“Exposure testing is very interesting here because we have aggressive climates: marine sites, jungle sites. It is a good opportunity for customers because they can see the effects of climate on their items five to ten times faster than in other places in the world.” VIEW ORIGINAL
U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground’s customer base and areas of operation are both international.
The proving ground hosts testing for a wide variety of friendly foreign nations, and Tropic Regions Test Center (TRTC), in particular, conducts testing in countries as varied as Panama, Suriname, and Australia.
Among the personnel in TRTC’s Panama office is Luisa Wong, a computer science engineer by training who has worked for the facility for more than 25 years.
She graduated first in her class at the Technological University of Panama and worked for a software company for nearly a decade until they abruptly ceased operations in Panama. She was doing freelance consulting work when she saw a job opening at TRTC in 1997.
“There was an ad in the newspaper looking for a technical writer,” she recalled. “I’m a computer science engineer and speak English, so I applied. I went to two interviews and got hired.”
She was initially a technical writer focused on report and plan writing, but, like most TRTC personnel, Wong soon found herself wearing many hats. She began doing duty as a data collector and, eventually, as a test officer testing military equipment. In recent years she has achieved notoriety in the test world for her expertise in exposure testing.
“Exposure testing is very interesting here because we have aggressive climates: marine sites, jungle sites. It is a good opportunity for customers because they can see the effects of climate on their items five to ten times faster than in other places in the world.”
Wong likes to dance and read as hobbies, but neither takes precedence over her delights in the accomplishments of her two children.
“I love to travel to new places and meet new people. I really enjoy family time.”
Both of her children spent part of their academic careers in the United States: her daughter earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Louisville before getting a Masters of Business Administration at Panama’s Victoria International University, and her son graduated from the Notre Dame Academy and the University of Central Oklahoma after attending both schools on baseball scholarships.
“I’m glad they both had the opportunity to live, learn and work in the United States,” she said. “They had great experiences.”
As for travelling, Wong’s efforts to travel somewhere every year has taken her to multiple countries in Europe and South America.
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