Alumni Early Career Profiles - Christopher Elofson

Description

I am currently working as a Software Engineer supporting the Land Combat product line at Raytheon Missile Systems. I began my career at Raytheon about a year and a half ago on the Naval Weapons Systems product line working Formal Qualification Test, which provides the final testing of the software system prior to release.

My position is exciting and challenging, giving me the opportunity to design, implement, integrate, and test embedded missile software. I find myself using algebra and discrete mathematics daily, though linear algebra and calculus are also used.

I graduated from the University of Arizona in May 2005 with a B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science. Over the summer of 2004 I interned as a technical scholar at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In addition to being an excellent educational experience and giving me exposure to technical research, I have no doubt that my internship made me a much more appealing applicant to industry upon graduation. I strongly encourage students to meet with an academic advisor and seek internships as early as possible.

When I selected mathematics as my major, I was unsure of the direction in which I wanted to take my studies. I later found that I enjoyed computer science, and so tailored my mathematics education. To those with interest in mathematics and the sciences, I encourage you to consider mathematics as an option. No matter which area you choose to specialize in, a degree in math will be a valuable asset.