Mr. Mike Petters of Huntington Ingalls Industries Presents Career Advice

By Richard Harris
Director & Professor of Humanities/ Assistant Dean

Mr. Mike Petters, President and CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries, was the seventeenth speaker in Webb Institute’s Alfred M. Zeien Lecture Series.

His March 31, 2015, presentation dealt with the Webb education as students’ “ticket to the future” and “license to learn.” He focused on comments by seven former Webb students now working for Newport News Shipbuilding or Huntington Ingalls Industries, regarding the importance of what they have learned while students at Webb and in their professional careers.

Mr. Petters noted that as students these seven graduates probably never envisioned the paths their careers have taken. According to these graduates, among the most important aspects of the Webb education were the holistic or systems approach to engineering, the practical learning, the experience with teamwork, and a strong work ethic. Several grads emphasized communication skills as a key to success.

Quoting Admiral Rickover, Mr. Petters urged students in the audience to “own” whatever job they might have, i.e., choose a position in which you are interested and do your very best in it. He too stressed the importance of communication skills. For those who will be in leadership positions, he emphasized two points: the importance of listening to those who might be considered the least qualified or least empowered to see what valuable ideas they might have and responding effectively to problematical situations. A final bit of advice was to remember that graduation from Webb indicates that you have learned, but the diploma, more importantly, is a license to continue learning.

Photo: Joseph J. Cuneo ’57, Professor Jacques Hadler, President R. Keith Michel ’73, Mr. Mike Petters, and Dean Rick Neilson ’70.