Teresa Hastings received her BSEE with highest honors from Texas ECE in 1981 before going on to Caltech and earning an MS in Electrical Engineering in 1983. She is currently a Sr. Delivery Manager at Ciena Corporation. She is a dedicated member of the Texas ECE External Advisory Committee who has generously supported the department with her time and leadership. We spoke with Teresa about her time in Texas ECE and her career thus far.

TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING NOW.

I am currently a Sr. Delivery Manager at Ciena Corporation, which is a global telecommunications equipment manufacturer with a strong foundation in optical networking technology. Our team is a data analytics group who work with network providers to gather, analyze and visualize their network data to provide better understanding of what they have and where they have it. This helps them plan, engineer, manage, evolve and monetize their networks effectively. I manage the team deliverables, priorities, schedules and budgets, manage our customer relationships during project development, and help the team work effectively together throughout the project development cycle. 

I started my career, straight out of UT, at Bell Laboratories in Illinois. They sponsored my master’s degree at Caltech, which was a completely different kind of place and experience; but it served me well through the years. I moved into Technical Management after only 5 years at Bell Labs and found managing technical teams is my true passion. I was at Bell Labs for 13 years and was then recruited by MCI in the Dallas area. By that time, I had married and had two young children. It was a great opportunity, and my family was still there, so we picked up and moved. I worked as a Director at MCI/WorldCom/Verizon (a series of acquisitions) in Network Engineering, New Product Development and IT Program Management for 20 years. During that period, I sought out and found a role in IT Program Management in the UK and we relocated for 2 years. What a great experience!

After 20 years in those roles, I decided it was time for a break, so I ‘retired’ from Verizon and took a year off. I returned to work as Program Management Consultant with Slalom Consulting, where I got to work with companies in Health Insurance, Transportation and Banking. These were great experiences outside Telecom and also developing more Consultative skills.

I’ve now been with Ciena 3.5+ years and looking forward to ‘true retirement’ this summer. But my plan is to use the skills and experience I’ve gained over the years in service to people and causes in my community. Oh, along with traveling, gardening and other hobbies.

HOW DID YOU END UP AT UT AND WHAT PATH LED YOU THERE?

I am a first-generation college graduate; my parents grew up on farms in north Texas during the Depression and World War II, so they were not college bound. However, I always knew I would go to college, enjoyed school and learning, and participated in a wide variety of school and community activities – particularly, band and choir. I was always encouraged to do well academically, and particularly loved Math.

At one parent-teacher conference my Junior year, my Trigonometry teacher said to my mom – “Teresa should consider being an Engineer." I didn’t know what that was, really, but it stuck.

I decided that Electrical Engineering sounded like a good career path (even though I had never worked with electronics in my life!), with lots of options and growth opportunities. I applied and was accepted to several Universities. I nearly went to Vanderbilt but decided that the quality of the engineering college at UT was superior, and combined with the location, cost and the entire UT experience, that would be my college home. I was never sorry about that choice!

WHO HAS BEEN A MAJOR INFLUENCE ON YOUR LIFE?

First, I would say my mom, Nelda Jo Scott Davis. Her life was tough growing up, as her dad died suddenly (in 1939 when she was 11), leaving her and her mom to fend as best they could. She moved to Dallas and worked for Southwestern Bell for 40 years; this was a time when being a working mom was often looked down on. She was professional and hard-working and made sure that, no matter what was going on, her family would be cared for. She supported and encouraged every crazy thing and activity that I wanted to participate in and believed in me every step of the way.

I also had numerous teachers and activity leaders who encouraged me in developing leadership skills and empathy.

Throughout various stages and places in my life, I have been blessed with groups of friends who have been inspirational and provided the deepest caring and support. To this day, friends from high school (and before), UT Longhorn Band, my years at Bell Labs, friends who are parents of our kids’ friends in Dallas, and others, have been there along the way.

Choosing and being chosen by good friends is a true gift.

It is Women’s History Month. Is there a woman who served as an inspiration, mentor, or leader that helped you on your personal journey?

My first mentor was a woman named Diane Herr, at Bell Labs, who was about 5 years older than me. She was an excellent engineer, manager, leader and advocate for women in the workplace. Seeing her do her job every day was a great role model for me. I also had other managers and role models through the years who provided guidance and ‘everyday examples’ of working in a still male-dominated workplace. 

These women showed me how to move up the ladder with grit, determination and personal power, while maintaining integrity and empathy.

IF YOU COULD PROVIDE ONE POSITIVE MEMORY OF YOUR TIME AT UT THAT STANDS OUT WHAT WOULD THAT BE?

This is impossible to answer! The positive memories at UT are too numerous to count, across too many dimensions.

Academically, I started my EE journey, not knowing what a resistor even looked like. It was a struggle to understand the ‘language of electronics’, what it all meant and how things worked. I worked very hard, knowing I had a tall mountain to climb. I grew to be a leader in HKN (the EE Honor Society), member of Tau Beta Pi (Engineering Honor Society) and graduated with highest honors. THAT Graduation was a proud and meaningful day!

But my UT experience was filled with SO many more things! I was blessed to be a part of the UT Longhorn Band and served as a Flag Section Leader and member of TBS (national band sorority). There were so many LHB experiences – the teamwork, football and bowl games, marching in many parades, including the Ronald Reagan Presidential Inaugural parade. I also participated in Longhorn Singers, Orange Jackets, Mortar Board, The Eyes of Texas service group, and was a “Little Sister” at a fraternity house. Each of these gave me access to people across this wide and wonderful place that is UT, broadening my experiences, worldview and group of friends.

I am still close friends with several of the people I met during those 5 years at UT. These have been steadfast relationships which have been part of my personal growth journey, and we still have fun together today.

WHAT IS ONE OF THE PROUDEST MOMENTS IN YOUR CAREER IN ECE?

During the late ‘90s and early 2000’s, I was the Director of Multi-Media Services Engineering at MCI (a global telecommunications provider). At that point, Voice over IP (VoIP) Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), was just emerging from the Internet standards bodies and MCI was deciding how to build services for our Business Customers. My team served as the Systems Engineering and Testing group for this effort, and several of my team members were instrumental in establishing those standards. I led an outstanding matrix team and played a key role in coordinating across Marketing/Product Development, Network Engineering, IT, and Product Support – translating needs and capabilities across the different disciplines. 

Our approach solidified the SIP (internet-based) approach to VoIP in the industry and established the architecture and framework for the MCI/Verizon VoIP products.  

WHAT IS AN IMPORTANT LESSON YOU HAVE LEARNED IN YOUR CAREER THAT YOU WISH YOU COULD GO BACK AND TELL YOUR YOUNGER SELF?

It is important to keep in mind that your personal competence is not necessarily reflected in the attitudes and behaviors of your manager. They may have their own struggles and battles they are waging. While paying attention to their feedback and always being ready to grow, realize your personal worth is not measured by those metrics.

I also believe one of the most important things to remember is “On any given day, you do not know what someone is dealing with”. Life is a complex journey and people are often dealing with issues they cannot or will not share with others.