Dayna Lamb is a Materials and Process Engineer at Paragon Space Development Corporation, a provider of environmental controls for extreme and hazardous environments.
She also spent 17 years at Raytheon and two years at Sierra Nevada Corp.
How did you get your start in the finishing industry?
I started working on surface finishes out of college at my first aerospace job for Raytheon. I worked in the materials analysis lab, doing materials characterization, failure analysis, and tested lots of adhesives, coating systems, and learned the importance of surface preparation.
What do you enjoy best about the industry?
I love that every day I think I know what I’m going to do when I get in, and inevitability, my day goes differently than I planned. 20 years later, I am still challenged and learning each and every day.
If money was no object, what would you do all day?
My ideal job would be to have an unlimited budget to run a division, testing, qualifying, and implementing the most environmentally friendly solutions and educating the industry on the advancements in sustainability.
If you could go back in time, what year would you travel to?
If I don’t have to stay there, I will get in the way way back machine about 100 million years just to be able to see the dinosaurs. But if I had to pick a year I was stuck in, it would not be too far back as I would not likely last without modern medicine as I am prone to infection. So probably I would go back to the 1980s and dance.
How would your friends describe you?
Kind, thoughtful, and funny.
What are your hobbies?
Hiking, gardening, and reading.
Aside from necessities, what one thing could you not go a day without?
Coffee.
Two pet peeves?
Just two? There are so many. I would have to pick people who clip their nails anywhere that’s not their own home — at work, on a plane, etc. — and those who listen to their music through speakers instead of using headphones.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Working in aerospace while doing my best to make the world a better place.
If you were a superhero, what powers would you have?
Teleportation and invisibility and to be able to immediately let go of things that bother me.
What would you do if you won the lottery?
Take life less seriously, slow down, worry less, and spend more time traveling and with those I love.
What’s your favorite zoo animal?
I don’t actually like seeing animals in zoos, but I am a huge fan of sloths.
If you could go back in time to change one thing, what would it be?
I really try to live life without regrets and don’t think you can change one thing without it affecting everything else, but since I didn’t make the question, I would spend less time at work and more time with my mother before she passed.
Would you rather trade intelligence for looks or looks for intelligence?
Real beauty comes from within, and I’m fortunate in that I don’t have to trade one for the other. I don’t believe anyone else has to either. It’s never too late to learn something new, and working on yourself is the best investment you can ever make.
What’s your favorite holiday?
Dayna Lamb and her father at a Arizona basketball game.Birthdays; everyone’s birthday should be considered a holiday!
What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done?
Deciding to go to college after dropping out of high school.
What was the last thing you watched on TV?
Ted Lasso.
What was the last book you read?
Glennon Doyle’s Untamed.
What’s your favorite type of foreign food?
Mexican.
What is the greatest gift you have been given?
Life and my parents. My birth mother gave me the greatest gift by having the love, courage, and selflessness to have me and give me up so that I might have a better life. And my parents for adopting me and raising me with unconditional love, support, and encouragement to be the woman I am today. On the material side, to Jim for giving me the gift of learning to SCUBA and my own equipment.
Are you a clean or messy person?
Messy.
Who would you want to play you in a movie of your life?
Courtney Cox.
What’s your favorite fast-food chain?
Subway.
What’s your favorite family recipe?
My mom’s beef stroganoff.
What’s your favorite family tradition?
Going to the University of Arizona basketball games with my dad; we have had season tickets and sat in the same seats for as long as I can remember.
What is your favorite childhood memory?
Going out to lunch with my mom.
What’s your favorite movie?
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.
