Life at Northrop Grumman Archives

A Change of Scenery

For many Northrop Grumman employees, one of the most exciting things about a career at the company is that you never know where it will take you — but you do know that your team will be there every step of the way. […]

Changing Hearts

By Yasmin Tadjdeh At 27 years old, Software Analyst Kathy’s life changed forever. After a month of fatigue and flu-like symptoms, the then-elementary school teacher was shocked to discover she had developed cardiomyopathy, a type of heart disease that can lead to heart failure. She needed a heart transplant. Suddenly, Kathy’s days of educating children […]

Beyond the Boost

From air support to splash down retrieval, Northrop Grumman’s impact on NASA’s Artemis I mission spanned beyond our work on the solid rocket boosters used during launch. […]

Through Smoke and Fire

By Heather and Kendra Kastelan For Energetics Engineer Heather, the morning of March 2 — test day — was more exciting than most. Alongside more than 20 Test and Research Operations teammates in Promontory, Utah, Heather dedicated weeks to preparing for the first static fire test of a new stage-one solid rocket motor that will […]

Counting Down 10 Rocket Launch Traditions, Superstitions and Lore

By Caroline Mroz, Bethany Wilson and Leslie Zychowski 2023 marks 10 years since Northrop Grumman’s first Cygnus mission to carry critical cargo to the International Space Station (ISS), launched by our Antares rocket. As our launch team members reflect on the last decade of missions, they share the traditions, superstitions and lore that have powered […]

From Scraps to Opportunities

How Northrop Grumman Scrap Metal is Supporting the Next Generation of Welders. […]

The Downsizing Developer

By Leigh McLeod Why go big when you can go small? For Radio Frequency (RF) Engineer Tim, that’s his modus operandi. Tim joined Northrop Grumman in May 2021 to work on a classified program in Aurora, Colorado, but quickly realized he missed working on RF, which he’d spent most of his career on. When he […]

Reinventing Larsha

By Suzanne Kubler Electrical Engineer Larsha is a single mom. And for her, it’s the single most important role of her life — a life that was changed by a simple question from her son, Noah. When Noah was 11, he came home from school and asked if he could attend robotics camp. At the […]

The Mountain

Hugo went to the mountains seeking the things that have always drawn people to such heights — adventure, challenge, nature. And, like so many, he returned a changed man. […]

Swimming with the Sharks

Shark Tank is one of many opportunities available for Northrop Grumman employees to present innovative ideas to leaders. Acting as investors, company leaders ask about the innovation’s benefits, alternatives and timing, then determine if they will allocate funding. […]

Advocating with Agility

After transitioning to a project budget manager role, Daniela discovered her passion for project management and was introduced to the Lean-Agile methodology. […]

At the Helm of Aqua

By Michelle A. Monroe Carl was having a conversation with his 9-year-old grandson, Jeremiah, when he began sharing his love of science and how he turned it into a lifelong career. “As Jeremiah began asking more about climate change, I had one piece of advice: Let science be your guide,” Carl said. At Northrop Grumman, […]

Champions Among Us

By Steve Lamb, Elizabeth McCann and Elvia Valenzuela We’ve all heard about them: elite athletes pushing the boundaries of their sports, achieving things most of us have only ever seen on TV. Like all of us, those athletes have a story and, while no two stories are the same, they tend to have some similar […]

Unfinished Business

Doug is a staff engineer on several programs supporting guided munitions, which are weapons deployed from aircraft or ships to eliminate threats. […]

Home Team Advantage

Not long after joining Northrop Grumman, Gabrielle set her eyes on a new challenge: enlisting in the U.S. Army National Guard. […]

Well Played

This expert gamer has graduated from playing Pokémon® Stadium and the original Sims™ game to creating simulated training systems for the U.S. Navy. By Rhonda Hewitt In a way, Kayla’s older brother is responsible for her success as a software developer. As a youngster Kayla would tag along with him when he visited friends and […]

Success Across Millions of Miles

By Amanda Collins When something doesn’t go as planned after launch, you can’t pull a spacecraft back into the shop, take it apart and fix it. Often, you can’t even get a glimpse of what’s wrong. For most people — and companies — the story would stop there. But giving up isn’t an option for […]

My Word: Continuing the Mission

When Marcus made the decision to hang up his uniform and leave the Marines, he began looking for opportunities. Northrop Grumman grabbed his attention. […]

Turning the Page

By Jillian Wright For three decades, Northrop Grumman’s Aircraft Maintenance and Fabrication Center (AMFC) team kept a key U.S. Air Force fleet flying. The Lake Charles, Louisiana, site — which performs aircraft maintenance and modifications — historically served as the traditional home of the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) aircraft program. […]

Head in the Clouds

Even the most advanced military technology and missions need help to withstand the elements and at Northrop Grumman, our atmospheric scientists are the in-house experts on weather and its potential impact on the U.S. military. […]

Puck Drop

Company Camaraderie on Ice By Eric Scott At 5:36 a.m., the temperature is a frosty 28 degrees and snowflakes are beginning to fall from the skies over Rolling Meadows, Illinois. In the pre-dawn darkness, several Northrop Grumman employees are emerging from their cars, lugging heavy bags over their shoulders as they walk through the frigid […]

Time Machine to the Cosmos

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) has been making history ever since it was propelled into space in December 2021, revealing never-before-seen details of the early cosmos. Referred to as a time machine, Webb’s powerful instruments use infrared vision to peer back over 13.5 billion years and view the earliest stars and galaxies. […]

Taking to the Skies

By Michelle A. Monroe Engineer Skylor is right at home in the cockpit of the sleek, red-and-white airplane he built with his father, Jim. “It was my father’s idea to build a plane, and I ran with it,” said Skylor, who spent nearly every weekend from 2003 to 2010 taking the project from concept to […]

Eureka Moment

By Leslie Zychowski A “eureka!” moment can strike at any time — on a yoga mat, in the garage, or in the shower — proving that some of the best ideas can happen when you least expect them. For Alex, an innovation manager in Huntsville, Alabama, realization struck while he was sitting in his dining […]

The Women of Artemis

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Written in the Stars

Couple Celebrates Their Projects Colliding as Northrop Grumman Helps NASA Retrieve Spacecraft After Splashdown By Michelle A. Monroe Two aerospace engineers fall in love, get married and spend years in each other’s professional orbits before they finally collide. It’s a story practically written in the stars. Debra and Joe, who work for Northrop Grumman and […]

From Perseverance to Providing Scholarships

By Taylor Alexander, as told to Emily Gabaldon It wasn’t an easy feat studying aerospace engineering while recovering from jaw surgery. I was born with a birth defect that resulted in a severe craniofacial deformity and I have overcome several surgeries and iterations of braces throughout my life. Just two weeks prior to starting my […]

The Height of Her Career

By Stephanie Flyger If there’s one thing true about Claire, it’s that she can’t be contained: not by a stereotype and not by a desk. Fortunately, as a Northrop Grumman field engineer in Colorado Springs, Colorado, she doesn’t have to be — her job takes her around the world and is essentially one she’s been […]

A Dream Interrupted, a Community Found

By Leigh McLeod Northrop Grumman Mission Assurance Manager Otis was unsure of his future when the college he was attending dropped aerospace engineering from its curriculum. His dream of becoming an aerospace engineer and astronaut seemed out of reach. Then one night, while attending a basketball game at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, […]

The Domino Effect

Expert Domino Master Topples the Line Between Art and Engineering By Nora Strumpf Four flying drones whizz by overhead, each transporting a box of pizza. A giant evil robot’s bright red eyes begin to flash. On the floor, the word “doom” emerges as 30 robotic vacuums converge. Bill Nye (“the Science Guy”) is cheering from […]

Under the Weather

By Stephanie Flyger Talk to Jim about his job as an atmospheric scientist for more than five minutes, and you’ll likely hear his favorite soapbox speech about the weather. “Anytime someone tells you they have something all-weather they’re lying to you — there’s no such thing,” said Jim, jokingly. “Today, you left your house and […]

Out of this World Pen-Pals

By Brandon Hartman When Northrop Grumman Electrical Power Subsystems Lead Meg was tagged in a social media post on her mom’s Facebook profile in the fall of 2020 — proudly highlighting Meg’s work in mission control for a Cygnus launch — she had no idea she would become famous in her hometown of Edmond, Oklahoma. […]

From Outer Space to Northrop Grumman

Three astronauts discuss their career paths, which have taken them everywhere from outer space to Northrop Grumman. […]

Finding More

Finding More: How one employee in Palmdale, CA found mentors and a career compass in logistics at Northrop Grumman. […]

Si Se Puede

Northrop Grumman aerospace engineer Edwin Morales was born in East Los Angeles, California, but spent much of his childhood in Mexico. […]

Successful IT Apprenticeship in the UK Leads to Fulfilling Career

An IT apprenticeship with Northrop Grumman UK can open the door to a fulfilling career. Read about one infrastructure engineer’s journey in his own words. […]

Veterans in Business Are an Integral Part of Northrop Grumman’s Success

Veterans in business help move Northrop Grumman’s goals forward by providing specialized skill sets and perspectives. […]

Engineer in Central Florida Gives Back in Many Ways

Naomi Hernandez is redefining engineering leadership, measuring success by her impact on the engineering community and focusing on serving future generations. […]

Cybersecurity Problems Are No Match for Chandria Poole’s Forward-Thinking Approach

Cybersecurity problems are an ever-present threat to major corporations. Chandria Poole is taking a proactive approach to solving them, now and in the future. […]

Family Working Together, Learning Manufacturing Skills Critical to Steering Destroyers

Brothers at Northrop Grumman demonstrate the value of family working together, as they carry forward vital manufacturing skills working on steering systems. […]

Mentorship Programs Are Joint (STARS) Ventures

Northrop Grumman is full of bright and talented employees, with many avenues to participate in mentorship programs. […]

Ingenious Device Solves Aerospace Engineering Problems in a Pinch

Steven Kuo created a pinch polarizer, which transforms a linear radio signal into a circularly polarized signal, to solve engineering problems. […]

Northrop Grumman’s Commitment to an Engineer’s Family, Education and Career Development

Northrop Grumman encourages work-life balance and supports education and career development opportunities. Vincent Hodges shares his experience. […]

The Importance of Safety in the Workplace Is One of Northrop Grumman’s Top Areas of Focus

The importance of safety in the workplace is apparent and integral in everything Northrop Grumman does. […]

At a Testing Facility for Mach Speed 0-8+, Progress Happens Faster Than the Speed of Sound

Northrop Grumman’s state-of-the-art mach speed testing facility allows the demonstration & validation of new advancements in supersonic and hypersonic systems. […]

The Importance of Internship Experience: Northrop Grumman Paves the Way from Intern to Spacewalker for this NASA Astronaut

Northrop Grumman internships create the foundation for success in challenging, high-tech careers. The company values the importance of internship experience. […]