Reagan Kelly
Mechanical Engineer, General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS)
Reagan is a highly motivated, early career engineer at General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) in Sterling Heights, Michigan. She works as a mechanical engineer in the computing and interfaces hardware department, where she began as an intern in the summer of 2019.
She is a 2020 graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering and started as a full-time engineer for the U.S. Ops DDE organization within GDLS. She has continued to blossom earning a promotion within her first 2 years of hire. She has quickly learned the many nuances of electrical packaging including not only the housing designs, but methods to optimize component placement for heat dissipation and shock/vibration mitigation. She reached out to the analysis group on her own to receive training in Finite Element Analysis to understand fatigue and stress points when mounting an LRU. She also initiated training in thermal analysis to verify electronic components are cooled properly based on vehicle environment.
Reagan is the co-founder and President of the Rising Professionals (RISE) – Employee Networking Group. Recognizing the inherent complexity of navigating a large company, especially for junior employees, the RISE initiative fosters social interaction among the many GDLS groups and encourages senior engineers to interact and provide mentorship.
She recently received the GDLS US Operations Engineering’s 2022 Rising Star award for all of her accomplishments and the potential she exemplifies. She also received the Distinguished Alumni of Tomorrow award from Marian High School in 2016.
In her free time, Reagan enjoys singing, Irish Dancing, volunteering, and playing sports. She loves to spend time with her family (and her dog – Pudge), enjoys watching hockey and football, and is honored to work closely with the Detroit United Irish Societies to promote her heritage year round.