Boeing Engineer Dr. Dianne Chong Receives Outstanding Asian American Award

By Scanews staff

St. Louis, Oct 24, 2002 --  When Dianne Chong took the stage in a Hollywood, Fla., banquet hall to accept an award honoring outstanding Asian Americans, all eyes were focused on a Boeing St. Louis engineer who manages three engineering departments and oversees a staff of 200.  The audience saw a woman who devotes countless hours of her free time to mentoring and making her community better.  

	But while the audience was focused on her, Dr. Chong says her own thoughts were focused on those who've helped get her where she is today.  Specifically, the family that has provided the encouragement and inspiration that guided her, and the professor who helped her discover a new career.  

	On Friday, Oct. 18, Dr. Chong received a 2002 National Asian American Corporate Achievement Award, which honors Asian Pacific American corporate employees for outstanding contributions to their companies and their communities.  The award was presented by the Organization of Chinese Americans, or OCA, and that organization's business advisory council.  Dr. Chong and eleven other recipients, including Gary Toyama, deputy to the vice president/general manager of operations for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems in Seal Beach, Calif., were honored. 

	Dr. Chong is department head for the Materials, Processes & Standards; Liaison; and Process Control engineering functions at Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, headquartered in St. Louis.  Dr. Chong provides the leadership and manages the resources for all engineers within the three functions.  She is also is responsible for process improvements, employee involvement, customer corrective action and supplier management within each department.
 "I'm very honored to receive this award," said Dr. Chong.  "And I'm honored to be representing a company like Boeing, which has provided me many opportunities throughout my career."
  	
	It's a career that has been influenced largely by a group of special individuals. 
"My father encouraged us to achieve as much as we could through education," she says.  "He also spent much time promoting a sense of community with the four other Chinese families in Waukegan, Ill., where I grew up."  From her mother, who was widowed at age 35 yet raised five small children, completed her GED and went on to gain a liberal arts degree from a local community college, Dr. Chong says, "I learned the values of helping others, perseverance and vision."  Dr. Chong also credits her husband David Squiers and 13-year-old son, Alan, with providing love and devotion that has gotten her where she is today. 
 
	While her family has provided the foundation, the inspiration and the support, it was a college advisor who provided Dr. Chong with a career compass.   Not satisfied with her career in physiology, Dr. Chong shifted her attention to engineering in 1979, with guidance from William Rostoker, her University of Illinois - Chicago graduate school advisor.
  	
	"He was able to see that, although my background hadn't been in engineering, I had the ability to excel at studies to become a good engineer," she says.  "He took the time the nurture and help me build a solid engineering foundation of knowledge." 

	Rostoker also provided Chong with an appreciation for the ancient field of metallurgy - the science of separating metals from their ores and preparing them for use. 
 Her knowledge of the field has served Dr. Chong well at Boeing St. Louis. Since 1986, Dr. Chong has held a variety of key positions within the company, all of them dealing in one way or another with the intricacies of the metal Boeing uses to produce its military aircraft -- how it can be formed, shaped, molded, made lighter, made less resistant to stress and more tolerant of heat and enemy fire - so Boeing can continue to produce the world's best and most cost-effective fighters, attack aircraft and transport planes. 
             
	Dr. Chong's technical acumen is just a part of her Boeing portfolio.  A mentor to other minorities within the company, she performs outreach on behalf of Boeing through programs such as the INROADS minority student intern program and Women of Tomorrow, a program that helps young women from inner city St. Louis high schools.  She also serves as the company's technical focal to Tennessee State University, and is the Boeing St. Louis liaison to the University of Illinois and St. Louis University Parks College of Engineering and Aviation.
   	 
	Dr. Chong is equally active in the St. Louis community. She is a member of the board of directors of the St. Louis chapter of the American Red Cross, serves on the steering committee for a St. Louis YWCA program that honors women leaders and holds workshops for young women on the challenges associated with math and science careers, among other activities.  
     	
Dr. Chong has won numerous awards during her career, including a Technology All Star award presented last month at the National Women of Color in Technology Awards Conference in Atlanta. She was honored for her achievements and leadership of minority women in the fields of mathematics, science, technology, and engineering.