The Faces of Technology

Maida Lopez
Maida Lopez grew up in the inner city of Los Angeles. As a teenager, she had no role models or direction. Then she was encouraged to go to college by an organization called UpperBound and discovered the love of her life—engineering. Now she's a systems engineer, testing software for a new satellite control system in Huntington Beach, Calif. She says her brother, a high-school student, wants to follow her example and become an engineer, too. "Boeing has given me the opportunity to develop some real leadership skills and provided me with some wonderful choices," she says. "I feel very fortunate."