Christina Baker is a cost estimator for the Cost Estimating and Analysis Division of Naval Sea Systems Command located in Crystal City, Virginia, where she prepares cost estimates for budgetary purposes in support of constructing the Navy fleet. It is her division's responsibility to develop the cost estimates that are submitted yearly through the Department of Defense's budgetary cycle and eventually become part of the President's budget. Christina has been with the organization for three years and moved into her current position after going through a two-year Cost Analysis Intern Program, which included classroom training and on-the-job training.
Integrated into her current position is work she does with a team that prepares cost estimates for constructing the Aegis Destroyers, DDG-51 class. The team is made up of four people, including individuals with degrees in industrial engineering. It is the team's responsibilities to monitor current Navy shipbuilding construction for cost effectiveness. For instance, she develops cost estimating relationships between the cost of construction and other parameters, such as labor, material and overhead costs. The rates she develops for labor and overhead are used by others to derive the total cost of construction. In addition to tracking costs through monthly cost/performance reports from the shipbuilders, her group is also responsible for estimating escalation costs. Because construction is done over an extended period of time they need to estimate how costs will change. Recently she used regression analysis to regress historical data over time and other parameters to predict what shipyard costs will be in the future. She finds the problems she works on require a combination of mathematical modeling, analysis, and statistics.
Christina sees many advantages to a job in industry. Among them is the opportunity to apply mathematics to real problems and to see the end-products and consequences of this work. "The salary for my job with the Navy is very competitive and the chances for promotion excellent," she says. "It has also allowed me to start attending graduate school." Currently enrolled at the School of Continuing Studies at Johns Hopkins University, Christina is studying for a M.S. degree in Business with a concentration in finance.
She has a B.S. degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, with a double major in mathematics and statistics. For her current position, she finds the areas she uses most are from statistics, such as regression analysis, sampling, hypothesis testing and descriptive statistics. Much of the analysis requires modeling and most of this work is done using the computer. A good working knowledge of spreadsheet applications is also useful. Christina recommends that a student interested in working in her field have good grades, good communication skills, and be ready at any time to adapt to change. "Even the government is going through massive changes and jobs change daily," she says. "The average employee needs to be flexible and open."
