AFRL officer excels as leader, researcher Published March 8, 2016 By Jeanne Dailey Air Force Research Laboratory KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- 1st Lt. Katherine "Katie" Carroll is an Air Force Research Laboratory rising star. The AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate recently nominated her for an AFRL 2016 Early Career award. "The award is highly competitive with typically only four awards each year from across the nine AFRL directorates," said Dr. Greg Spanjers, the directorate's chief scientist. "Lieutenant Carroll is an impressive officer and technical leader with a winning personality--Katie's a major contributor to our team." Carroll is a 2012 Air Force Academy graduate, receiving a bachelor's of science in electrical engineering, followed by a master's degree in electrical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. She is now the lead Global Positioning System signals engineer--a heady job for a young lieutenant. "I have the opportunity to work with some of the brilliant minds in GPS to engineer new waveforms for next generation satellite navigation," Carroll said. "The job includes utilizing software defined transmitters to make trade-offs between different types of waveforms that improve position, navigation and timing, or PNT, as we refer to it. "I really need to understand the technology that is being developed so that the Air Force can use the investment and leverage the lab's research for more innovation. I read a lot of technical papers and constantly pick the minds of the experts in order to lead the signal processing research we recently began conducting." Carroll said she really enjoys the technical aspect of her job and feels extremely fortunate to be able to use her master's degree in her work. "I absolutely love GPS - you are able to see the impacts on a global scale which is extremely rewarding to me," she said. "I am surrounded by some of the best mentors and technical minds. AFRL has given me a good amount of responsibility, allowing me to both succeed and fail as a leader." The Air Force places a high value on mentorship of its young officers. Carroll said two Air Force senior leaders have been especially important to her career and personal development. "Col. Jon Anderson, who led the new military GPS code development at the GPS program office, gave me so much valuable technical and leadership advice," Carroll said. "Col. David Goldstein who recently retired as the Space Vehicles director is a role model I will always remember. He is constantly reading books and making himself a better leader and person." Carroll also remarked about some of her female mentors. "I really looked up to my female math and science teachers," she said. "In high school, it was my physics teacher, in undergrad at the Academy it was the deputy department head for electrical engineering and in graduate school my random signals and systems teacher. "Though there are many more females in the scientist and engineering fields than there have been in the past, it is great to have so many female role models who show me how to conduct myself as a respected technical expert and a responsible Air Force officer without rejecting feminine qualities that contribute to me as a person." Carroll grew up in San Antonio, Texas with an active family that includes two brothers and one sister. "We still take family vacations once a year, which we have done since I can remember," she said. "We normally go skiing, but sometimes we go see places around the U.S. We have fun teasing each other and just adore the family dog, Chief, who is a boy beagle." Though she holds down a responsible and time-consuming job, Carroll makes time for leisure pursuits. "I love reading and various physical activities," she said. "I am fortunate to have friends and mentors that are always recommending great new books and I have yet to be disappointed! Right now I'm reading 'Mathematical Theory of Communications' by Shannon and Weaver, '7 Habits of Highly Effective People,' by Steven Covey and 'Everything Belongs' by Richard Rohr." "I really enjoy reading books that oppose each other because it forces you to think about all sides of the arguments and hopefully incorporate the best aspect of each into life," Carroll said. "Obtaining some mastery in different physical activities has always been an integral part of who I am. I ran cross country and track in college, and upon graduation I did a half-ironman, a marathon, and recently started competing in powerlifting." In reflecting on why she joined the Air Force, Carroll has some advice for anyone beginning a career. "I have heard many people say that a job is just a job and you do not have to love what you do," she said. "I figured that since I was going to spend most of my time working, I wanted to wake up every day and feel that my job was making an positive impact on somebody or society. I knew this before I knew I wanted to be an electrical engineer and the Air Force seemed like a very good option to make positive impacts in the world."