Aviation Week Features Engineer at BAE Systems in Fridley

An employee at a Fridley business has earned national attention from a major trade publication.

Aviation Week & Space Technology recently named BAE Systems engineer Luis Hernandez to its list of "40 under Forty"—"rising stars" who "possess an exceptional combination of great leadership skills, technical prowess and business acumen, along with a firm conviction that 'good enough' is never good enough."

Luis Hernandez
Senior Staff Engineer, BAE Systems, Age 37

Luis Hernandez has devoted his career to the development of game-changing directed-energy weapon systems. Today, he has primary responsibility for the development of a technologically advanced and unique weapon system with numerous potential military applications. He has championed company investment in this technology and developed professional relationships with BAE Systems senior leadership and customers. He also assembled and mentored a small team of skilled engineers which, with minimal investment, developed unique systems that have generated sole-source government contracts, garnering his team a number of awards for innovation.

Hernandez is excelling in a challenging master’s program in management of technology and 'has shown unwavering energy and exceptional time management in balancing his program’s needs with his education’s demands,' says Bruce Olson, Hernandez’s direct supervisor and nominator. 'Luis is a leader, not a follower, and he is clearly on a path leading to great things.'