11-04-2026
When Shreya Rastogi returned to West Lafayette in August to drop off her younger sister for freshman year at Purdue, catching up with former mentors and advisors gave her a moment to pause and reflect on an eventful first year after graduation.
Rastogi graduated in May 2025 from the Integrated Business and Engineering (IBE) program at the Mitch Daniels School of Business and has quickly advanced at L3Harris Technologies. Recently promoted to senior associate program manager at the company’s Rochester, New York, site, she oversees tactical communications systems for domestic defense clients. Her day-to-day work includes managing orders under a $3.7 billion U.S. Navy contract and supporting U.S. Special Operations Command requirements while collaborating across engineering, supply chain, finance and government contracting teams.
Her work reflects the interdisciplinary approach at the core of the IBE degree.
“IBE is designed to develop bridge builders — students who can connect the technical and business sides of an organization,” says Dilip Chhajed, associate dean for schoolwide programs and executive director of the BS in IBE. “Shreya’s role, working across technical teams, customers and business needs, is exactly the kind of career we envisioned for IBE graduates. Our students learn how engineers think and solve problems while building the confidence to communicate across functional boundaries.”
My biggest advice to students is to take advantage of the resources on campus. The more you are able to broaden your horizons at school, the more you'll be an effective leader in industry.
Shreya Rastogi Senior associate program manager at L3Harris
Rastogi’s path to L3Harris began on campus, where she served as program manager for the Purdue Space Program’s satellite team. When L3Harris sponsored the team, company recruiters encouraged her to apply for an internship. Interested in learning more about program management in industry, she applied.
Although she initially wondered how much responsibility an intern would have, the experience proved valuable from the start. On her first day at the company’s Fort Wayne, Indiana, site, she attended a customer meeting with NASA. By the end of the internship, she submitted a formal contract deliverable to NASA — a milestone that required collaboration across systems, mechanical, optical and software engineering teams. Seeing the coordination behind a large-scale technical program reinforced her interest in the field and helped position her for a full-time offer after graduation.
“IBE provides students with a strong foundation in business and engineering, along with the flexibility to tailor their education through specialty coursework, student leadership and co-curricular experiences,” says Ryan Case, IBE program director. “Shreya maximized these opportunities, from leadership roles in student organizations to internships and her work with the Purdue Space Program, building experience that prepared her for her role at L3Harris.”
Since joining L3Harris, Rastogi has continued to seek opportunities to learn and contribute. Interested in emerging technologies, she experimented with artificial intelligence tools to automate routine tasks. After presenting her findings to her team, she led practical AI workshops for colleagues. Her work earned her an invitation to join a tiger team, a small group assembled to solve a specific problem, developing a new configuration management tool.
Chhajed says that kind of initiative aligns with what top technology and business leaders are seeing across industries. Citing Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith’s observation about a “resurgence of the generalist,” he points to the growing need for professionals who can use tools such as AI to solve problems while exercising judgment, taking initiative and contributing across an organization. He sees those qualities as central to the IBE approach.
Rastogi has also made community building a priority. She served as a panelist at a career-planning event hosted by We3, L3Harris’ employee group for women, sharing insights drawn from the mentorship and resume lessons she learned and later taught at Purdue. In a full-circle moment, she also represented L3Harris at the FIRST World Championship in Houston, mentoring students in the very high school robotics program that originally inspired her to pursue IBE.
“One of the biggest lessons I’ve taken away is the importance of being willing to say yes, even when you're not sure you're ready — and being just as willing to create your own opportunities,” Rastogi says. “Once you observe what leadership values, you can find proactive ways to bring that value.”
