What's your day job?

[Gary Dillard]

"Why yes, actually I AM a rocket scientist" I work for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne; currently I'm modeling hardware for the Space Launch System (SLS). I'm actually using my Master's thesis code to perform weight optimization of propellant tanks and fairings and generate parametric CAD models of the hardware for trade studies.

But for most of my career, the answer would have been "If I tell you, I'll have to kill you". I can neither confirm nor deny that I've worked on alot of pretty cool stuff. I've worked for the Jet Engine side of Pratt & Whitney, the Undersea side of Lockheed Martin, the Space & Rocket side of Boeing, and a Nuclear Plant at TVA, always doing structural / mechanical design and analysis.

[Koko Ed]

Materials Handler.
A fancy way to say fork truck driver. If you ever been to Home Depot or Lowes and seen an employee driving around one of those stand up fork truck (narrow aisle fork trucks) those are the ones I drive. But they don't close up any aisles when I drive around. I'm just required to look out for civilians while I drive around delivering parts.

[Alex2614]

Secondary Education Major/Geography Major, Class of 2015 and 2016

Although I'm currently a freshman, FIRST has inspired my career goals to become an educator... And a social studies educator nonetheless. I know I'm the oddball here, but that's who I am

[Wayne TenBrink]

I am an product (applications) engineer for Kaydon, a manufacturer of custom and thin-section bearings. I get to play a small role in a broad range of interesting projects. I have worked on bearings in Dave Lavery's "other car" (original Mars Rovers), the Hubble Telescope, the International Space Station, Joint Strike Fighter STOVL, various satellites and helicopters, and everyting from medical devices to sewage treatment, renewable energy to nuclear power, industrial machinery, etc. I even get calls from other FRC teams.

I also have a 30 acre hobby farm with a few cattle and horses. I operate it with semi-antique equipment from the 1950's & 1960's, including some classic 2-cylinder John Deere tractors. It seems like the first thing that happens on all my machinery is for a bearing to go out. Tinkering with old farm equipment is a great learning experience. Shoveling manure keeps me humble. The seasonal schedule fits well with robotics.

As a mentor, I'm supposed to bring my work experience to robotics and share it with the students. In reality, I apply my robotics experiences to the benefit of Kaydon a lot more often.

[laurenlacy]

I am in R&D at Procter & Gamble. After internships in logistics and plant engineering, I found my home in the bridge between bench top production of products (i.e. we figured out a way to make this one awesome widget) and full scale production (i.e. how can we make millions of these widgets?). The important part is that I get to wake up every day and do work that I am excited about.

I think it's important to remember that FIRST in its name stresses inspiration and recognition of science and technology. I see STEM in so many facets of my life now. An example: from working at a consumer products company, literally every time I buy something, in some small way, I think of the fact that someone had to come up with that product and someone (or something) had to make it. I have seen firsthand the level of thought that goes into making our products, much of it in overcoming STEM related hurdles.

STEM related careers, to me, are so exciting because of the limitless possibilities and paths one can take. Even more exciting is that not everyone has to pursue a STEM related career to appreciate the aspects of STEM all around them.

[BradleyView]

I work as an Applications Engineer for a company that makes various specialty adhesive tapes. It's the right mix for me between playing in the lab, working with manufacturing, and interacting with the customer. Best part is I get to go see people who is using our products to make some pretty cool things.
I have to say, FIRST is one of the primary reasons I got this job. My degree is in civil engineering. I was interviewing for a new training program for a sales position and I didn't really on paper fit what they were looking for. The HR manager wasn't convinced, and his first question for me was Why should I even consider you for this spot? Usually I would have thrown your application away in the first 15 seconds. Well, I explained my various responsibilities as a mentor though FIRST, and he liked it so much that he called me back for the Application Engineering position which they had not even advertised online less than a week later. They ended up offering me both positions, and I firmly believe I would not have had a shot at either without my FIRST experience.

[Dan_Karol]

I am a Development engineer at DEKA Research, Dean Kamen's Company. Mostly we design and engineer cutting-edge medical devices such as the 'Luke' arm or the iBot but have been known to deviate into other areas.

At DEKA, I put similar skills to the ones being taught in FIRST teams to use every day. Rigorous problem solving skills rooted in math and science allow me to ensure that whatever project I'm working on is reliable and safe. Creative thinking similar to FIRST robot design allows me and the team I work with to innovate so we "are on the cutting-edge of whatever industry we choose to join".

http://www.dekaresearch.com/index.shtml


Before Joining DEKA I worked with ARTAIC INNOVATIVE MOSAIC, a startup company in Boston. They assemble custom tile mosaics from photos their customers send in. To keep costs and response time low they use robots to arrange the tiles instead of out-sourced labor. It was my job to design and build the robotic system from the ground up. My experience with FIRST along with my degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Engineering really helped with this project. Due to my involvement in this project, Artaic has lowered the time it takes to assemble a square foot of custom mosaic mural from 2 hours to about 40 seconds!

http://www.artaic.com/


-Dan Karol

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Officially I am a Broadcast Engineer for the most watched Public Television Station and arguably the best Classical FM radio station in the country. (We at least have the largest music collection) I am one of five people who design, install and maintain our broadcast plant. My primary responsibility is audio and as such I watch over the TV and FM On Air audio performance, multitrack recording studios, and just about anything from microphones in the studio to the transmitters on Sears Tower. Our largest audio desk is a 128 input, 96 track automated console with both digital and analog outputs totaling nearly 200 and up to 7 channel (film style) surround mix-down. I have just completed installation and design of a fully digital news audio control system also in 5.1 surround. Currently I am working on a refit for the radio station of 5 studios and network operations with all new digital consoles using audio over IP. This station has produced some of the best music for television programming over the years. This includes the Soundstage series (which I have been part of since the very beginning), Jazz programs with Ramsey Lewis, Chicago Symphony and Opera companies, Ravinia Music Festival, and all kinds of one time only music shows. I began TV work at my high school so that makes this my 47th year in broadcasting.

[SteveGPage]

I am the Education Lead for the Professional Services Division of a Business Intelligence Software Company. I manage a team of Education Consultants, work with our customers to develop and deliver training, act as the project manager for all major education initiatives within the company, and even, occationaly, get to teach once in awhile! Years ago, I was a local HS Physics, Chemistry, and Earth/Space Science teacher, before going to work as an Education Consultant for a number of companies. I also have taught at the local college, as an adjunct professor in the Computer Science Department.

While that job pays the bills, my true passion is teaching the kids on our team! So I still teach Physics, Chemistry, and Computer Science to HS students - I just don't get paid by the school system, but I get "paid" by being able to see our students grow and develop!

[its da PAT!!!]

When I am not at school. I work at a small company called Fastenal (Indiana distribution center). I work in what they call unit load. Just another word for moving items and packages. But I do get to use a robot crane all day and its a good job for a college student, like me.

[E. Wood]

I am a Flight Test Engineer for the Navy. My job includes planning, conducting, and reporting on flight test projects for Naval Aircraft. I can draw a direct link between my participation in FIRST as a student to my college internship to my current position with the DOD. Without FIRST on my resume I would not have gotten my internship which provided me with the experience necessary to get hired into my current job.

[Jared Russell]

Research Scientist/Software Engineer in the robotics lab of a major aerospace contractor in the Philadelphia area.

I work in "applied research and development", a middle ground between cutting-edge university research and productization. We are funded by organizations like DARPA, ONR, AFRL, etc., to evaluate and develop new technologies in robotics for use by the Department of Defense. Some areas that I work in on a daily basis are autonomous path planning/AI, computer vision, robotic manipulation, and guidance/navigation/control (GNC) for a variety of robotic platforms (land, air, surface, submerged).

[Tom Ore]

I design transmissions for John Deere tractors. Prior to Deere, I designed on-highway truck transmissions for Eaton and before that tank transmissions for GE. Interesting FIRST connection - IKE from the Killer Bees now works with the GE transmission that I worked on in the mid 1980's.

[Lisa Perez]

Researcher/mechanical engineer in the Human Neuromechanics Laboratory at the University of Michigan.

Currently, I'm working on the development of a robotic ankle orthotic (and its controller) for use by people who might not have control over how their ankle moves.

[Ian Curtis]

Thanks everyone, fascinating to see how CD makes the world work.

I had the opportunity to intern at Boeing Commercial Airplanes last summer, and when I graduate in May I'm going back. I worked in stability and control (ie making sure the airplane does what the pilot commands), and it looks like that is where I'll be going when I get back. Most of my work involved running simulations, but we support flight testing and tunnel tests too.

The summers of my 1st and 2nd years of college I worked at a vintage car auction. Tracking the paperwork got tedious, but moving the cars was always fun!