Sometimes life takes us in unexpected directions—just ask Darin Gray. While working as an engineer at Hughes Aircraft Company in Southern California (now part of Raytheon Technologies), he agreed to something that not only changed his life significantly, but altered the course of countless others.
“At the time, I had a side job writing computer software for real estate companies,” Gray said. “While attending a networking session to hawk my wares, one of the attendees approached me and asked if I would be willing to help out at a local school, teaching computer skills to at-risk youth. I told her ‘Sure, that sounds like a lot of fun.’”
That discussion was in the early ‘90s, and it didn’t take long for Gray to learn that his part-time volunteer work would be much more challenging than anticipated. That’s because very few of his new students had the math skills needed to learn the basics of computer science.
He soon found that most of the credentialed teachers at that time had left the South Los Angeles area for better-paying jobs elsewhere. “I couldn’t blame them,” he said. “If you love to teach calculus but are surrounded by inner-city kids who haven’t been prepared for advanced math and science, what else are you going to do? Still, there was a serious need there that wasn’t being met.”
Darin Gray, Director, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Gray did what many of us would never even consider. He resigned from what was admittedly a cushy position with a leading defense contractor, one where employees enjoyed “long lunches, being 10 minutes from the beach, and doing work that was just way out there in terms of career advancement,” and he became a schoolteacher.
“It was a significant pay cut,” he laughed. “But at the same time, I looked at what I was doing—which was basically making weapons—and weighed that against the good I could do for my community. Even back then I knew that when I leave this planet, I want to say that I’ve made it a better place; that I’ve had a positive impact and always tried to help others. So while I appreciate the fact that we must defend our country, I decided to change course.”
In hindsight, his stance is unsurprising. Gray grew up in Detroit, where his mother enrolled him in a parochial school. He was always good at science and math, he explained, and he learned about engineering in his sophomore year of high school, which led him to the University of Southern California (USC) and, eventually, his position with Hughes Aircraft.
While there, he was “surrounded by some really smart people” and came to more fully appreciate the opportunities he’d had earlier in his life. “I wanted to give others those same opportunities,” he said.
Gray’s second career began with the Los Angeles Unified School District, serving as an outreach consultant and administrator for the Alternative Education and Work Center (AEWC), an educational path for students who’d struggled with traditional schooling.
While managing the AEWC’s day-to-day activities and overseeing the welfare of a hundred or so students, he also taught courses in English, social studies, mathematics, and science, as well as various electives that would help prepare students for the GED examination and beyond. Anxious to do more, Gray soon began working part time for the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, teaching young people STEM skills long before the term existed.
STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. More recent iterations include the suffix CS, for computer science. Gray couldn’t care less what they called it; he was there to share his love for learning with as many people as he could—first as a STEM coordinator and instructor, then as the director of STEM Educational Outreach Programs, and now as the director of Viterbi’s K-12 STEM center, a position he’s held since 2019.
“We work with elementary, middle, and high school students of color, and the goal is to get them interested in STEM by doing cool and interesting things,” said Gray. “We offer school-based programs, as well as on-campus activities and programs that are open to the community. But we also work to advance our faculty’s skills through teacher training and other forms of professional development. Our goal is to get more people of all kinds interested in STEM, but especially girls and kids of color—not necessarily as a career path, but something that they’d be interested in learning more about.”
These aren’t the boring math classes many remember from their high school days. Gray’s STEM teachings “run the gamut” and beyond. Students learn to build and launch high-altitude balloons. They make friends with robots, teaching them tasks such as fighting lake algae and participating in robotic competitions. They explore earth, life, and natural sciences through hands-on activities, design and construct bridges, fly radio-controlled aircraft, and discover the intricacies of Gray’s first educational endeavor: computer programming. And yes, they learn about additive manufacturing (AM).
“We have a number of activities that involve 3D printing,” Gray said. “For example, we design, print, and fly rockets. They’re obviously nothing like what (aerospace manufacturer) Relativity Space and others are doing, but are large enough to help students understand how to bring their ideas into three-dimensional space.”
This last point—idea development—is an important focus for Gray. He’s found that young people’s capacity for language hasn’t always caught up with their intellect. They often have ideas and dreams they’re unable to verbalize, and 3D printing is one of the STEM skills that help them “reassemble the pictures in their heads,” Gray noted.
“For example, let’s say that you and I are asked to design a component for a prosthetic limb. Not only will our mental image of that component be completely different, but so will the way in which we describe it. With 3D printing, I can actually put my idea into three-dimensional space independent of language or my ability to explain what I’m thinking. It’s a teaching tool. Not only that, but it helps them develop mechanical and analytical skills they might never gain otherwise.” He laughed. “They quickly learn that if they don’t anchor the part to the build platform, all they’ll end up with is a big pile of plastic spaghetti.”
STEM also helps students learn to collaborate. They must discuss their project ideas and objectives and develop them, digitally at first but then physically through 3D printing, machining and fabrication, or good old-fashioned paper, tape, and Elmer’s glue. When done, they must then respond to feedback, both positive and negative.
Gray has helped hundreds if not thousands of students over his time at Viterbi and before. For instance, there was the young woman in his after-school program who had a reputation for bad behavior. While watching Gray repair some donated computers one afternoon, she took an immediate interest. She began hanging around, learning all she could, and eventually went on to start a small business selling refurbished PCs.
Another example was the engineering student Gray helped with a project during his junior year. While chatting one day, the young man mentioned “this guy who used to come to my middle school at 32nd Street and work with us on stuff like this.” As it turned out, that guy was Gray, and if he hadn’t been there years earlier, perhaps the engineering student might have taken a different, less productive path.
And then there was the student Gray met while filling in as an instructor for one of his after-school STEM programs. Like the aspiring computer repair entrepreneur, the student was seen as a troublemaker and none of her classmates (or teachers, it seemed) wanted to work with her. When Gray tasked the class with constructing towers from drinking straws, she sat alone. “They were building, building, building, and when I said time’s up, hers was a foot taller than everyone else’s,” he said. “It was obvious she wasn’t a smart-ass like some had said—she was just very smart—and I soon discovered the girl was having some difficulty at home. After introducing her to the school counselor, things began to turn around.”
When not teaching STEM skills or impacting the lives of young people, Gray spends time performing another crucial role: cybersecurity for the California State Guard, a position he’s held for the past five years. “I started with the Guard in 2012 as a radio operator in the communications unit. One day my commander approached me about a new cyber unit they were putting together. ‘Hey, they need support and we know you’re an engineer, can you help out?’” Gray recalled.
As with the request from years before about assisting troubled youth, Gray immediately agreed, and soon went back to school himself to earn a master’s degree in cybersecurity. “I was never a hacker or anything like that, but I feel it’s important and is something I enjoy, so why not?” he said. “It’s a lot like helping kids learn STEM and 3D printing and all the rest—it’s about making the world a better place for those around you. That’s what I’ve always tried to do.”
