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Students and educators will participate in the BEYA Stars and Stripes Career Day on Saturday, featuring Larry Laws, winner of the 2016 Most Promising Engineer Award and the 2023 Anthony R. James Legacy Award.
Laws leads a team of engineers and technical specialists at BGE's Transmission and Substation Engineering department. He began his career as a relay and control technician in 2006 and later became a supervisor at BGE.
Laws actively engages with Baltimore's high school and college students and is a founding member of BGE's Racially Inclusive, Safe, and Equitable employee resource group.
During the Historically Black College and University Engineering Deans Recognition event at the 2023 BEYA STEM Conference, Laws gave a speech expressing his gratitude and encouraging the audience to create respectful and inclusive environments.
Laws leads a team of 11 engineers who are responsible for infrastructure protection, electric distribution, and transmission circuit event analysis for Baltimore Gas & Electric's 1.3 million consumers.
Laws began his career as a relay and control technician in 2006 after serving in the U.S. Army. He later worked at Northrop Grumman Corp and designed power measurement solutions for manufacturing and utility companies.
As a supervisor of relay and control for BGE, Laws managed a unit responsible for installing, maintaining, and repairing protective relaying schemes, metering, and remote control and data systems in substations.
He effectively led field training for the entire job family of relay and control technicians and actively engaged with Baltimore's high school and college students, informing them about career opportunities in electrical technology or electrical engineering at BGE.
Laws has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Capital College and a Master's in Business Administration from Loyola University.
He is currently the director of distribution system operations at BGE and is a board of directors member at a Baltimore-based nonprofit organization focused on nurturing spirits and promoting self-sufficiency. Laws is also a founding member of BGE's Racially Inclusive, Safe, and Equitable (RISE) employee resource group.
The upcoming BEYA Stars and Stripes Career Day event will also showcase Krystle Z. McClain. She received the 2019 Black Engineer of the Year Professional Achievement in Government Award jointly presented by Rear Admiral John Corker, the Commander of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, and Chief of Civil Engineers, and Public Works Officer Yokosuka Commander Jason M. Wood.
McClain's professionalism, passion, and accomplishments in federal government service were praised by both commanders. She has led organizations in three major branches of the defense department during the last 13 years.
McClain earned an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering and a master's in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. She began her career in the private sector and joined the federal civil service in 2008 as the Site Environmental Coordinator for the U.S. Army. Her tasks included ensuring environmental media compliance programs were in line with federal, state, and local laws, permits, policies, and regulations.
In 2011, McClain moved to the Air Force as a program manager for the Environmental Quality Branch. She then moved to the Air National Guard Readiness Center in Maryland as an environmental planner, providing National Environmental Policy Act guidance for the center's National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) mission and aircraft movements. From 2010 to 2015, she also served as an adjunct environmental science professor at American Public University.
In 2015, McClain joined the U.S. Navy's engineering command, serving as the Environmental Conversation and Planning Branch Chief at the Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan. She was appointed to her current position as Installation Environmental Program Director in 2017.
McClain has also inspired others with her voluntary involvement in community service and youth activities. "The entire Naval Forces Engineering Command congratulates you on this well-deserved recognition," said Wood.
In her acceptance speech, McClain shared her experience of being relieved of her position in 2005, just five months out of college. However, fourteen years later, she received a Professional Achievement Award as a government civil servant. She encouraged those who are confused in Engineering 101, defeated in Organic Chemistry, or frustrated in their work environment to keep striving. She learned that God directed her path to where she was needed.
Jesse Kingg, the Professional Achievement Award 2001 winner and current COO and executive Advisor of One Team Partners, has been a recent speaker at the event.
During the BEYA Stars & Stripes Success Through Education Career Hour, Jesse shared his secrets to success and provided valuable insights on growth, change, and decision-making.
This free online event equips participants with skills to help them succeed in their careers. Attendees can also win prizes, scholarships, and college prep tips. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from successful STEM professionals and business leaders.