“My Purdue coursework included projects that spanned multiple weeks with a variety of deliverables, and completing the work successfully required teamwork. This is exactly how the real world works,” says Karen Waldenmeyer, staff software engineer for technical architecture at GE Aviation.
Waldenmeyer decides which new technologies to incorporate into software applications built upon GE’s Predix platform for industrial internet software. “It requires staying on top of the latest trends in IT like big data, micro-services and APIs (application programming interfaces) and applying what I learn to solve problems,” she says.
Waldenmeyer is designing a new data model which enables better analytics on asset configuration over its lifecycle. “It will yield better operational efficiency of an aircraft engine, for example, and it will allow us to make better calculations on the fleet as a whole,” she says. “This will eventually reduce the number of aircraft grounded due to mechanical failures, because we'll be able to predict those failures before they happen. We’re building an ecosystem of software that GE Aviation will use for years to come.”
Marcy Helms, a now-retired academic advisor, was instrumental to Waldenmeyer. “Her guidance had me taking classes I probably wouldn’t have such as databases and web application development. Those were the courses that enabled me to work under Dr. Nathan Hartman for my undergraduate and graduate degrees. Dr. Hartman furthered my experience in virtual product integration and product lifecycle management, which launched my career with GE. I am immensely thankful for both of them!”
Waldenmeyer lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.