From Mr. Wittes’ class to a Lead Solutions Architect, how CCHS aided Lyons in pursuing his dreams

By Klay Collari

February 12, 2024

Teachers influence students, and having a good teacher can make all the difference in how students perform in class and how much they enjoy it. 2012 CCHS graduate Jackson Lyons agrees with this and credits Mr. Witte with inspiring his engineering career. 

Lyons says that since he was young, he  always wanted to be an engineer because his grandfather was a very successful electrical engineer, with multiple patents, who inspired him from early on. 

During his time at CCHS, Lyons mentions that he took AP classes, participated in robotics and went through the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) pathway, taking classes focusing on science, technology, engineering and math. These classes, and teacher, Barry Witte, prepared Lyons exceptionally for his college career. 

“Barry Witte, who was the PLTW instructor, was a very influential mentor on my journey from being just interested in engineering, to actually committing my career to the field,” Lyons says. 

After graduating from CCHS, Lyons went to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) located in Troy, NY, where he got his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. During his time there, he interned for General Dynamics, a defense company, where he primarily focused on astronautical engineering. After his internship, he was offered a position at the company. Lyons stated that he also graduated with a patent from his senior project at RPI. 

While Lyons was at General Dynamics, he rotated through three different positions at the company.  He participated in leadership training and completed his master’s degree in systems engineering at John Hopkins University, which was paid for by General Dynamics.

Eventually in 2021, Lyons left General Dynamics for a startup called STC, Strategic Technology Consulting LLC, which was acquired by Arcfield this past August. Lyons started off as an entry level mechanical engineer, switched to systems engineering, and progressively gained more responsibilities in high visibility programs. 

Lyons states that he has designed naval exercises using teams of drones, integrated missiles onto warships, conducted research and development programs where he presented high tech solutions to admirals, and led the development of high tech weapon systems. Currently, he is a lead solutions architect based out of the D.C. metro area.

Lyons says his time at CCHS helped him prepare and shape his future and career. His mentors and peers that he met there helped guide him onto the career path he pursued and pushed him to where he is now.