By Jill Wojciechowski

This is one in a series of personality profiles in Horizons online that takes a closer look at the members of the Rockwell Collins executive leadership team.

Executive profile index

The sounds of six siblings scampering around the modest home in Guyana, South America, where Nan Mattai was raised, are all but a distant memory. Still, the lessons learned within this middle class family left a lasting impression on the woman who now holds the most senior engineering position at Rockwell Collins.

A self-described perfectionist with a fierce, competitive nature, Mattai discovered the art of negotiation at an early age. A girl who was raised between four boys, she also quickly learned the importance of compromising and remaining flexible.

"I had to negotiate to get almost anything I wanted," recalled Mattai, now the senior vice president of Engineering and Technology at Rockwell Collins. "There were a lot of us, so we all had to learn to adapt to various situations, and we all learned how to work together."

Little did Mattai realize at the time that those skills would help launch a career that has become more successful than she ever imagined.

"I believe in many ways that my childhood truly helped shape who I am today," said Mattai. "I also believe I'm a little bit of both of my parents. I get the hard work ethic from my dad, and I get the perfectionist part of my personality from my mom."

Identifying a science hero

Nan Mattai was strongly encouraged by her mother to pursue a higher education. Today, she holds the most senior engineering position at Rockwell Collins.
Photo by Paul Marlow, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Constantly following in the footsteps of her older brother - who was enthralled with math and science - Mattai began formulating her career plans during her high school physics class.

But the accomplishments of Madame Marie Curie - who is best known as the discoverer of the radioactive elements polonium and radium, and the first person to win two Nobel prizes - is what really captured her attention.

"I was very impressed with Madame Curie and the determination that she showed," said Mattai. "She became my science hero, and everything she accomplished went right along with what my mom had been telling me, 'If you have a goal and you keep to that goal, you can accomplish what you want.'"

From that point on, Mattai - who was strongly encouraged by her mother to pursue a higher education - set her sights on becoming a research scientist. She dreamed of pursuing both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in physics, and she longed for the day when she could begin work on her doctorate in nuclear physics.

"My mom very strongly believed that an education was the key to success, and it didn't matter whether it was for her daughters or her sons," said Mattai, whose older brother is now a math teacher in Germany. "My mom had a very strong influence on my life."

But so, too, did a young man she met while studying science in high school. Due to the lack of sophisticated science laboratories in the all-girls school she attended, Mattai found herself spending a great deal of time studying with her male counterparts at a nearby all-boys school.

That's where she met and fell in love with Roy Mattai, a man who shared her passion for math and science and - not long after high school - also began sharing her life.

"It turned out that Roy's family lived about half-a-mile from where I grew up," recalled Mattai. "I knew his parents and all of his brothers and sisters. I think the fact that I've known him for all of these years has helped us form a bond that is very strong and very deep."

Putting family first

In the late 1970s, with a Bachelor of Science degree in math and physics from the University of Guyana in hand, Mattai and her husband relocated to Canada, where both enrolled in graduate programs at the University of Windsor.

In 1979, the young couple welcomed their first son, Andy. Born prematurely, he weighed only 4 pounds, 13 ounces, and required an enormous amount of care.

"I'm a very positive person and I always felt that I could do everything by myself," said Mattai. "Well, I found out that raising a child wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be, especially when you have a preemie."

During the first two years of Andy's life, Mattai found herself spending a significant amount of time in the pediatrician's office with her son, and less time at college. Still, she managed to complete her Master of Science degree in physics, and soon after began pursuing her Ph.D.

In addition to adjusting to motherhood and a full-time schedule of college coursework, she found herself juggling a part-time job. Her husband also was now pursuing his doctorate degree in mechanical engineering on a full-time basis, and the couple had no family in the vicinity to assist with childcare.

"It got to a point where things were absolutely overwhelming," admitted Mattai. "And, when something gets overwhelming for me, it's really overwhelming."

Much to her father's dismay, Mattai decided the best thing to do was to put her doctorate degree on hold and instead concentrate on caring for her family. So, 18 months into her Ph.D. with only her research left to complete, Mattai called it quits.

"My dad was very unhappy when I quit the Ph.D. program, but Roy was right there beside me helping me defend my position to my parents," said Mattai. "He's really been my rock through everything. I'd be half a person without him."

The journey to the Midwest

By the time the 1980s rolled around, the couple had obtained United States residency and had relocated to eastern Michigan where Roy completed his doctorate degree.

Soon after, they pulled up roots again and this time settled in Indianapolis, Ind., where they welcomed their second son, Neil, born in 1983. Roy worked for two years in Indianapolis before being transferred to California.

"He was working for a great company and this was a great opportunity for him," said Mattai. "We both grew up near the ocean, we were young with two small children, so we figured why not take this opportunity to go west."

Not long after settling in Torrance, Calif., Mattai decided to resume her career and began teaching during the evening at El Camino College.

But the cost of living in California, combined with the fact that she and Roy were trying to raise their sons in an apartment, wasn't an ideal situation.

"We decided at that time that I would wait until Neil turned 2, and then I would switch careers," recalled Mattai. "At the time, there were tons of jobs for software engineers in California, and I had developed good computer skills while doing my graduate work. Roy was convinced that this was an area I would do well in."

As it turned out, her husband was absolutely correct. Mattai accepted her first full-time engineering position in 1984 as an entry-level software programmer with Magnavox, West Coast. Her primary responsibility at the time was designing software for global positioning system (GPS) receivers.

Over the next nine years, Mattai received five promotions at Magnavox, which is where she acquired many of her domain skills in GPS and satellite communications. She left the company as a principal software engineer in 1993, when she and her husband decided to relocate back to the Midwest to be near his family, who had emigrated and settled near Joliet, Ill.

"We started looking at job opportunities within four hours of Joliet," recalled Mattai. "Both of our skill sets lined up pretty well with what Rockwell Collins was doing, and the rest is history."

The ascent begins

On Aug. 23, 1993, Nan Mattai joined Rockwell Collins as a software engineer, performing design and development for radio-based communication systems for the U.S. military. From there, her skill, intellect, and ability to look at the big picture led to positions of increasing leadership, culminating in the one she holds today.

"She's the smartest person I know with a memory that doesn't quit," said Programs Manager Pam Lane, who hired Mattai as a software engineer. "She has this unique ability - without saying a word - to make you strive to exceed your own expectations. Her passion to win and to succeed is infectious."

While Mattai admits she spent a great deal of time working hard to understand our business and to hone her leadership skills, she credits Steve Nieuwsma, now the vice president of Commercial Systems Engineering at Rockwell Collins, with recognizing her potential for career growth.

"Steve saw something in me that I didn't see," admitted Mattai. "I think he had more confidence in my abilities than I had, and he stretched me to the point where I was uncomfortable. Today, as I look back, I realize how good it was for him to get me outside of my comfort zone. I have a lot to be thankful for in his mentorship and guidance."

Throughout the past 15 years, Nieuwsma says there has always been and continues to be mutual respect and trust between he and Mattai. In fact, he views her as a "thought partner," and continues to remain impressed by her accountability and her commitment to her role and to our company.

"I think our young engineers should look at Nan's accomplishments and career growth as a model for their own," said Nieuwsma. "It starts with hard work, personal accountability and commitment, and is followed by demonstrated results. With that comes unlimited opportunity."

'Pioneer' finds balance

While balancing life between her family and her career has not always been easy, Mattai has finally managed to find a happy medium. No longer does she take her work home. Instead, her evenings and weekends are reserved for cooking, reading, exercising, and spending time with her husband. When possible, she and Roy also visit their sons, now ages 28 and 24.

Andy is a physician resident at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Neb., and Neil recently received his doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Michigan, and has relocated to New Jersey.

"Family is the foundation of who I am," said Mattai. "I'm very passionate about what I do, but I'm also very family-oriented. My husband's mantra to me is 'there's a lot more to life than work.' He is the stabilizing factor in my life, and he's the one who - when I'm going overboard at work - reminds me that it's always going to be there tomorrow."

And when that tomorrow evolves into the days of retirement, Mattai will likely be found traveling with her husband to the Far East. She also hopes to volunteer in local schools to promote the importance of math and science, and she would like to join her husband in his mission to assist underprivileged children in Guyana.

But no matter where she ends up when her retirement begins, she would like her colleagues at Rockwell Collins and throughout the aerospace and defense industry to remember her as a pioneer for women in engineering.
 
"I want people to use me as an example of how it's possible to break through the glass ceiling, and be a successful female leader in a profession traditionally dominated by males," said Mattai. "As a first generation immigrant to this country, I never imagined I'd be in the type of position that I am currently in. I think I'm a true testament that no matter what the challenges, you can overcome them and achieve your dreams."