IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2007 - 21

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organization," she says, "is that these are
the people you go to when you have a
really tough problem and you don't know
how to solve it. It was really appealing to
me to have a tough job, where every day
would be different and challenging."
Working in an optical lab, she performs remote sensing research, which
uses ambient light or lasers to determine how various sensors might operate when they are being used. As a field

Working in the CIA's co-op program by day,
student by night. Carr (center) conducted
research and reconnaissance using satellites
while at the agency.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ALISON CARR

test specialist, she works on a small
team of engineers who consult with
programs that build these various sensors, helping people gather the information they need to know so that the
sensors will operate correctly. One project in particular will explain to government employees how a sensor that is
designed to protect soldiers against a
chemical attack might fare when uti-

Page 21

lized out in the field. "With warfare, the
threat of weapons of mass destruction,
and the terrorist scares, what I do is
extremely relevant," Carr says.
Even with such an important
research position, no two days are ever
really alike. "I get to meet all kinds of
people," she says, "from the army private
who is in the field with the sensor to the
professor with a Ph.D. in environmental
science who is an expert on the physics
of the problem." She has also spent time
in Kuwait taking measurements on the
environment there and has visited various desert locales to do various
research tasks "I spend May
through September on the
road," she explains.
Occasionally, she will
even detonate items just
to see what happens.
Ultimately, her research results help a
larger team make
computer simulations
of what the sensor
should look like and
how it would perform.
Many do not realize
that engineering work often
uses skills beyond math and science, and Carr's career at the APL is
a perfect example of this. "You do have
to be good at science, but you also have
to have really strong communications
and organization skills," she says. "I do a
lot of writing, which I love." She is currently writing a journal article on her
research findings that will get published
as new knowledge in the field. "That really validates the work that we've done,"
she says excitedly.
Not that her work and knowledge
have gone unnoticed. Carr was recently
asked to sit on a board as an expert consultant to the government. "The government thinks our work went so well that
they are going to take our project and
scale it up about 100-fold," she explains
modestly. "They've asked me to consult
with the contractor to provide them with

WINTER 2007/2008

the info they need to reproduce and
potentially improve our results."
As many engineers learn, the opportunities for jobs are endless, and she is
aware that she could pretty much pack
up and move anywhere without the
threat of unemployment. While Carr says
she gets "an immense amount of satisfaction from helping people and making the
country safer," she's also content with the
security of knowing that her skills are
portable. She could do some more writing or, taking advantage of her location
near Washington, D.C., she could enter
public policy. "I would really like to help
the government help the public get the
most out of what technology has to offer,"
says Carr. Of course, science person that
she is, even a field change wouldn't get
her mind off of technology.

Revenge of the Nerds
Carr's focus on her love of science is
something of which she's proud and
(Continued on page 24)

AN ALUMNA REMEMBERS
On 16 April 2007, the Virgina Tech campus in
Blacksburg, Virgina, was rocked when a student went on a shooting rampage that left 33
people dead including the gunman.
The Carr family is well acquainted with
Virginia Tech, as both Alison, an electrical
engineer, and her younger brother, a civil
engineer, are alumni of the institution. As with
much of the country, the events of that day
continue to linger with Alison.
"It's really sad and frightening from a
point of view that you go to this college town
in the middle of nowhere and you really think
that nothing bad can happen. And then when
that just changes, I think it really hits you. My
brother had graduated just a year earlier but
had he stayed, he would have been right
there. One of his professors was killed, so
that really hit home. However, the sense of
community at Virginia Tech is so strong, I
don't think that they will let this change the
campus for the worse."

IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2007