Sfs alumni profile
Eric Hough, MSISTM, '06
Class: 2006 MSISTM
Employer: Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR), Pacific
Title: Network Security Engineer
What type of work you do?
Currently I'm the project lead for development of an automated device registration system here at SPAWAR. Given the unusually high security and compliance requirements of the Navy, we've had to build the system from scratch. The software just came out of beta, and it's already changing the way we handle IT and security around the company. This has been very exciting!
Previously, I worked on a team of developers to create a PKI management application. We created novel software that was capable of reading X509 certificates from the smart cards the Department of Defense issues to its personnel. We incorporated this software into a web application that allowed users to inspect and register their certificates into the corporate directory.
When I first started here at SPAWAR, I was part of a team that traveled to naval bases around the U.S. to reorganize their networks into a common architecture. My role as a security engineer was to work with users who had trouble getting their applications to function properly through the network's rather large security stack. This was a great job, but the task force has since been dissolved because much of this work is now complete.
What aspects of your time at Carnegie Mellon have helped you the most in your career?
Because of the nature of our work, computer security is ubiquitous here in the Department of the Defense. Coming in to this organization with a solid foundation in security has been a huge help for me. I didn't have to "play catch up" at all, and my practical knowledge of the intricacies of computer security that I learned at Carnegie Mellon helps me every day.
Given that most of my work is technical, I would say that the ECE and CS courses were most useful to me. Though I don't get too involved in policy, my Heinz College courses certainly have helped me develop a better understanding of the policies that the Department of Defense enforces on its networks.
How do you feel you benefitted from the SFS program?
The financial benefit is obvious. I have zero student loans, and the pay I earn here is comparable to that of other INI students. The SFS employer presentations were also useful to get a feel for which government agencies I found interesting. Some of them didn't seem to have their act together, while others really shined. I would have had much less of an idea of where to go had it not been for seeing these agencies in person.