From Classroom to Career: How Masen Nartatez Innovated at Lockheed Martin

Masen Nartatez ’22 successfully leveraged his coursework in ENGR 415 to solve a significant problem he encountered during his summer internship at Lockheed Martin the summer before his senior year. His journey from student to full-time engineer exemplifies the power of Penn State’s entrepreneurship curriculum in fostering innovation and career success.

From Classroom to Real-World Application

A native of Altoona, PA, Masen graduated from Penn State in May 2022, and now resides in South Florida, where he works as a mechanical engineer for Lockheed Martin Space, one of the company’s four major divisions. Masen’s story is an inspiring example of how Penn State’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation minor can empower students to turn classroom knowledge into real-world solutions, highlighting the impact of an entrepreneurial mindset in engineering, whether one aims to start their own business or drive innovation within an established company.

During his final semester, Masen enrolled in ENGR 415, a course that would become pivotal in his career. Reflecting on his experience, Masen shared, “I took ENGR 415 during my final semester in the spring of 2022. During my internship with Lockheed Martin the summer before, a senior engineer and I had identified a problem with a new welding process (Friction Stir Welding): the process took a long time due to a preliminary operation/step in the friction stir welding process.”

ENGR 415 gave Masen the perfect opportunity to revisit and refine his ideas for a solution to the problem. “When I took ENGR 415, I was tasked with investigating a company and developing a solution to a problem they may be experiencing. I chose Lockheed Martin and their inefficiencies with friction stir welding. I got to develop my idea for a solution further for this assignment, and was ultimately able to go back to Lockheed Martin full time and execute the idea when I graduated,” he explained.

Confidence and Support

An important component of the Capstone course, “Launching Innovation: Ideas to Opportunity” in the 18-credit Entrepreneurship & Innovation minor is to expose students to the concept of intrapreneurship, which means applying entrepreneurial principles within a company. This is one way new graduates can continue practicing their entrepreneurial mindset while they work in a company that welcomes new or novel ideas from its employees,” said Frank Koe, Professor in Entrepreneurship.

“Masen is one excellent example of a student who worked on an intrapreneurial project in class and subsequently introduced it to Lockheed Martin where he now works. Masen’s idea has been accepted and the company is pursuing a patent on his welding technique. Companies see intrapreneurship as a way to grow by vetting employee ideas and in return, reward employees for being innovative,” Koe shared.

Masen’s confidence in his solution was bolstered by the support he received from his colleagues at Lockheed Martin. “What gave me the confidence to move forward with this idea at Lockheed Martin was buy-in and support from senior engineers and my manager at the time. The fact that the inefficiencies of friction stir welding were a problem that was clearly expressed to me from the start of my internship also gave me confidence since I knew this was a legitimate problem and solving it would produce great value,” he said.

Currently, Masen’s innovative device is implemented on one friction stir welding machine at Lockheed Martin. He is optimistic about the future and hopes to see its application expand. “I would love to see its use expanded to various other locations,” he shared.

Encouraging Future Engineers

Masen’s said his journey is a testament to the value of the classes in the Product Innovation Cluster of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Minor. He encourages current students to embrace this unique learning opportunity: “Whether you go on to work for yourself and start your own company or work as an employee at an existing company, your career is your business and you have to be an effective owner. The Engineering Entrepreneurship Program at Penn State provides technically minded students with the tools needed to start their own businesses. It equally equips students looking to join existing companies with the skills needed to make a substantial impact as an engineer in their organization.”