MBA at UT San Antonio<\/a> to prepare for new leadership responsibilities.<\/p>\n\u201cIt struck me that in engineering school we spent a lot of time studying theory. But what I learned in my business courses was directly applicable to my work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
While studying in the program, Downing connected with former faculty members Bill Flannery and Woodie Spivey, who both had similar industry backgrounds in engineering. He later helped advise them when they launched a master\u2019s degree in the management of technology in the college.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe MBA program exposed me to people from all backgrounds and all walks of life,\u201d said Downing, who also taught for several years in the college. \u201cIt also helped me develop a long-term perspective, because as I rose through the ranks, it would take longer to see the results and impact of decisions that I made.\u201d<\/p>\n
Downing explained that SwRI, an independent nonprofit research and development organization, uses technology to solve complex challenges for its clients.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo work at Southwest Research Institute, you need to enjoy solving difficult technical problems,\u201d Downing said. \u201cBecause if they weren\u2019t difficult, they wouldn\u2019t need us. They could solve it on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking back at his extensive career, Downing shared two of his proudest accomplishments. First, he authorized a mobile autonomous robotics technology initiative. The goal was to develop a vehicle that could autonomously drive on the streets of New York City. Achieving that goal in 2008, SwRI later adapted the technology for military projects.<\/p>\n
His team also worked with NASA on almost every major space program like the New Horizons mission to Pluto or the Juno mission to Jupiter to develop either instrumentation or computers for their missions.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot all scientifically trained people do well in terms of keeping projects on schedule, meeting budgets and interacting with clients. That is where my MBA became so valuable. If you execute well, then your growth of people and revenue will follow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Throughout his career, Downing remained active professionally through his involvement with IEEE, the world\u2019s largest technical professional organization. After becoming involved with IEEE through a conference in San Antonio, he advanced through the organization\u2019s ranks and served as president of the Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society. He is now chair of the Lone Star Section in San Antonio.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to really get anything out of an organization, you\u2019ve got to be engaged and participate,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you just are a member and pay dues you won\u2019t get anything out of it, but if you get engaged, you\u2019ll find you get more out of it than what you put into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Downing has also remained connected with UT San Antonio since graduation. He serves on advisory councils for both the Carlos Alvarez College of Business and the Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design. He also engages with students through the IEEE student branch and the Robotics Automation Society chapter.<\/p>\n
Downing also established the SwRI-UT San Antonio Scholarship for Children and Dependents of SwRI Employees in 2011.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe scholarship allowed me to address philanthropy with respect to UTSA but also benefit this organization that I\u2019ve worked with for so long,\u201d said Downing, who is one of many donors who support this scholarship.<\/p>\n
He and his wife, Sharon, also partnered with the McNay Art Museum to allow all UT San Antonio students, faculty and staff to attend the museum for free.<\/p>\n
\u201cUTSA was the only local university that didn\u2019t have this benefit,\u201d Downing said. \u201cOnce again, it allowed us to support both the McNay and UTSA through our giving.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reflecting on his retirement, Downing looks forward to spending more time with his three grandchildren, traveling and working around the house. Variety has always been valued by Downing, both professionally and now personally, as he contemplates this new unstructured time of his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of fun to see the university grow and succeed,\u201d he said. \u201cBy supporting UTSA I\u2019m essentially improving the overall capabilities of our community. UTSA is a great community builder.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Walt Downing, MBA \u201986, has had a front-row seat to the rapid-fire technological changes that have occurred during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480175,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-480174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}