Rooting for the Home Team with Booz Allen Huntsville

Tossing the ceremonial first pitch at the home opener was Trey Obering, an executive vice president at Booz Allen with a long history in the Huntsville region. 

“This opportunity means a lot to me personally. My life has been intertwined with Huntsville on several occasions,” he said. One of his favorite visits was to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center when it opened in the early 1970s.

Earlier in his career, Obering worked as a space shuttle engineer in Florida. During that time he worked closely with engineers at the Marshall Space Flight Center, located in Huntsville. Later, as director of the Missile Defense Agency, he led the move of over 2,200 personnel to the city. Now, Obering is helping Booz Allen expand its presence here as the firm introduces new technologies and cutting-edge solutions to its clients across sectors.

“This is a great opportunity for Booz Allen to showcase our commitment to the local community and raise awareness of the great opportunities we have at the firm for people looking for impactful, highly rewarding work,” he said.

“Booz Allen is a great place to work and build a career. Many of my colleagues have been with the company for 10, 15, even 20 years,” said Senior Lead Engineer Jamie Ayinde.

She explained how Booz Allen uses artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and virtual reality to develop immersive environments and solutions. Such innovations replicate the human experience and enhance learning and problem solving in a safe and cost-effective manner, meaning faster and smarter decisions with less risk and reduced costs.

“These solutions can support complex training operations to allow for warfighters to understand the unique challenges ahead of the actual reality. You can use it to plan a mission to Mars or build the next rocket. The environment allows for people and teams to connect with an augmented reality workspace to collaborate, design, and change the world,” Ayinde said. 

In addition, Booz Allen Huntsville is helping advance insider threat tools and programs for federal government clients. By leveraging machine learning algorithms and data mesh architecture, Booz Allen enables federal clients to improve their ability to detect, monitor, and respond to suspicious network activity and empowers analysts to spend less time data sourcing and more time focused on preventing the harms that insider threats can cause. 

Booz Allen furthered its commitment to best-in-class talent and client solutions in 2020 by opening its 6,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art Innovation Center in the historic, reimagined Stovehouse factory to support collaboration with clients and the community. The reconfigurable space—located near Redstone Arsenal—is designed to support engineering teams and demonstrations, and customer meetings and employee gatherings, with a goal of fostering innovation and interest among Huntsville’s future technology talent.

“At Booz Allen Huntsville, we work hand in hand with academia, small business, and strategic regional partners to bring unique insights to complex mission problems and apply innovative solutions in the realms of defense, cybersecurity, investigative technology, and digital transformation,” said Lincoln Hudson, senior vice president at Booz Allen and leader of the Huntsville office. “We also have a proud legacy of giving back through community impact and philanthropy work.” 

Booz Allen’s Huntsville workforce plays an integral role in building the regional innovation ecosystem, cultivating the next generation of STEM talent, and making a positive impact. For Booz Allen Huntsville, community impact matters. For example, the firm:

• Is a Technology and Innovation Partner for the Catalyst Center for Business & Entrepreneurship
• Sponsored the inaugural Singing River Trail Launch Tank
• Committed financial support to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center through a Cyber Defense Supplier partnership; grant money will go towards Cyber Camp scholarships for underserved students, foundational supplies, and learning tools
• Partnered with Auburn University and Decatur City Schools to develop STEM curriculum focused on additive manufacturing skills and capabilities 
• Supported the Bob Jones High School MedHacks, a hackathon in which students prototyped solutions for delivering medical care to underprivileged people living far from hospitals

For Booz Allen Huntsville, the Rocket City Trash Pandas’ home opener was only the beginning of a season-long commitment to community gatherings. The team is making plans to host various professional, recruitment, and community-wide events at Toyota Field throughout the season.

Local Booz Allen staff are looking forward to attending the events. “There are a ton of us out at the game tonight and you can expect to see more of us,” Ayinde said.