top notch.
All the professors are really great, they
really listen to the students and they really
work hand-in-hand with them, not just in the
classroom.”
Eric Gonzalez has a lot to be grateful for.
When he graduated in December, the Navy veteran
and married father of a two-year old, walked
away with more than a bachelor’s degree
in Electrical Engineering.
After wrestling with multiple job offers,
he left ODU with a secure job as a systems
engineer for Lockheed Martin in Orlando, Florida,
where he will work on F-35 fighter jets.
“Multiple jobs offers, I thought it was
a little unreal at first, but it was all that
work I put in, not only on all my studies,
but all the internships I put in over the
summers and all the applicable experience
that I gained through those internships that
really gave me the opportunity to not just
have one job opportunity lined up after school
but multiple.”
How he did it all?
A husband, father and full-time student – who,
during some of his time at ODU, even worked
full-time as an aviation technician, yet managed
to also find time to serve as president of
the ODU Chapter of the Society of Hispanic
Professional Engineers and attend national
conferences to make the connections he needed
to land the internships at companies like
Dominion Energy and Boeing.
“I was very thankful to have a very supportive
wife, who took care of my son and took care
of me.
I had to sacrifice a lot, I had to give up
having a social life, had to give up a lot
of sleep, a lot of free time…
But I was really dedicated to going to school
– I originally joined the military so I
could to school.
I was going to doing everything I can to succeed.”
Eric’s incredible commitment started way
before his time at ODU.
As the third child in his family to go to
college within the same time span, the Las
Vegas native knew that paying for college
would be tough for his parents and he wanted
to spare them the expense.
“I knew, being a third child, it was a little
tight for my parents to support three students
in college, so I knew it was on myself to
go out there and gain the ability to go to
school.
So, coming out of high school, I joined the
Navy in order to, one, gain access to go back
to school and two, to serve my country.”
Eric spent six years in the Navy as an aviation
electrician.
His first assignment brought him to Norfolk,
where he met his wife.
He was later stationed in San Diego, from
where he deployed twice to the Persian Gulf.
It didn’t take long for Eric to discover
that he had a passion for aviation.
“I feel like everything happens for a reason.
‘Cuz once I got into that job, I fell in
love with it.
I knew that there were other aspects to it
in the civilian world, so once I separated
from the military, I wanted to continue that
role and work on aircraft and I knew engineering
was going to give me the best possibility
to fulfill that.”
As for how Eric feels about how ODU prepares
engineering students?
“Engineering students, I feel are very well
equipped to succeed and I’ve enjoyed working
not only with the faulty and the teachers,
but the other students as well.
Everybody takes great pride in their work
and their engineering projects.
For the Batten College of Engineering and
Technology, this is Keith Pierce.
