Southwest Research Institute Reviews

Pros

With so many loosely affiliated divisions comprising SwRI, other experiences may be very different from mine, but I would say that SwRI is an engineer's paradise. At SwRI, the engineer is the project manager is the technical writer is the business developer...etc. It is similar to working in a small business in that you do a little bit of everything and have to constantly promote your business area and maintain business relationships to stay relevant, but unlike a startup you get a steady paycheck and excellent benefits. Other people have complained about lack of promotion opportunity, but the best way to get promoted as an engineer or scientist here is to pursue your own work, write your own proposals, bring in contracts, build a team, and hire more people to work under you. This requires both technical competence and the ability to sell your ideas internally and externally. This is not for everyone, and non-technical staff may not have this same flexibility. If you just want to be a tinkerer in a lab, there are still plenty of opportunities to do fun and amazing things at SwRI, but don't expect to move up the ladder as quickly. If you don't take the lead, you will have to follow someone else's vision.

Cons

There is a reputation for lower pay, but it's probably more like "average" pay. Yes, you can make more money elsewhere, but the work here tends to be fulfilling, challenging, and unique. There is occasionally some rivalry as multiple groups inadvertently pursue the same customers or business areas.
It's hard to get hired on but even harder to get fired, so some employees get a little too comfortable and grow less productive after several years on the job. Status is sometimes rewarded over competence. There are many highly intelligent and hard-working people here who do not have college degrees, and they are limited in their ability to advance, but they also get to do all the really fun work because they cost less to a project if they don't have the "engineer" title. None of these cons are really unique to SwRI.

Advice to Senior Management

Trim the fat and cut back the non-technical internal services. The technical staff grows and shrinks with the tides of business. Admin only grows faster or slower. The administrative megalith is very conscientious about monitoring expentitures for paper and printer toner, but they appear to find new reasons to hire non-revenue employees with impunity. Cut the number of support employees and give them more freedom to buy low-cost items as needed so they can do their jobs more efficiently. I personally bypass many of the internal services because outside companies are less expensive and more responsive, yet those internal services that I don't use will still take a cut out of my contracts to pay for electricity and facilities (at the very least). The rising overhead means that "us engineers" can do less work for our customers for a given contract dollar amount.

Pros

Interesting - There is always something really cool being researched/tested that you get to learn about.
People - Great fellow employees
Environment - Relaxed, and you usually have your own office

Cons

Management - Some management is short-sighted, and led astray by satisfying customer requests rather than managing them.
Promotions - Similar to a university, you get kudos for doing independent research and white papers. Most of the time it's not an issue with reviews, but the unspoken word is that it IS...

Advice to Senior Management

Don't let the management satisfy the customer - manage the customer's expectations. Too many projects have failed because of this.
Employee benefits need to be upgraded to match other employers

Pros

Many projects to work on, providing a large number of potential collaborators and potential avenues of research.
Overall good work environment.
The salaries are relatively competitive for a PhD researcher, though not significantly better than industry standard.
Fosters a collegiate, academic setting for research, although this is somewhat dependent upon the specific division and its management.

Cons

Management seems unwilling or unable to foster an atmosphere that supports a work/life balance. Also, flexible work hours and telecommuting are generally frowned upon. This leads to an emphasis on "face time" rather than an an emphasis on milestones or one's productivity. In my experience, this attitude leads to lower overall productivity from staffl.

The overhead is very high and this makes it difficult for scientists to pursue the typical soft-money path of research more commonly found in academia.

It has been said that SwRI's atmosphere is more akin to the 1960's and this is relatively true. There are few female PhDs or senior management, which can most likely be linked back to the first comment about a failure of management to foster an atmosphere of balance between work life and family.

Advice to Senior Management

Management at SwRI, to my mind, faces three critical hurdles to attracting and maintaining young talent. First, management needs to adopt 21st century work methods, allowing for flexible work hours and telecommuting instead of emphasizing "face time." Second, the culture at SwRI needs to evolve to embrace a more accommodating work/life balance in line with most academic institutions. Finally, (although this may not be possible given the cost structure of SwRI), overhead costs on soft-money projects need to be reduced in order to make SwRI scientists more competitive relative to their counterparts in academia. Otherwise, given the tightening budgets of all science directorates (i.e. NASA, NSF), SwRI-based scientists will find themselves fighting an uphill battle against other institutions whose costs are more efficient for government-funded projects.

Pros

There are many one is that the benefits are great

Cons

Promotions are few and far in between

Pros

excellent benefits package
accural of sick time hours

Cons

job locked. no room for advancement for administrative staff

Advice to Senior Management

should provide opportunities for advancement. Educational benefits are great but does not provide for advancement opportunities after you receive a degree

Pros

Relatively low stress job.
Innovative and imaginative with opportunities to work on a broad range of projects
Has an academic atmosphere of collaboration

Cons

Lack of communication between division and between management and technical/scientific workers
Resistance to changing the "status quo"

Advice to Senior Management

Be open to change. Be proactive in establishing communication with employees esp. in the scientific ladder. It seems that the administration has become too cumbersome for the Institute. The general perception is that admin just "slows things down" and raises the cost of overhead without fulfillling their function. Something must be done by admin to change this perception, though I must admit, I am at a loss as to what this might be other than somehow lowering the overhead burden on projects.

Pros

Corporate support for family issues and emergencies. Fun annual events for kids and adults alike.

Cons

Hire 'generalists' rather than specialists. No business dev or marketing folks, technical staff must do these jobs. No funds allocated towards staff training. Senior mgmt is not experienced with these roles.

Advice to Senior Management

Advertise and hire sales/marketing folks. Seek outside experienced mgmt with proven track records of success.

Pros

Great Benefits
Flexible Schedule
Tuition Reimbursement
Brilliant People

Cons

Slow Career Advancement
Too Little Communication between Divisions

Advice to Senior Management

Organize more mingling between divisions

Pros

Institute, as a whole, is very stable. Highly diversified technolically, allowing them to adjust to dynamic business environment. As one or more Divisions decline, others are able to respond to market opportunities. This makes the Institute appear more stable than it is for employees, however. Some of the most intelligent engineers and scientists one could hope to find are at SwRI. Beautiful campus-style working environment.

Cons

Joining as experienced professional is problematic. Most technical & management staff start immediately out of college and stay 30+ years. Unaccepting of new employees, who are viewed as taking advanced positions to which others feel entitled based on tenure. "Groupthink" is common and acknowledged as an acceptable practice. Unresponsive to customer's dynamic requirements, even when told, has resulted in lost business and avoidable layoffs.

Advice to Senior Management

"Not invented here" syndrome breeds incest and hurts business. Listen to customers more! They're not happy with SwRI. Actively recruit experienced new blood and incorporate best practices from other organizations that they bring with them. Recognize that 20 years of experience is different than one year of experience repeated 20 times.

Pros

Great Student Salary
Interesting Project Assignments
Excellent Degree of Autonomy
Integration of Old Skills and New
Good Overall Campus Environment

Cons

Location in San Antonio
Seemingly Low Salary Cap For Even Experienced Employees
No sort of profit sharing (reasonable for non profit but there is no financial reward for an exceptional job)

Advice to Senior Management

I do not have any advice for management other than that they should keep doing what they are doing, the financials of this place are solid.