What's The Word? Eagle Alumni Spotlight Podcast: Somaralyz Grullon

Start of Episode Transcript:

Dr. Chesley:
Hello, listeners. Dr Chesley, here you may recall that we said farewell to Abby several episodes ago in the Fall of 2025 and she has indeed graduated and moved on from the team, but you will hear her voice again this week as we publish one of the last few episodes that she produced. Thank you, Abby, and thank you all for listening.

Abby:
Hello everybody, and welcome back to another episode of What's the word. I'm your host, Abby, and today we have a very special guest for you. Today we're joined with Somaralyz Grullon grulan and Somaralyz, why don't you give us a little bit of background about yourself?

Somaralyz:
Well, I graduated from Embry Riddle in May 2024, so I'm a new grad. I was mechanical engineering with an emphasis in robotics. I'm now a software engineer at Aurora Flight Sciences, which is a Boeing Company.

Abby:
Okay, wow. And did you have a favorite memory from your time at Embry Riddle you'd like to share?

Somaralyz:
My favorite memory was I was part of the research team called Ascend, and I was the team lead for the past two and a half years. And this past research year, we went to New Mexico and Texas to research for the eclipse that was happening.

Abby:
Oh, wow. And so did you have to make a balloon that could gather that data for that?

Somaralyz:
Yeah. So we were partnered with a group called Arizona space research, and a bunch of other colleges like UofA and ASU, and we all collaborated with different payloads, and we sent it up on a typical like weather balloon, and we just launched it up and hoped for the best.

Abby:
That's awesome. Were you able to get a lot of a lot of data from it?

Somaralyz:
Yes, we were. We were actually able to get pictures of the eclipse and totality.

Abby:
That's amazing. And so were you able to take any of that experience and use it for your current job?

Somaralyz:
Yes, so currently, I write test cases for flight software, so it's a bunch of requirements that we're reading, and from there, we make the code and we execute it how we want it to, and a lot of that is like processing data, information and stuff like that. So it really does help a lot, because it set up the technical aspects that I needed, so I can talk to my co workers, and we're all on the same page.

Abby:
Awesome, awesome. And so did you have a favorite part about your current job?

Somaralyz:
My favorite part is the amount of people that I get to work with. So being in software and dealing with requirements I have to deal with structures, people, mechanical systems, electrical flight testing, and so many more, and they all really help with getting a bigger picture and understanding what our aircraft is meant to do, and from there, we just collaborate and make sure that we can get to that goal.

Abby:
Oh yeah, the people that you get to work with really do make the job experience better.

Somaralyz:
Absolutely.

Abby:
Perfect. And so are you able to tie writing into your everyday work life?

Somaralyz:
Yeah. So a lot of what we do, we have to document, because just in case anything happens to me or someone else, that anyone can pick up where we left off and fully understand what was happening. Because there's times when people leave the company, they move to other programs because they're just needed over there that they can't be readily available. So I have to pick up work that they had left and with the type of writing that they do, there have been some instances where I was completely lost. I had no idea what was going on. At other times, I fully understood what was going on, and I could pick it up and treat it as if it was my own.

Abby:
Oh, wow, awesome. And so would you say that you rely a lot on a certain genre of writing, like technical report writing, or like emails, anything like that, more so than another type?

Somaralyz:
I do heavily rely on emails and technical writing because you do want to be short, concise and to the point and fully grasp what is going on, but you also don't want to waste anyone's time with a bunch of jargon and nonsense when this could have been just something really quick,
right?

Abby:
And so going off of that, would you say that word choice plays heavily into your writing that you do?

Somaralyz:
Oh, absolutely. The fun part of the different disciplines of engineering is that a lot of things mean a lot of different things. Like, for example, like GNC is guidance and control, right? But for a different group, it would mean something entirely different. So it's very different based on just different disciplines. It was like understanding your audience and who you're talking to that really helps convey what you're trying to actually tell them,
right?

Abby:
Would you say that you were able to take a lot of the writing skills that riddle had you use in your classes and apply them to the work life?

Somaralyz:
Oh, absolutely, it helped a lot, like writing memos and emails, that really helped a lot, because now I know that it should, it shouldn't take forever for me to say what I want to say. And a lot of people also don't fully read the emails that you're sending. So if it's short to the point, then everyone can fully understand what you are trying to say as well.

Abby:
Perfect. Yeah, always want to be short sweet to the point I love it. Yep, perfect. And so that leads me right into my final question for you today. Do you have any advice for our current Eagles?

Somaralyz:
I would say keep up with the technical writing. Documentation is the biggest part of engineering. It is painful sometimes, but it is the most important, because you never know who needs it later down the road.

Abby:
Perfect. And that is such great advice. Thank you, Somaralyz, and we want to give some release a big thank you for being on with us this week. We loved having you on if you're new to our podcast, you can find us on Apple podcasts, Spotify or YouTube, and stay tuned for more.

Dr. Chesley:
This podcast is supported by the Department of Humanities and communication at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. Our hosts and producers are Owen Smith and Leah little. I'm Amelia Chesley, Assistant Professor of professional writing. Many thanks to the Prescott campus writing and Design Lab for hosting our transcripts. The intro and outro music is wanderer by Alex. You can find us where most podcasts are found. And if you are a Prescott campus alumni, please reach out so we can feature you in a future episode.

End of transcripts.