Speaker's Name
Anita Perkins

Title
Footwear Research Engineer

Company Name
Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center

Bio

Anita Perkins earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Engineering Degree in Biomedical Engineering from Tennessee State University (TSU). She changed her concentration to Biomedical Engineering because she wanted to focus on helping to improve the human body.
In November of 2010, Anita became a new addition to Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center as a Physical Scientist. She moved from Nashville, Tennessee to Natick, Massachusetts to pursue her career in biomedical engineering by assisting in team efforts as they relate to military factors and human performance elements of the Warfighter. Prior to CCDCSC, Anita worked as an engineering intern and/or research student at a number of companies and/or academia including Aerostructures, General Electric, Raytheon, and Tennessee State University (TSU).
Anita has 8 years’ experience as a Physical Scientist at a technology driven and Soldier-related research, development/testing and evaluation laboratory where she uses her technical competencies, creative insight, networking skills, and ability to foster constructive dialogues to lead project efforts as they relate to military factors and human performance elements of the Warfighter.
For the Regionally Aligned Clothing Ensemble (RACE) Effort, Anita led the injury research sub-effort by planning, coordinating, and conducting thermal manikin testing of army uniforms with heat mitigation design features and materials. While supporting the Airdrop Team, she led the Extreme Environmental Protection Clothing effort which was initiated to identify solutions or solution sets for High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) and High-Altitude High Opening (HAHO) Operations for Military Free Fall (MFF) Parachutists.
Currently, as a Footwear Research Engineer on the Army Footwear Team, Anita leads the Army Combat Boot (ACB) Improvement effort to identify technical performance gaps for Army combat boots, ultimately improving the functionality, comfort, and user acceptance of ACBs with an accelerated 12-month effort to develop a prototype solution or make recommendations for an improved combat boot as directed by the Chief of Staff of the Army. As the Quality Assurance Specialist, she leads footwear certifications for Navy and Postal services. To improve future footwear certification processes, Anita developed and introduced internal certification guidelines which identified tasks required to complete certifications.
She is an EEO Counselor and Special Emphasis Program Planning Committee Co-Chair for Natick Soldier Systems Center, Garrison. She has been a bible class teacher for the past six years at Natick Church of Christ, Natick, MA. As a soccer mom to her two young soccer stars, Khalijiah and Khainan (10 and 13 years of age), she enjoys boxing classes, hot yoga, and spending time with her kids.

Session List

Job Readiness Fast Track: Interview Success! – Practical Approaches to Persuading the Recruiter
Friday, February 08th 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM Room: Delaware Suite B- Lobby Level