For just over three years, Christine E. De Zeeuw has excelled as an electrical engineer with SeaLandAire Technologies, where she designs and tests circuit boards for defense applications and the marine industry. She also dedicates her time to designing and testing sonobuoys. Although her career has just begun, she is especially proud of the work she has conducted on her first off-site field test on a naval base on San Clemente Island in San Diego. She was able to go along and test the hardware she had been working on for a long time, put all the pieces together and actually see it function in the field. It was satisfying for Ms. De Zeeuw to see the culmination of all her hard work.
An expert in her field, Ms. De Zeeuw initially earned a Bachelor of Arts from Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She concluded her studies with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan. Though she has experienced much success in her burgeoning career, she is most proud of experiencing the culmination of all her hard work firsthand. Active in her local community, Ms. De Zeeuw sings and is a member of the praise team at her church.
Ms. De Zeeuw became involved in her profession because of inspiration from her family. Her father is an aerospace engineer, her mother is a mathematics teacher, and she has aunts and uncles who are also engineers. Ms. De Zeeuw attributes her success to determination, wanting to get the work done and having the drive to do it without someone having to tell her. She also attributes it to her problem-solving and creative thinking skills, which have helped her work around and troubleshoot issues. She has had to think outside the zone many times throughout her career.
What separates Ms. De Zeeuw from others in the field is a self-driven determination to do good work and get work done to the best of her ability. She is a bit of a perfectionist in her field of engineering, which goes a long way. To do your best and put in the extra work to get it done separates her. She pushes herself to take that extra step. Ms. De Zeeuw’s motivation is a desire to do good work and provide useful tools that can be used in the field, either to the defense of our country or for whoever may be using them for defense purposes to keep us safe. She wants to keep beating technology, exploring new methods and ways of doing things, which she finds very important.
Looking toward the future, Ms. De Zeeuw hopes to obtain a role with more responsibility and a larger leadership role regarding certain projects. Although it is simpler to design a system, work on one piece and send it off for someone else to work on, she sees herself becoming more involved in the management and the systems she designs as a whole. Additionally, Ms. De Zeeuw plans on honing her knowledge of various aspects of her career so that she can better understand and explain them to those working under her tutelage. A Marquis Who’s Who Top Professional, she enjoys cross-stitching, watching movies, reading books, playing music and being with her friends in her spare time.