Cristen "DeAnne" Starks, capital improvement project manager for Pine Bluff Arsenal's Directorate of Engineering and Technology, was recently recognized as a 2011 Modern-Day Technology Leader. The award was presented to Starks on behalf of the Council of Engineering Deans of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Lockheed Martin Corporation and the U.S. Black Engineer and Information Technology magazine.
Starks, who is originally from Forrest City, Ark., will be formally recognized for the award in February at the 25th annual Black Engineer of the Year Award Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Global Competitiveness Conference in Washington, D.C.
"I didn't really know what was going on when Mark (Springer) put me in for the award," said Starks. "He asked me for a resume or a biography so I wondered what he was up to. I gave him all the information but didn't expect much to come out of it."
She said that in the packet of information that was sent to her about the award, she noticed that the other Modern-Day Technology Leader award recipients are from all areas of industry. "There were about 10 or 12 from various military branches such as the Navy and the Army Corps of Engineers. But the majority of the recipients were from private industry," she said. "Initially, I thought it was all government-related."
According to the award information, the Modern-Day Technology Leaders are "men and women who demonstrate outstanding performance in their fields...will shape the future course of engineering, science and technology...and whose stories of phenomenal success merit national recognition."
"I was happy to get the award, and I am proud of it," she said. "It is nice to get recognized for something I do every day and for something I have strived for as my career. I give 100 percent to everything I do, and I will continue to do that."
Starks, who has been at PBA since January 2004, just recently took over the CIP manager position, upon the retirement of Glen Minor in December. "It is going pretty good and is a little different than what I was doing," she said. "I am able to branch out a little more, and interact with more people here on the Arsenal. I haven't been in the position long but just in this short time, I have been talking to people I have never met or dealt with."
Starks has been an instrumental part of several new missions at the Arsenal in recent years, including work with the M98, M99 and M82 mission projects.
Change is good, according to Starks, a former industrial engineer with E&T. "Honestly, I was ready for the change," she said. "CIP pretty much covers everything, and a lot of the projects come out of production and chemical and biological defense. I am just trying to keep the office up to the caliber that Glen kept it at. I would step in for him whenever he was gone, but you really don't know how something will work until you step into it sometimes."
Starks was the recipient of the Federal Women's Program Woman of the Year award in 2009. She received her Master's degree in operations management from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 2007. Starks completed her degree program in a year and a half by taking classes at the Little Rock Air Force Base two nights a week.
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