Celebrating Engineers Week with Shawn Bailey, Sensors Software Engineer, CAE USA, Tampa FL

At CAE, our engineers play an essential role in driving innovation and success.?As we celebrate Engineers Week, we are excited to spotlight Shawn Bailey, a Sensors Software Engineer at CAE USA in Tampa, Florida. Join us in recognizing Shawn's valuable contributions to our team and the impactful work he does every day!

“Engineers Week has a special place in my heart. I personally enjoy getting involved in the competitions that occur during the week with my teammates - ?It’s always fun to solve the problems posed. I believe engineering is the lifeblood of CAE. It is essential in our line of work to keep the company innovating and producing new and unique solutions for our customers,”? says Shawn Bailey

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Shawn is a graduate of Binghamton University, earning a Bachelor's of Science in Mathematics in 2016 and then a Master’s of Science in Computer Science in 2018. University life for Shawn was amazing, making many lifelong friends within the STEM field and opening the door for him to work as a teaching assistant and later as an adjunct professor for a Java-based course in object-oriented programming. Teaching for one year (two semesters) was a rewarding experience for Shawn as the knowledge shared, and the connections he made, provided a foundation for his career and personal growth.

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CAE Binghamton, NY

Since joining CAE in Binghamton five years ago, Shawn has been able to immerse himself in multiple projects. Sharing his experience with us, he says, ?“In Binghamton, I had the opportunity to work on a Mission Generation System and Instructor/Operator Station. The role involved working with various software products, written in C++, and integrating legacy code. I am proud of the project. It was an incredible opportunity for me to professionally grow. I started as an entry level engineer, worked my way up to a Software Engineer II, then Software Engineer III. Throughout my career progression, I became a subject matter expert for our systems and had an opportunity to be a lead for another related project, where I led a team of five engineers.”

?“I enjoy problem solving and team collaboration. As an engineer, solving a problem gives me great satisfaction. I love tackling issues or obstacles and seeing how our previous efforts make future tasks easier to implement. I appreciate team collaboration because it is nice to know you are not alone in implementing solutions, and it’s satisfying when everyone is working together in different areas of a project. Sometimes delegating or asking for advice from a member that is more intimate with a particular subsystem makes your workload much easier to manage and allows everyone to work more efficiently,” says Shawn.

Shawn’s experience at CAE Binghamton has allowed for him to hone both his technical expertise and ?leadership capabilities. Assuming a lead role, he found the experience both exciting and challenging. He ensured that team members were effectively managing their tasks, remained unblocked, and served as the primary point of contact for any questions. Shawn particularly enjoyed the challenge of learning to delegate responsibilities and distribute the workload efficiently.

“Working at CAE facilitates team collaboration, realizes innovative solutions, and prioritizes the needs of the customer first and foremost. Everyone works hard and strives for excellence, which has always been motivating for me to push myself and continue to grow as an engineer,” says Shawn.

Are you Interested in joining the CAE team in Binghamton, New York?

CAE Binghamton’s facility provides highly advanced modeling, training, and simulation equipment, supporting warfighter training and helping them prepare for the moments that matter.

View our current job opportunities!

• (?112267) Concurrency Systems Engineer (Skillbridge Eligible): https://careers.cae.com/global/en/job/112267/Concurrency-Systems-Engineer-Skillbridge-Eligible
• (113620) Configuration Management Analyst: https://careers.cae.com/global/en/job/113620
• (112098) Project Engineer (Skillbridge Eligible): https://careers.cae.com/global/en/job/112098
• (112266) Software Engineering Lead: https://careers.cae.com/global/en/job/112266
• (111065) Systems Engineer: https://careers.cae.com/global/en/job/111065

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CAE Tampa, Florida

As part of his ongoing career development at CAE, Shawn recently traded the snow and cold for the sunshine and warmth of Tampa, Florida. He accepted a position as a Sensors Software Engineer at CAE USA 's headquarters. This move not only brings him closer to family but also offers him the chance to dive into new professional challenges.

“Everyone on the sensor team at? CAE Tampa, FL and CAE Arlington, TX ?has been extremely friendly and welcoming. I look forward to working with everybody!” says Shawn.

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As Shawn transitions to his new role in a different state, Binghamton will always hold a place in his heart. He assures the team in Binghamton that they can always reach out to him for support. Shawn is proud to embody ?“One CAE,’ ?one of the organization’s ?core values where CAE employees work as one passionate team with one common goal: the success of their teams, customers, and stakeholders, achieving more together.

“Everyone in Binghamton is extremely talented and incredibly smart, and a pleasure to work with. They are resilient when faced with challenges and can pivot quickly when necessary. I will certainly miss working with that crew,” says Shawn.

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Empowering Tomorrow: Advice for the Next Generation of Engineers

As a?young engineer stepping into a software engineering role, you will encounter both opportunities and challenges. Here is some helpful advice from Shawn to guide you on your journey.

Stay curious:

“I always try to focus on the “why.” Software Engineering is less about the “how” and more about the “why.” In many cases, there are going to be multiple solutions to any given problem. Focus on why you are solving the problem a particular way. Identify the common idioms your team has chosen to use throughout the code and try to identify ways you can make it more maintainable if possible. Always consider tradeoffs and budget constraints, do not get too zealous doing massive refactors if the juice is not worth the squeeze.”

Learn to think top-down and bottom-up.

“While in college, I learned how to problem solve by getting deeply engrossed in the problem immediately in front of me. However, when I started on the job, I would often feel overwhelmed by how large the project was and was not comfortable working with code I had not personally written. Once I learned how to step back and think top-down, my job became much easier to manage. Focus on the high-level architecture and how certain components loosely interact with one another. Once you have a high-level understanding of the architecture, move down to the next sublevel of the code that your task involves. It is like peeling back the layers of an onion. Speaking from experience, the ability to shift perspectives between thinking top-down and bottom-up will keep you from feeling overwhelmed.”

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Facilitate team growth.

“The team is going to need to make tough decisions throughout the development cycle. Your opinion matters, and so do your teammate’s. Always try to focus on the best solution for any given problem. Welcome constructive criticism from your peers and your superiors – it will help you grow as an engineer. Also keep an open line of communication with your teammates and put in the extra effort to assist them or give advice when they are struggling. Learn soft skills and focus on collaboration. Each member of the team will have different personalities, strengths, and weaknesses – try to make them feel comfortable in their role, especially if they are a new face.”

We wish Shawn the best of luck as he begins his new chapter at CAE Tampa. We are excited to follow his journey and hear about the many successes he will bring to the engineering teams at CAE.

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As a proud sponsor of Binghamton University’s Engineers Week, we want to recognize and thank all the students for their dedication and hard work.

If you are interested in a career at CAE USA, please visit our Careers website and connect with our team.