What's your day job?

[Deetman]

I am an electronics engineer with a large aerospace/defense contractor. Currently I work on electrical ground support equipment that tests various components. In my current role I have designed/analyzed circuit card assemblies, chassis sub-assemblies, cables, and supported test and debug of said items. Additionally I have supported design reviews and technical interchange meetings with the customer. I'm just now starting to get in on early concept/proposal stuff for future work.

Day to day I'm working in the lab or at my desk working on paper work, presentations or designing some circuits.

[staplemonx]

Hello

I am an engineer at the Boeing Rotorcraft division in Philadelphia. I currently the lead engineer on a 2 year redesign effort and have a team of 5 folks working for me. My back ground includes lots of technical degrees and licenses, many of them earned at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University that all revolve around the aerospace industry or aircraft in some way. I am only a second year mentor so I still need to do a lot of learning and research while helping a rookie team. Combine that with trying to set up resources for robotics teams across Philadelphia since they canceled most of the robotics programs due to budget cuts last summer. I am also in currently attending grad school and fear that before the end of this quarter I will forget what my family looks like, I have not seen my wife, dogs or house for the better part of 3 months. This is my last quarter attending grad school and I graduate in June so next year should be easier. Woooo Hoooo.

You can learn more about me on linkedin. http://www.linkedin.com/in/jjbielgoebel

JJ Biel-Goebel

[dman9385]

Hello Everyone,
Between January and April my job is a robotics mentor, oh i guess a lot of us are. I work for Fire Defense where i engineer and design fire suppression systems for paint booths, fuel fill, pits, dust collectors, data/server rooms. We also do regular fire alarm systems and extinguishers. Keeps me busy and I get to use CAD alllll day!

[treffk]

For me the better question is what isn't your day job?

I am a full time student at the University of Kansas.
I am a part time associate at a children's shoe store.
I mentor a FRC team. I am on the Greater Kansas City FLL Planning committee.
I have started/taken over the JFLL Planning committee.
It's not a job but I am constantly day dreaming about how to make my team better and help FIRST grow to a larger scale than it already is.

[Wetzel]

Since I got back from serving with the Peace Corps in Honduras just in time for kickoff, my day job has been mentoring 2914. My funemployment couldn't have come at a better time. Unfortunately, after St Louis I'll need find a new day job to pay the bills.

Wetzel

[Matt C]

With a degree in Mechanical Engineering I work as a Quality Engineer for a large defense contractor (we make airplanes) developing implements of mass detection (both manned and unmanned ).

[MrForbes]

I send my wife off to work every morning...she's an engineer at Ft Huachuca.

She makes enough to support us, so I enjoy life...that includes putting in a lot of time in winter working with the NERDS, and then in spring working with my family on NURC. The rest of the time I goof off and play with old cars and trucks. My latest project is a 55 Chevy step van.

[Donut]

I am a Controls Engineer for Oral-B Laboratories (part of P&G). I work on the automation systems that create and package toothbrushes. We produce something like 400,000,000 toothbrushes a year here and supply most of North America. My job is a mix of design (creating electrical schematics, modifying PLC programs, installing vision systems) and support (troubleshooting software bugs, helping electricians, reading through datasheets). It's interesting because I have a cubicle but the manufacturing is also on site, and I get a lot more hands on involvement debugging machines than one might expect for an engineering role. Some days it's like working in the pits at an FRC regional, which can make it a challenge to get your "real work" done.

My usual response to "what do you do?" is "I make toothbrushes all day"

FIRST experience has really helped me out because I actually knew something about relays, servos, vision, and motion control coming in. Most of the people in my college classes didn't know what a relay was due to the courses being so focused on things you'd see in the semiconductor industry. Once you explain that a relay is basically a power MOSFET a relay makes sense, but FIRST experience allowed me to skip some of that learning curve. Being a part of a FIRST team also gave me some good answers for interview questions.

[Andrew Remmers]

I work as a Documentation Drafter / Reverse Modeler for Hernon Manufacturing. An adhesive company that competes against Loctite. My area of expertise is robotics, I can not say much more than that at the moment. However its a running joke on my team... "IT'S NOT LOCTITE IT'S THREADLOCKER!" I am a sophomore in College and would have never gotten this job without FIRST.

- Andrew

[team222badbrad]

In my previous life I was a production machinist (for three different companies) and a quality inspector at an aerospace machine shop.

I currently own and operate Print To 3D. Print To 3D is a FDM 3D print service provider. Since I have no employees I get to do everything from answer the phone to tape up packages. The downside is that I'm my own boss and employee... So if the boss takes off the employee must go to work for him or vise versa. I also think the boss is yelling that break is over...

On a daily basis I get to 3d print parts for a long list of customers which come in all shapes and sizes. Anyone from a hobbyist to Inventor to fortune 500 companies.

I wouldn't be here without FIRST!

[BHOP]

Flight test engineer for the United States Air Force. I learn about aircraft systems and then design tests to stress them while trying to meet a time and budget constraint. Thanks to team 503 for getting me moving in the right direction!

[techtiger1]

I am an assistant City planner for the City of North Lauderdale in South Florida. I look at detailed plans of new deveopment, help solve infrastructure problems and work with engineers on an everyday basis. Thank you FRC for giving me the work ethic, problem solving skills and knowledge base to make this happen.

[Adam Freeman]

I am a Quality Engineering Supervisor at the General Motors Milford Proving Grounds. I get to manage a group of RedX Engineers, who use RedX principles of customer concern focus, strategy, and contrast to work on GM's toughest quality issues. My team focuses on any electrical, chassis, or HVAC issue that could occur on a vehicle from pre-production through end of vehicle life.

Most of my engineers (and myself) are RedX Masters and typically have some type of Bachelors and/or Masters Degree in Mechanical and/or Electrical Engineering. Or, just a whole bunch of experience and knowledge of vehicle systems.

Here is a cool commercial Chevrolet had made to highlight the work of our group back in 2010. This is the shorter version. It features my boss and most of my co-workers and employees. Unfortunately, I was in Atlanta at the time...doing something else that was way more worth it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGe9zkyZT_Q

After 10 years at GM, this is by far one of the coolest jobs here.

[nahstobor]

I'm a Civil and Environmental Engineering student at Virginia Tech. I will be graduating next spring

[Ty Tremblay]

I'm a Product Development Engineer in the diagnostics division of Hologic, Inc. We design devices to automate diagnostic tests in the women's health field. Every day I get to either write code, CAD, or design a circuit.

I also worked at iRobot for a few years working on some secret robot stuff for the military.

If it wasn't for FIRST, I'd be a line cook at Applebee's.