Insight_Inaugural Edition

Inaugural Edition | Marquis Who ’ s Who Insight 5 HOWARD SHIGEHARU MENDE Mechanical Engineer Torrance, CA How have you navigated disruptions in your industry to remain a top professional? When I first got into the industry, I looked at how contractors or companies did business. I also looked at all of the processes that firms had planned to get jobs done. I remember during my time in school, the professors always taught us that assumptions were made, and the consideration of assumptions would establish a certain significance to the overall analysis. I try to integrate what my professors provided during their lectures. In the industry, we do things in a certain manner to establish a particular result, so that the most effective decisions can be made moving forward. I try to follow that particular process. What is the most important issue/challenge you are dealing with in your industry right now? Software has made a big impact on the way companies do business. It provides a more reliable way of conducting analysis, but senior engineers are still needed. How do you feel your industry has changed/evolved over time? When I got into the industry in 1970, contracts were being awarded for jobs. At that time, there were a lot of people doing a lot of jobs, and there were specialists on hand to look at all the different types of exceptions to the operation of particular systems. Today, more technology is utilized. Programs offer analysis and tests, and if there are failures, determinations are made for exceptions and correction. In general, less people are involved in the process. ARTHUR RAPHAEL MILLER University Professor New York, NY How do you feel you industry has changed/evolved over time? There are several evolutions. Some of the most important are the internet, as well as e-filing, data security and more importantly, identity theft. While identity theft has gone down in the most recent data from the IRS, it is still an issue. There are a number of steps a preparer can take to deal with any of those problems for a client if they emerge, and part of the annual training is to understand what those processes are and what to do about them. That is something that three to five years ago wasn’t in the curriculum. What are two key behaviors/personality traits that allow you to be effective in your role? One is humor — that has defused a lot of situations. The other one is sincerity. I had a lot of parent contact when I was with the community schools because most of the schools have tuition programs for adults, and occasionally I would get an irate parent who would feel that they were cheated and they couldn’t get money back, so I would deal with that kind of stuff. I have a lot of patience and that is a reason I was able to do that. You can’t be thorough like that without patience.