 While obtaining his doctorate, Shea found the time to teach at the university and to hold down a job at Bell Labs.After receiving his doctorate, Shea took a position at Bell Labs in Whippany, New Jersey.There he first worked as systems engineer on the radio guidance system of the Titan I intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and then as the development and program manager on the inertial guidance system of the Titan II ICBM.