Sydney Hamilton
Sydney began her career at Boeing in 2014 as a Structural Design Engineer, a role in which she supported projects like the 777 Automated Floor Drilling Equipment Elimination & Floor Redesign project and the 777X Folding Wing-Tip Mock-Up. She also worked in the Commercial Aircraft Operations Center as a Service Engineer before moving on to become a Mechanical Systems Engineer designing, analyzing and managing projects for additively manufactured parts for space and launch systems. Sydney next took on the position of Responsible Engineering Authority (REA) for satellite reflectors, in which she led a cross-functional team to develop reflectors for multiple commercial and government programs, demonstrating rapid problem-solving skills and the ability to consistently meet aggressive deadlines and cost targets. In her current role of Structures Stress Engineering Manager, she leads a high-performing team of 18 engineers that perform critical technical analyses for all 3 major Boeing Divisions: Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA), Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) and Boeing Global Services (BGS). While Sydney’s primary organization within the company is in BCA, her leadership spans beyond BCA products to include BDS products such as the CST-100 Starliner reusable spacecraft capsule, Space Launch System and Wideband Global SATCOM.
Sydney has distinguished herself in many areas since joining Boeing. She became Manager of the Structural Analysis Team at Boeing just after her 30th birthday, a role in which she leads a team that provides structural analysis engineering for design, repairs and modifications for multiple Boeing programs, including satellites, rockets, manned spacecraft and commercial airplanes. As part of the Advance Design Engineering Additive Manufacturing Team, Sydney developed and maintained the largest database of additive manufacturing analyses at Boeing. The database is the first of its kind and provides access to complete and reviewed engineering work products, enabling other engineers to reuse and leverage existing analyses as part of ongoing work. She also performed design work for 3D printing satellite components in this role. Sydney has won multiple awards for her contributions to the industry, including the prestigious Arlington W. Carter Legacy Award at the 2021 Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference. She also received the Boeing Engineering Excellence Team of the Year Award in 2017 for her work on the Aircraft Dagger Fitting Team that increased 767 production rates from 1.5 to 2.5 planes per month.
Outside of work hours, Sydney dedicates much of her time to mentor and inspire young STEM talent. She is an IF/THEN Ambassador for the American Association of the Advancement of Science and the Executive Board President for the Dramatic Results Non-Profit Organization. Sydney was keynote speaker for the 2021 Young Women in STEM Conference, keynote speaker for the #CloseTheGap virtual conference and an invited speaker at the May 2021 #unmuTED TedX forum. She was also a panelist for the roll-out of a new Girl Scout STEM Career Exploration Badge and a guest speaker at the Kode with Klossy Summer Camp, among many other outreach speaking opportunities. Sydney treats every speaking opportunity as a way to show students, particularly young women and minorities, an example of what they can achieve if they follow their dreams.
