6 minute read
Board Interview: Nirav Pandya
Nirav Pandya:
Lifelong Learner, Lifelong Leader
Nirav Pandya is the CEO of Orlandobased tech firm Orion Technologies, and a proud Orlando Science Center Board Member. Recently, Nirav took time out of his schedule to discuss his passion for STEM education, the important roles museums play, and his hopes for the future of the field.
You have degrees in both Chemistry and Computer Engineering. What sparked your interest in the sciences?
I grew up in South Jersey, right outside of Philadelphia, so over the summers we used to visit The Franklin Institute often. When I was in 7th or 8th grade, I would take robotics classes there, and my parents would take me there on the weekends during the school year. The Franklin Institute is where I first began learning circuitry, and it played a significant role in my love of computers and circuit boards. I’ve always been interested in science. I thought I wanted to be a doctor, but math was one of my favorite subjects growing up, so engineering drew me in because of the link to math rather than biology. I liked math, and I liked computers, so I put the two together! I graduated from Ursinus College in Pennsylvania with a Degree in Chemistry, and then I went to UCF to get my Degree in Computer Engineering.
Did you have any mentors or role models who helped shape that passion?
For me, it was my dad. His whole career was engineering. He lived the American dream. He came to this country by himself; he left my mom and brother in India before I was born to make sure he could make a life for the family. He was a Civil Engineer but started out as a clerk for a company, and years later he ended up being an expert in some of the biggest civil engineering projects in the world, such as the Channel Tunnel between France and England. Our first family trip to Florida was because he was an expert on the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA.
Engineering degrees have a reputation for being challenging. Were there any aspects of your studies that you found particularly taxing?
The toughest part was towards the end when we started doing actual projects and putting what we’d learned into application. Being book smart is one thing, but actually using that knowledge in the practical world is completely different. The fields of science and engineering move so fast that there are always new things to learn. The important thing about college is that it teaches you how to continue to learn. If you don’t continue to learn then it will be difficult to be successful in any role or discipline.
How did what you learned in college translate to your first job in your field?
In my career, I have only worked at two companies. When I first started out, I was an intern at a five-person company called Digital Imaging Infrared, and once I graduated, I stayed on there as an engineer. It was a company in Apopka that made infrared cameras for the Department of Defense and for Homeland Security. The basics that I’d learned in college were useful, and some of the basic circuit design work. Even as an intern, and then as an engineer, I was learning new computer languages and learning on the job. It was tough, but it was fun. Being a small company, the CEO at the time took me under his wing and taught me so much, which was great. I found out that I am a good communicator. It is often tough for engineers to learn communication and sales skills. Engineers can talk at a high level very easily, but often they’re speaking to someone who doesn’t understand all of that. It’s
important to learn to be able to talk high level when you need to, but to also be able to translate that information to others. If an engineer can learn that, the sky’s the limit for them. At that company, I went from engineer to sales, and then to VP of Sales, and then to COO, and then CEO over 11 years. We grew the company from five people to sixty-two.
In 2010, you left that company and joined Orion Technologies as the President of the company. What was Orion like when you onboarded, and how did you navigate that transition to a new organization?
It was a similar experience because it was also a five-person company. It was an opportunity to do it again and have people helping me. We’re at about thirty people now. When I onboarded, it was a lifestyle business for the owner at the time. We turned it into an actual operating business, and it’s been a fun challenge. I’m there to make everyone else’s jobs and roles easier and possible. When they need help, I try to help knock down the walls. I always think of the vision – in other words, what do we want to be when we grow up? We’re focused on defense, and lately we’ve gotten into missile defense, so I see us growing in that area. We’re helping keep people safe. We’ve made IED detectors for our troops, and we’re making an IFF system (Identifying Friend or Foe) to prevent friendly fire attacks. We’re making pieces of targets for the Missile Defense Agency, which they use to test their missiles. We’re just a piece of that puzzle.
Is there anything over the course of your career that you would do differently given the opportunity?
There were a lot of mistakes, but nothing I would have done differently. It’s very important to make mistakes because we learn from them. I have this quote in my office – “Good decisions come from wisdom, and wisdom comes from experience, and experience comes from making bad decisions”. I would not change anything that I’ve done.
What would you say to young people who are interested in pursuing a career in a STEM field?
Do it! Be curious, and don’t lose that curiosity through the years. The opportunities are endless with science and math. STEM fields are continuously improving – they’re not stagnant, and people are always looking to advance them. Visit museums and take classes. This is a message to parents, too. I don’t know if I would have fallen in love with the sciences the way that I did if my parents hadn’t taken me to the Franklin Institute and enrolled me in the classes there. My Dad was a civil engineer. He had no idea what a circuit was, but he enrolled me in these classes, which I loved.
What are your hopes for the future of STEM careers?
I would love to see more girls in them, specifically on the engineering side. There is a major diversity issue when it comes to gender. When I was in college, 20+ years ago, it was clear even then that the ratio was extremely one-sided. We hear so much about the pay gap between men and women. Engineering might be the one field where the pay gap is reversed. When a company finds a female engineer, they will do everything in their power to make sure they don’t lose her. Companies want to make sure they have diversity of thought. If you don’t have that, and you have ten people who all think the same, they will all come up with the same idea. Diversity of age is important too, but diversity of gender is very important and is missing in the engineering industry. The lack of diversity has always been noticed. It starts at a young age. I have a five year old daughter who is very curious, and I hope she holds onto that curiosity. Museums are doing a great job of encouraging this.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
