July 18, 2025 • 22 mins
Are you interested in a career in electrical engineering or curious about what it’s like to transition from college to the workforce as an engineer?
In this inspiring interview, we sit down with Kyle, an electrical engineering graduate, to dive deep into his journey through college engineering courses, hands-on projects, internships, and how he successfully navigated the transition into his first professional engineering role.
Kyle shares invaluable career advice for STEM students, college success tips, and what skills helped him land a job after graduation.
If you're an engineering student, a future engineer, or just want to learn more about engineering career paths, this video is packed with real-world tips, career development advice, and motivational insights to help you thrive in your own journey.
Whether you're thinking about majoring in electrical engineering or about to graduate and enter the workforce, this video will give you the clarity and encouragement you need.
🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more STEM career interviews, college tips, and engineering success stories.
#ElectricalEngineering #EngineeringCareer #STEMSuccess #CollegeToCareer #EngineeringTips
Meet Kyle Davis! Kyle Davis is an Aeronautical Engineer, where he coordinates with several cross-functional product development teams to track package progress, new contracts, priority alignment, and technical issues.
His background is in Electrical Engineering, as he is a graduate of Southern University A&M College.
He is also the founder of the Davis Foundation Gives, a nonprofit organization that supports the aspirations of young professionals and students through mentorship and scholarships from and near his hometown of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.
In this inspiring interview, we sit down with Kyle, an electrical engineering graduate, to dive deep into his journey through college engineering courses, hands-on projects, internships, and how he successfully navigated the transition into his first professional engineering role.
Kyle shares invaluable career advice for STEM students, college success tips, and what skills helped him land a job after graduation.
If you're an engineering student, a future engineer, or just want to learn more about engineering career paths, this video is packed with real-world tips, career development advice, and motivational insights to help you thrive in your own journey.
Whether you're thinking about majoring in electrical engineering or about to graduate and enter the workforce, this video will give you the clarity and encouragement you need.
🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more STEM career interviews, college tips, and engineering success stories.
#ElectricalEngineering #EngineeringCareer #STEMSuccess #CollegeToCareer #EngineeringTips
Meet Kyle Davis! Kyle Davis is an Aeronautical Engineer, where he coordinates with several cross-functional product development teams to track package progress, new contracts, priority alignment, and technical issues.
His background is in Electrical Engineering, as he is a graduate of Southern University A&M College.
He is also the founder of the Davis Foundation Gives, a nonprofit organization that supports the aspirations of young professionals and students through mentorship and scholarships from and near his hometown of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Hello everyone, and welcome to all things then with Ashley.
I'm super excited about our guest today, Kyle Davis.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Welcome, How are you good.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
I'm excited for you to be here today, glad to
be here.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
So y'all, let me tell y'all about Kyle. Kyle is
an aeronautical engineer where he coordinates with several cross functional
product development teams to track package progress, new contracts, priority alignment,
and technical issues supporting the aerospace industry. He is also
the founder of the Davis Foundation, gives a nonprofit organization
that supports the aspirations of young professionals and students throughout
(00:49):
mentorship and scholarships from and near his hometown of broke Bridge, Louisiana.
So welcome Kyle, Thank you. So first I want to
talk about your stay journey, and then we'll get more
into your foundation and how people can support. So, how
did you get interested in stam Tell us about your journey,
like elementary school till now or however you first got interested?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Okay, So I started in high school.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
So my senior year in high school, my cousin graduated
from engineering and to back up a live further net,
my sisters was the first to graduate graduate university, so
that will expose me to even thinking about a higher education.
And then my cousin Todd, he graduated electric electronics engineering.
And then I started looking into what engineers do. And
then I figured out that engineers worked on iPhones. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I wanted to be an innovator for Apple.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah, So I looked through electrical, electronic, and mechanical engineer,
and I chose electrical. I love more of the math
based and I think I'm better in math than the sciences.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Thank you, Kyle.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
So now we're going to get into some more about
you know, your mentors and role models and things like that.
So do you have any role models or mentors that
have influenced your journey in stem? I know you touched
on your cousin and your sister. Do you have any
more that helped throughout your journey to get to where
you are now?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
So my brother in law, Marcus Baskin, he was a
civil engineer, and he told me about his journey and
how he got Darren.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Why you show a civil engineering So also shot Reck Stevenson.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
He worked for doll over two decades and I was
he brought me along history program where he was mentoring
young African American males in engineering space. So he was
like a very pivotal figure in my growth ast engineer.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Okay, awesome, Kyle. So were there any challenges that you
faced while you were growing up that made pursuing a
career difficult?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Yes, So I would call it the unknown. So it's
not the things that you know that hurts you, the
things that you don't know.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
So now I have an.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Access to engineering field, all people that was in the
engineering space was very difficult me to get an understandard
of what it is or if I'm actually interested in
that field. So that was probably the most challenging part
of finding my way into engineering is the environment and
not having those tools and people to come back and
press what engineering is.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
So, Kyle, can you please explain an overview of what
electrical engineering does and what it entails.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Yes, electrical engineers are studying application of electricity, electronics, and
electrical magnesium, which is a branch of physics, so that
goes into the magnetic fields and also charges in things
of that nature, and we use that background knowledge to
solve real world problems.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
I love it. Thank you so what is one project
or accomplishment that you are particularly proud of during your career.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yes, so I think it'll be too. So my first
one was NASA.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
So I was able to do a research with NASA
where we program a circuit board to detect the heat
coming from the sun. Was studying how global warming impacts
the south part of Texas.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
So that was one of my first time actually.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
Being involved in engineering and actually doing something as a freshman.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
So that gave me the urge to keep going in
my engineering career.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Excellent. What's the second one?
Speaker 3 (03:57):
My second one is what I'm currently doing, just knowing
that the things are working on now will be used
five ten years from now, so it's very exciting to
work on those cutting edge technologies.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
That's excellent. Making a difference, making an impact. Okay, so
you just spoke about, you know, things going in the
future and future technologies. My next question is how do
you see emerging technologies like artificial intelligence shaping the future
of electrical engineering.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Yes, so I think electrical engineers specifically will become AI managers.
So I think at least at my company, we're using
coding artificial intelligence now and we're talking about how do
we scale it to make sure that we're getting a
lot of accurate information. So what I'm seeing now is
we learn more about the space we can AI trainings.
(04:43):
So I think we should be managers of AI.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
I love that and it definitely makes it more efficient. Yes, sure,
and you know we do still need that human interface,
so for chesching and just small things that a computer
is going to just because to do what it should do.
But you know we need that human check for the
errors and.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Also the nuances, right because I don't think those artificial
intelligence is what we input into it, right, So if
it doesn't have that nuanced perspective of how to solve
problems that grows and evolves over time, it can be
outdated if you're not always input in our.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Information something people don't realize.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Thank you for.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Sharing that aspect. So we kind of talked about how
electrical engineering, what it is and what it does. So
how does electrical engineering interact with other computer science, mechanical
engineering or civil engineering? Are the types of engineering?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yes, I'll go. I'll start off with computer science.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
So in my undergrad years we started, we had to
take coding classes from computer sciences. So now that kind
of merged into what I'm doing now, which is also coding.
So I think that's how electrical engineering and computer science
kind of molds together because you have to understand both
sides of it in today's time to be a competitive
engineer but also keep a comparative engineering company afloat and thriving.
(06:00):
But also, if you think about it, in the most
simplest aspects of civil engineering, which is similar to architects, right,
they build the buildings, they build the bridges. So we
think about a building or let's say a large grocery store,
if you think about power distribution, which is electric engineering,
you have to understand how much voltage watts you could
send to that building, right, but that building also has
to be able to withstand that type of electricity and power.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
So that kind of merges electric engineering and civil engineering.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Oh wow, that's great. See it's pretty gems to the
audience today. So we talked about how it interactual other
types of engineering. I wanted to ask, since electrical engineering
is such a broad field, what are some different career
paths within it that people may not be aware of.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
So I would say about biomedical engineering, robotics, and renewable energy.
So I go back into power distribution, but on the
nuclear power side energy. I worked at a nuclear power
station and energy in Mississippi and where we use steam
and steam turnbines to generate power and generate energy. So
that's part of the renewable energy part that people might
(07:01):
not think about electrical engineering in that frame.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Yeah, awesome, I love that. So now, what resources, books,
or courses would you recommend to someone just starting out
electrical engineering, Like, if there's something that helped you, like
I know for people in math, cons Academy is like amazing.
Is anything that you're like, this resource will help someone
in college or help someone entering electrical engineering even in
the workplace.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Yes, I would say engineering mindset on YouTube, they do
a good job at illustrating the concepts of engineering and
high electricity flows in a different concepts and nuances of that.
So electric electrical engineering is very theory based and you
have to have a creative mindset, so be able to
actually illustration of it kind of helps you understand what's
going on. And also anything with Nicola Tesla okay, so
(07:45):
I would say look at his documentaries and biglographies because
he was like the forefather of DC which is direct current.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
So yeah, back in.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Years years ago, we used to have like you know,
candle lights and things like that to light up rules
and exac nature. We didn't have like cities like New
York or Chicago where you see these skyscrapers laid up
with lights.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Right.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
So he he was the forefather of creating the DC
caring and taking all the way up to the government
and marketing that to making.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
That up a worldwide thing. So yeah, he is a
very inspirational.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
And thought provoking when it comes to electrical engineering.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
So yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
So now, kind of how we talked about merchand technologies earlier,
just an overall change over the next five to ten years,
how do you see the field of electrical engineering involving
over the next five to ten years, like in any.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Way, Yes, so I think we'll have to Paton's day
I and see where I goes. I think they would
allow us to scale our productive productivity.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
So I would say stay tuned, stay tuned for that. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
So what advice would you give to the young men
considering a career in STAMP that are unsure about balancing
it with their life and other interests.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Yes, so I would say, just in my experience working
across three different companies over the past five years, I
would say that engineers normally work for the hour work
weeks until you get to like that male level and
senior level. That's when your time is on more demand
of the company. So I say for early engineers, it's
a cool balance. It's not too much work. You don't
(09:15):
have to take work home with you. So I think
it's a great balance. Starting off your first one to
five years, Well, if you're very ambitious and you want
to really be the leader at your company, then you
have to manage your time. Put everything into a calendar.
Talk with your spouse or your loved one to explain
to him or her what expectations you have and where
you see your family going as well. So y'all you
(09:36):
all have understanding of what ya as a collective are
trying to do.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
I love that and like you said, put it in
that calendar. Yes, what other skills do you use for
time management? Specific calendar, your calendar or like what is
your what?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
So?
Speaker 3 (09:51):
I use Google calendar, my iPhone calendar and those are
two major ones and reminders, so I always have like
reminders set up.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Yeah, okay, awesome. So now I want to ask what
is the best piece of career advice you have received
and how has it shaped your path?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Uh, stay curious and always be always have the student
mentality no matter what level you're at, because people will
love people that are curious about their work and also
have a passion and their own self curiosity to figure
things out. And as long as you have those type
of attitudes, you'll be easy to work with.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Okay, thank you. Now I want to ask because I
do feel like i'd like to focus on women. Well,
so I want to ask how women and passages the
journey and it does have to be a woman's your
support system that how have women made a passive impacting you.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Yes, I'll say start off with my mother. She was
always big on education.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
So even though she didn't have a she didn't graduate college,
she made sure that her kids were in those spaces
or at least always talking to us about why you
should education, what it's the benefits of it, what the.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Like ten and twenty years from now.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
And then I would say to my sisters the first
two individuals to graduate college in our family. And then
I'll go to my college level, which was miss Head
of Tanner. She was always pointing to me and giving
me access to different conferences, scholarships and just believing in
me as a young inspiring engineer. And also Tama Montgomery,
Miss Tama Montgomery, so she taught me professional development. So
(11:23):
I fell in love with professional development after getting to
know her and learn from her, and I became a
student ambassador for the Career Services. So those are the
key women in my life that helped me grow as
an engineer and as a person.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Where did you go again?
Speaker 3 (11:37):
I graduated from d Sun University and I also went
to LSU Louisiana State University on a dual program.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Awesome.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
And can you give us some of those resources and
conferences that you got to attend that helped get.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Yes, So the main one was NESBY says National Societies
of Black Engineers, so they have their regionals and a
nationals Okay, awesome.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
So these conferences did your career center like help you
with my interview prep or anything like that? So yeah,
it's important to get your resume looked over to do
mock interviews when you get to these conferences. And did
you get to keep in contact with people after you
at the conferences. Did you get to network?
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Yes, So one of my care advice is figure out
what what you're doing, what you're going there for, who
you're trying to meet create XLHI of the people that
you want to meet up with, start generating questions of interest, right,
so go to their LinkedIn profile, go to their companies
website where they have their bios and information. And like
I said, I was still curious and figure out what
(12:36):
interests you about them, and then you try to mail
questions around that and then I could build a personal
relationship but also a working relationship as well. And then
after that conference, I will wait two to three weeks
because you know, some people travel to those conferences so
they have family, they have kids that have parents as well,
and people that depend on them. So giving them time
to get back sell at home, but also keeping in
(12:56):
the back of your mind, Hey, I want to be
up to this person and make it a good time
for them to respond as well.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
That's that's excellent. Next we're gonna get on what advice
would you get to young engineers or students interesting interested
in pursuing a career ectrical engineer.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Yes, so if you have the temperament for failure, the
temperament for math and science.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
That's the major things. I know.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
People say, chase your passions, but also you have to
understand who you are as a person and what are
you looking to develop as well, because just because you're
not a savvy math mathematician doesn't mean you can't train
yourself to become a world around the mathematician.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
What do you do?
Speaker 3 (13:39):
But do you want to develop yourself into that? And
that's where I think the the road is. So of course,
follow your passion, but understand what innate gifts that you
have and try to focus on your strengths and weakness.
Is that you do care about develop those so you
can build yourself as a whole and hopefully become an engineer.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
I want to ask what are three tips for success in.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Navigating I'll say three tips for success for navigating your
STEM journey is one, discipline, networking.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
And staying curious. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
I think if you follow those three paths, it will
alleg you into the direction that you want to be
and you're supposed to be as well. Through discipline, you
have to build that up, especially as a freshman software
before you get into those major courses because those are
less forgiven, they're very difficult. And one thing I'll teach
my mentees is that you no longer have a teacher,
(14:29):
you have an instructor. So in high school, your teacher
will do eighty percent of the work and you will
just do twenty percent. Right, show up a class, take
the exam, listen right, instructors, they will be lecturing you.
Whether you pick up on it or not, that's up
to you. Did you read before and after class, that's
up to you. All you showing up on time for class,
that's up to you. So understand and building that discipline
(14:51):
is very important. Also staying curious. Staying curious because engineering
is a very broad field and you don't want to
pigeonhole yourself into one area just because you comboy in
that space because something else might be on the rising
for you. That is that will grow you beyond your belief.
And then I would say the last one was they'll
stay curious. Discipline and.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Networking.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Networking. Networking, so finding your tribe.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
So I know, sometimes networking gives like a negative connotation
of oh, I'm just trying to use this person to
get to what I'm trying to be you know, it's
building your tribe, it's building your community. And if you
if you're working in that way, you will have your
friends driving friends in those spaces as well, opposed to
just people that you use call on for a fever.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
That's true, That's true. I just did a episode of networking.
Everybody needs to tune in episode nine because it's true.
Building connections provide values. Like you said, it's not just
take and it's important to follow up with them, not
just when like you said, when you need something, have
a genuine connection.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Yes, yes, I love that.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
So thank you for sharing your stam journey. I'm excited
now to pivot into your nonprofit. So first, you know,
tell us about you nonprofit and what motivated you to
start this.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Yes, So, my nonprofit is called the Davis Foundation Gives
is a five to one c nonprofit and it started
with my grandparents.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
So my grandparents, one of my grandparents was a sharecropper
and after doing her work her days at work, she'll
collaborate with her friends and share food together. So all
of them didn't have a lot of food because they'll
give it off to the owner of the land and
things that nature. So they'll come together as a community
to share and make sure people always have something to eat.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
And my other.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Grandmother still to this day, she loves cooking and she
would feed anybody that's within the community. So having that
gift back attitude was always It's stilled in my family
also my mother as well. So I wanted to make
sure that my last name in my city rings bells
and have a positive connotation to it. So what we
do at the Davis Foundation Gives is we mentor graduating
(16:53):
seniors from high school and graduating seniors from college, and
we also give them scholarships to go on and to
start your engineering or starting their profession or not really engineered,
but to starting their college years because scholarships always help, right,
So so I want to give back and also mentor
them as they grow into their careers and grow as
(17:14):
a young student.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Yes, I love that. So where can people learn more
about either donating, helping and you know, growing your platform?
Where can where can we find out about it? Is
it online? Is there a website? What is it?
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Can you?
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (17:29):
I would say on Instagram? Is the Davids Foundation gives?
And on LinkedIn the Davis Foundation gives And all information
should be there.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
And do you have to be from your hometown to
apply the scholarships.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Or two in the prog that's our first targets.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Okay, yeah, so we would like to tell the people
that's in the broad Bridge area and surround the communities.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
But if people don't apply, of course we'll give that
to the people in need as well.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Right, and everybody can donate at these places platforms too, right, yes, okay,
so y'all check it out, donate. Don't see how high
it is making that impact. So how you balance doing
your nonprofit and working full time and still having come
to mentor and have time for self care? How do
you balance everything?
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (18:10):
So I'm regularly working up at four am or four
thirty to work out, get myself settled and centered for
the work workspace. Then after I finish my workspace, I
have enough time in the afternoon because I get to
work early around five thirty, so I'll be able to
get off early because of my company's flexibility, so I
have the rest of the evening to do mentoring or
(18:31):
reaching out for sponsorships and things of that nature.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
So what's next for you in your nonprofit? And then
I want to go into what's next for you and
your career and what do you hope to achieve?
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Yes, for my nonprofit, I would love to get more sponsorships,
also scaling it because one of the major goals is
to pay off an engineering class. That so that's that's
one of my major goals. And that's like a ten
year fifteen year plan.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Yeah, and then that's because today what is something?
Speaker 2 (18:58):
What's next for you and your career careers?
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Growing, growing as an engineer, trying to become more seasoned
and polished as a as an MBA, like a leader
expert in my space, so learning AI as well.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
I'm currently coding and I'm reading up on AI as well.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
So just trying to stay in tune and make sure
when the next wave of technology happened at the forefront
of it.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
So, Kyle, you told us all about electrical engineering and
all the different types of people you get to collaborate with.
Can you tell us about your transition from electrical engineering
into systems engineering and what system engineering entailed?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (19:37):
So I got hired on at conzero Space for a
co op opportunity in Richardson, Texas. Okay, and throughout that
month process, I've found a liking into the system engineering
process was my main role was understanding communications through different
devices that were not supposed to communicate to each other,
or engineering to make it do so, to keep their
(19:57):
conversations and frequencies away from people that we don't want
to hear are inaequate because we are in.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
The defense space, So.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Keeping those those conversations and I guess orders private is
a very important thing. And when you're doing that with
different devices that don't normally communicate with each other's hard
for somebody to hack into that. So that kind of
made me more inspired to become a system engineer than
upon graduation, I was able to get hired by another
aerospace company and that kind of where that all led
(20:28):
to I love it and it.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Were there any courses you have to take, any tools
maybe you need to learn to become a system from
electronics engineering or electrical engineering.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Yeah so, and that's a great point.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
So if you if you're electronics electronics engineer, you're probably
be more difficult to get in the system engineering space
because of you might not have the coursework like Signals
and Systems and some of the more communication based engineering
classes that electrical engineer students do.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Take. So I think it'll be more easier to get into.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
Those spaces in Aerospace Department of Defense if you go
to the electrical engineer out electrical engineering route, because legical
engineering is broader than electronics engineer.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Electronics is a branch of electrical engineer.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Yeah, o, Kyle, thank you so much for sharing your
STEM journey with us and information about your nonprofit that's
impacting so many lives. I'm super excited that we got
to hear your journey today and everything you've learned along
the way. So is there anything else you would like
to share with us before we close out today?
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Yes, so it'll be more directed towards the young inspiring
engineers are young people in tech is to honestly stay curious,
really pick up books on the things that you may
be curious about, and get deep deep on those topics
and subjects, and use your LinkedIn profile, reach out to
people on LinkedIn and figure out what what do they
do on a day day basis, and that could build
(21:50):
a rapport of networking and engineers and people in tech,
whether is software or any type of engineering.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
So I would say stay curious, build your network and.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Have fun with it because it's a difficult it's a
difficult journey.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
But it's fulfilled. It's a very fruitful journey.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
So I would say stay curious and building at work
as early as possible.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
I love it. Thank you for joining us to thank
you all for watching at home or listening online because
we are officially on Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible and YouTube podcasts.
So thank you for watching, and please like and subscribe
on YouTube. We'll see you next time. Bins
Hello everyone, and welcome to all things then with Ashley.
I'm super excited about our guest today, Kyle Davis.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Welcome, How are you good.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
I'm excited for you to be here today, glad to
be here.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
So y'all, let me tell y'all about Kyle. Kyle is
an aeronautical engineer where he coordinates with several cross functional
product development teams to track package progress, new contracts, priority alignment,
and technical issues supporting the aerospace industry. He is also
the founder of the Davis Foundation, gives a nonprofit organization
that supports the aspirations of young professionals and students throughout
(00:49):
mentorship and scholarships from and near his hometown of broke Bridge, Louisiana.
So welcome Kyle, Thank you. So first I want to
talk about your stay journey, and then we'll get more
into your foundation and how people can support. So, how
did you get interested in stam Tell us about your journey,
like elementary school till now or however you first got interested?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Okay, So I started in high school.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
So my senior year in high school, my cousin graduated
from engineering and to back up a live further net,
my sisters was the first to graduate graduate university, so
that will expose me to even thinking about a higher education.
And then my cousin Todd, he graduated electric electronics engineering.
And then I started looking into what engineers do. And
then I figured out that engineers worked on iPhones. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I wanted to be an innovator for Apple.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah, So I looked through electrical, electronic, and mechanical engineer,
and I chose electrical. I love more of the math
based and I think I'm better in math than the sciences.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Thank you, Kyle.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
So now we're going to get into some more about
you know, your mentors and role models and things like that.
So do you have any role models or mentors that
have influenced your journey in stem? I know you touched
on your cousin and your sister. Do you have any
more that helped throughout your journey to get to where
you are now?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
So my brother in law, Marcus Baskin, he was a
civil engineer, and he told me about his journey and
how he got Darren.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Why you show a civil engineering So also shot Reck Stevenson.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
He worked for doll over two decades and I was
he brought me along history program where he was mentoring
young African American males in engineering space. So he was
like a very pivotal figure in my growth ast engineer.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Okay, awesome, Kyle. So were there any challenges that you
faced while you were growing up that made pursuing a
career difficult?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Yes, So I would call it the unknown. So it's
not the things that you know that hurts you, the
things that you don't know.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
So now I have an.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Access to engineering field, all people that was in the
engineering space was very difficult me to get an understandard
of what it is or if I'm actually interested in
that field. So that was probably the most challenging part
of finding my way into engineering is the environment and
not having those tools and people to come back and
press what engineering is.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
So, Kyle, can you please explain an overview of what
electrical engineering does and what it entails.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Yes, electrical engineers are studying application of electricity, electronics, and
electrical magnesium, which is a branch of physics, so that
goes into the magnetic fields and also charges in things
of that nature, and we use that background knowledge to
solve real world problems.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
I love it. Thank you so what is one project
or accomplishment that you are particularly proud of during your career.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yes, so I think it'll be too. So my first
one was NASA.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
So I was able to do a research with NASA
where we program a circuit board to detect the heat
coming from the sun. Was studying how global warming impacts
the south part of Texas.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
So that was one of my first time actually.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
Being involved in engineering and actually doing something as a freshman.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
So that gave me the urge to keep going in
my engineering career.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Excellent. What's the second one?
Speaker 3 (03:57):
My second one is what I'm currently doing, just knowing
that the things are working on now will be used
five ten years from now, so it's very exciting to
work on those cutting edge technologies.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
That's excellent. Making a difference, making an impact. Okay, so
you just spoke about, you know, things going in the
future and future technologies. My next question is how do
you see emerging technologies like artificial intelligence shaping the future
of electrical engineering.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Yes, so I think electrical engineers specifically will become AI managers.
So I think at least at my company, we're using
coding artificial intelligence now and we're talking about how do
we scale it to make sure that we're getting a
lot of accurate information. So what I'm seeing now is
we learn more about the space we can AI trainings.
(04:43):
So I think we should be managers of AI.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
I love that and it definitely makes it more efficient. Yes, sure,
and you know we do still need that human interface,
so for chesching and just small things that a computer
is going to just because to do what it should do.
But you know we need that human check for the
errors and.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Also the nuances, right because I don't think those artificial
intelligence is what we input into it, right, So if
it doesn't have that nuanced perspective of how to solve
problems that grows and evolves over time, it can be
outdated if you're not always input in our.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Information something people don't realize.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Thank you for.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Sharing that aspect. So we kind of talked about how
electrical engineering, what it is and what it does. So
how does electrical engineering interact with other computer science, mechanical
engineering or civil engineering? Are the types of engineering?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yes, I'll go. I'll start off with computer science.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
So in my undergrad years we started, we had to
take coding classes from computer sciences. So now that kind
of merged into what I'm doing now, which is also coding.
So I think that's how electrical engineering and computer science
kind of molds together because you have to understand both
sides of it in today's time to be a competitive
engineer but also keep a comparative engineering company afloat and thriving.
(06:00):
But also, if you think about it, in the most
simplest aspects of civil engineering, which is similar to architects, right,
they build the buildings, they build the bridges. So we
think about a building or let's say a large grocery store,
if you think about power distribution, which is electric engineering,
you have to understand how much voltage watts you could
send to that building, right, but that building also has
to be able to withstand that type of electricity and power.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
So that kind of merges electric engineering and civil engineering.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Oh wow, that's great. See it's pretty gems to the
audience today. So we talked about how it interactual other
types of engineering. I wanted to ask, since electrical engineering
is such a broad field, what are some different career
paths within it that people may not be aware of.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
So I would say about biomedical engineering, robotics, and renewable energy.
So I go back into power distribution, but on the
nuclear power side energy. I worked at a nuclear power
station and energy in Mississippi and where we use steam
and steam turnbines to generate power and generate energy. So
that's part of the renewable energy part that people might
(07:01):
not think about electrical engineering in that frame.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Yeah, awesome, I love that. So now, what resources, books,
or courses would you recommend to someone just starting out
electrical engineering, Like, if there's something that helped you, like
I know for people in math, cons Academy is like amazing.
Is anything that you're like, this resource will help someone
in college or help someone entering electrical engineering even in
the workplace.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Yes, I would say engineering mindset on YouTube, they do
a good job at illustrating the concepts of engineering and
high electricity flows in a different concepts and nuances of that.
So electric electrical engineering is very theory based and you
have to have a creative mindset, so be able to
actually illustration of it kind of helps you understand what's
going on. And also anything with Nicola Tesla okay, so
(07:45):
I would say look at his documentaries and biglographies because
he was like the forefather of DC which is direct current.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
So yeah, back in.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Years years ago, we used to have like you know,
candle lights and things like that to light up rules
and exac nature. We didn't have like cities like New
York or Chicago where you see these skyscrapers laid up
with lights.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Right.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
So he he was the forefather of creating the DC
caring and taking all the way up to the government
and marketing that to making.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
That up a worldwide thing. So yeah, he is a
very inspirational.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
And thought provoking when it comes to electrical engineering.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
So yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
So now, kind of how we talked about merchand technologies earlier,
just an overall change over the next five to ten years,
how do you see the field of electrical engineering involving
over the next five to ten years, like in any.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Way, Yes, so I think we'll have to Paton's day
I and see where I goes. I think they would
allow us to scale our productive productivity.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
So I would say stay tuned, stay tuned for that. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
So what advice would you give to the young men
considering a career in STAMP that are unsure about balancing
it with their life and other interests.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Yes, so I would say, just in my experience working
across three different companies over the past five years, I
would say that engineers normally work for the hour work
weeks until you get to like that male level and
senior level. That's when your time is on more demand
of the company. So I say for early engineers, it's
a cool balance. It's not too much work. You don't
(09:15):
have to take work home with you. So I think
it's a great balance. Starting off your first one to
five years, Well, if you're very ambitious and you want
to really be the leader at your company, then you
have to manage your time. Put everything into a calendar.
Talk with your spouse or your loved one to explain
to him or her what expectations you have and where
you see your family going as well. So y'all you
(09:36):
all have understanding of what ya as a collective are
trying to do.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
I love that and like you said, put it in
that calendar. Yes, what other skills do you use for
time management? Specific calendar, your calendar or like what is
your what?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
So?
Speaker 3 (09:51):
I use Google calendar, my iPhone calendar and those are
two major ones and reminders, so I always have like
reminders set up.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Yeah, okay, awesome. So now I want to ask what
is the best piece of career advice you have received
and how has it shaped your path?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Uh, stay curious and always be always have the student
mentality no matter what level you're at, because people will
love people that are curious about their work and also
have a passion and their own self curiosity to figure
things out. And as long as you have those type
of attitudes, you'll be easy to work with.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Okay, thank you. Now I want to ask because I
do feel like i'd like to focus on women. Well,
so I want to ask how women and passages the
journey and it does have to be a woman's your
support system that how have women made a passive impacting you.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Yes, I'll say start off with my mother. She was
always big on education.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
So even though she didn't have a she didn't graduate college,
she made sure that her kids were in those spaces
or at least always talking to us about why you
should education, what it's the benefits of it, what the.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Like ten and twenty years from now.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
And then I would say to my sisters the first
two individuals to graduate college in our family. And then
I'll go to my college level, which was miss Head
of Tanner. She was always pointing to me and giving
me access to different conferences, scholarships and just believing in
me as a young inspiring engineer. And also Tama Montgomery,
Miss Tama Montgomery, so she taught me professional development. So
(11:23):
I fell in love with professional development after getting to
know her and learn from her, and I became a
student ambassador for the Career Services. So those are the
key women in my life that helped me grow as
an engineer and as a person.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Where did you go again?
Speaker 3 (11:37):
I graduated from d Sun University and I also went
to LSU Louisiana State University on a dual program.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Awesome.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
And can you give us some of those resources and
conferences that you got to attend that helped get.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Yes, So the main one was NESBY says National Societies
of Black Engineers, so they have their regionals and a
nationals Okay, awesome.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
So these conferences did your career center like help you
with my interview prep or anything like that? So yeah,
it's important to get your resume looked over to do
mock interviews when you get to these conferences. And did
you get to keep in contact with people after you
at the conferences. Did you get to network?
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Yes, So one of my care advice is figure out
what what you're doing, what you're going there for, who
you're trying to meet create XLHI of the people that
you want to meet up with, start generating questions of interest, right,
so go to their LinkedIn profile, go to their companies
website where they have their bios and information. And like
I said, I was still curious and figure out what
(12:36):
interests you about them, and then you try to mail
questions around that and then I could build a personal
relationship but also a working relationship as well. And then
after that conference, I will wait two to three weeks
because you know, some people travel to those conferences so
they have family, they have kids that have parents as well,
and people that depend on them. So giving them time
to get back sell at home, but also keeping in
(12:56):
the back of your mind, Hey, I want to be
up to this person and make it a good time
for them to respond as well.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
That's that's excellent. Next we're gonna get on what advice
would you get to young engineers or students interesting interested
in pursuing a career ectrical engineer.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Yes, so if you have the temperament for failure, the
temperament for math and science.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
That's the major things. I know.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
People say, chase your passions, but also you have to
understand who you are as a person and what are
you looking to develop as well, because just because you're
not a savvy math mathematician doesn't mean you can't train
yourself to become a world around the mathematician.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
What do you do?
Speaker 3 (13:39):
But do you want to develop yourself into that? And
that's where I think the the road is. So of course,
follow your passion, but understand what innate gifts that you
have and try to focus on your strengths and weakness.
Is that you do care about develop those so you
can build yourself as a whole and hopefully become an engineer.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
I want to ask what are three tips for success in.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Navigating I'll say three tips for success for navigating your
STEM journey is one, discipline, networking.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
And staying curious. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
I think if you follow those three paths, it will
alleg you into the direction that you want to be
and you're supposed to be as well. Through discipline, you
have to build that up, especially as a freshman software
before you get into those major courses because those are
less forgiven, they're very difficult. And one thing I'll teach
my mentees is that you no longer have a teacher,
(14:29):
you have an instructor. So in high school, your teacher
will do eighty percent of the work and you will
just do twenty percent. Right, show up a class, take
the exam, listen right, instructors, they will be lecturing you.
Whether you pick up on it or not, that's up
to you. Did you read before and after class, that's
up to you. All you showing up on time for class,
that's up to you. So understand and building that discipline
(14:51):
is very important. Also staying curious. Staying curious because engineering
is a very broad field and you don't want to
pigeonhole yourself into one area just because you comboy in
that space because something else might be on the rising
for you. That is that will grow you beyond your belief.
And then I would say the last one was they'll
stay curious. Discipline and.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Networking.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Networking. Networking, so finding your tribe.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
So I know, sometimes networking gives like a negative connotation
of oh, I'm just trying to use this person to
get to what I'm trying to be you know, it's
building your tribe, it's building your community. And if you
if you're working in that way, you will have your
friends driving friends in those spaces as well, opposed to
just people that you use call on for a fever.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
That's true, That's true. I just did a episode of networking.
Everybody needs to tune in episode nine because it's true.
Building connections provide values. Like you said, it's not just
take and it's important to follow up with them, not
just when like you said, when you need something, have
a genuine connection.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Yes, yes, I love that.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
So thank you for sharing your stam journey. I'm excited
now to pivot into your nonprofit. So first, you know,
tell us about you nonprofit and what motivated you to
start this.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Yes, So, my nonprofit is called the Davis Foundation Gives
is a five to one c nonprofit and it started
with my grandparents.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
So my grandparents, one of my grandparents was a sharecropper
and after doing her work her days at work, she'll
collaborate with her friends and share food together. So all
of them didn't have a lot of food because they'll
give it off to the owner of the land and
things that nature. So they'll come together as a community
to share and make sure people always have something to eat.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
And my other.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Grandmother still to this day, she loves cooking and she
would feed anybody that's within the community. So having that
gift back attitude was always It's stilled in my family
also my mother as well. So I wanted to make
sure that my last name in my city rings bells
and have a positive connotation to it. So what we
do at the Davis Foundation Gives is we mentor graduating
(16:53):
seniors from high school and graduating seniors from college, and
we also give them scholarships to go on and to
start your engineering or starting their profession or not really engineered,
but to starting their college years because scholarships always help, right,
So so I want to give back and also mentor
them as they grow into their careers and grow as
(17:14):
a young student.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Yes, I love that. So where can people learn more
about either donating, helping and you know, growing your platform?
Where can where can we find out about it? Is
it online? Is there a website? What is it?
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Can you?
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (17:29):
I would say on Instagram? Is the Davids Foundation gives?
And on LinkedIn the Davis Foundation gives And all information
should be there.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
And do you have to be from your hometown to
apply the scholarships.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Or two in the prog that's our first targets.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Okay, yeah, so we would like to tell the people
that's in the broad Bridge area and surround the communities.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
But if people don't apply, of course we'll give that
to the people in need as well.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Right, and everybody can donate at these places platforms too, right, yes, okay,
so y'all check it out, donate. Don't see how high
it is making that impact. So how you balance doing
your nonprofit and working full time and still having come
to mentor and have time for self care? How do
you balance everything?
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (18:10):
So I'm regularly working up at four am or four
thirty to work out, get myself settled and centered for
the work workspace. Then after I finish my workspace, I
have enough time in the afternoon because I get to
work early around five thirty, so I'll be able to
get off early because of my company's flexibility, so I
have the rest of the evening to do mentoring or
(18:31):
reaching out for sponsorships and things of that nature.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
So what's next for you in your nonprofit? And then
I want to go into what's next for you and
your career and what do you hope to achieve?
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Yes, for my nonprofit, I would love to get more sponsorships,
also scaling it because one of the major goals is
to pay off an engineering class. That so that's that's
one of my major goals. And that's like a ten
year fifteen year plan.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Yeah, and then that's because today what is something?
Speaker 2 (18:58):
What's next for you and your career careers?
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Growing, growing as an engineer, trying to become more seasoned
and polished as a as an MBA, like a leader
expert in my space, so learning AI as well.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
I'm currently coding and I'm reading up on AI as well.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
So just trying to stay in tune and make sure
when the next wave of technology happened at the forefront
of it.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
So, Kyle, you told us all about electrical engineering and
all the different types of people you get to collaborate with.
Can you tell us about your transition from electrical engineering
into systems engineering and what system engineering entailed?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (19:37):
So I got hired on at conzero Space for a
co op opportunity in Richardson, Texas. Okay, and throughout that
month process, I've found a liking into the system engineering
process was my main role was understanding communications through different
devices that were not supposed to communicate to each other,
or engineering to make it do so, to keep their
(19:57):
conversations and frequencies away from people that we don't want
to hear are inaequate because we are in.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
The defense space, So.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Keeping those those conversations and I guess orders private is
a very important thing. And when you're doing that with
different devices that don't normally communicate with each other's hard
for somebody to hack into that. So that kind of
made me more inspired to become a system engineer than
upon graduation, I was able to get hired by another
aerospace company and that kind of where that all led
(20:28):
to I love it and it.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Were there any courses you have to take, any tools
maybe you need to learn to become a system from
electronics engineering or electrical engineering.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Yeah so, and that's a great point.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
So if you if you're electronics electronics engineer, you're probably
be more difficult to get in the system engineering space
because of you might not have the coursework like Signals
and Systems and some of the more communication based engineering
classes that electrical engineer students do.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Take. So I think it'll be more easier to get into.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
Those spaces in Aerospace Department of Defense if you go
to the electrical engineer out electrical engineering route, because legical
engineering is broader than electronics engineer.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Electronics is a branch of electrical engineer.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Yeah, o, Kyle, thank you so much for sharing your
STEM journey with us and information about your nonprofit that's
impacting so many lives. I'm super excited that we got
to hear your journey today and everything you've learned along
the way. So is there anything else you would like
to share with us before we close out today?
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Yes, so it'll be more directed towards the young inspiring
engineers are young people in tech is to honestly stay curious,
really pick up books on the things that you may
be curious about, and get deep deep on those topics
and subjects, and use your LinkedIn profile, reach out to
people on LinkedIn and figure out what what do they
do on a day day basis, and that could build
(21:50):
a rapport of networking and engineers and people in tech,
whether is software or any type of engineering.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
So I would say stay curious, build your network and.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Have fun with it because it's a difficult it's a
difficult journey.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
But it's fulfilled. It's a very fruitful journey.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
So I would say stay curious and building at work
as early as possible.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
I love it. Thank you for joining us to thank
you all for watching at home or listening online because
we are officially on Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible and YouTube podcasts.
So thank you for watching, and please like and subscribe
on YouTube. We'll see you next time. Bins
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