Event
Whiting-Turner Lecture Series: The Only Constant is Change
Wednesday, April 7, 2021
5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
Zoom, link provided upon registration
Rachael Bennett
301 405 0764
rbenn@umd.edu
Register: go.umd.edu/cummings-rsvp
A small engineering company supporting the Department of Defense (DoD) can rely on one thing: the only constant is change. Developing capabilities and an organizational culture that embraces and swiftly navigates change, in order to deliver responsive engineering solutions to customers, is essential for sustainable growth.
Small businesses face many challenges from winning contracts, cash flow, maintaining and developing a workforce, etc. The current COVID environment has created even more challenges for small businesses, many of which resulted in companies going out of business or needing to reinvent themselves. Developing robust relationships between customer and employee is essential to maintaining open communications in order to understand needs, funding, technology demands, timeline, etc.
Join us as Sheila Cummings, Aerospace ‘95, Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cummings Aerospace, Inc., discusses her experience leading her company through an ever-changing landscape over the last 12 years.
Sheila Cummings received a B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Clark School of Engineering in 1995. Her expertise stems from her role as a Spacecraft Thermal Engineer with the Spacecraft Engineering Division of the Naval Research Laboratory and later as a Systems Engineer on multiple missile defense programs as a government contractor supporting the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). Prior to forming Cummings Aerospace, Sheila led a $30 million Missile Defense Business Unit as Vice President of a small engineering company in Arlington, VA.
Cummings Aerospace, a Native American Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) and Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), was founded in 2009 by Sheila. She has led all aspects of corporate operations and strategic development for Cummings Aerospace. Headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama, with corporate offices in Niceville and St. Petersburg, Florida, Cummings Aerospace specializes in the flight science solutions and technologies for aerospace systems in support of DoD customers. Cummings Aerospace’s core competencies include:
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Weapon systems engineering
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Physics-based modeling and simulation (M&S)
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Aerodynamics
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Guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) system development
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software development and
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hardware/software integration & testing
Sheila plays an active leadership role in non-profit organizations and is the founder of the ACE Scholarship Program which provides education funding to economically disadvantaged minority students pursuing an Engineering, Math, or Science degree.
