Where Will I be in Ten Years?

Well that’s a good question. In ten years the lot of us will have been out of this program for eight years. I think by that time I would like to see my self having been in an engineering and fabrication type of position for at least five of those years, having been involved in not only the design side of the industry but also involved in manufacturing. Something I would really like to get into is working in a machine shop. Machine shops often involve a lot of design of components, drafting in a CAD program like Master Cam, and the actually making of the part on machines, either CNC or manual. Where I would see myself after those ten years is somewhere near a transition, having either just made it, or coming up to it. First of all, I might like to go back to school to get a degree in Mechanical Engineering, which would take another two and a half years; I would see this happening probably so that I would be finished the program not long after this ten year span. After earning my degree I would take the knowledge and experience I had gained and I would like to transfer to an engineering position at a motorcycle company, preferably a European company. I have always been drawn to motorcycles, and I have always enjoyed figuring out how things work and why they work, so being an engineer at a motorcycle company would be my perfect fit. This being my long term goal, in ten years I would realistically see myself getting ready for a transfer into my preferred vocation, and most likely somewhere in the middle of earning my degree. I’ve never really been one to look into the future and “predict” what I would be doing, but the above is something I say with confidence, knowing that it really is where I want to end up.

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Inventions

Have any of you ever had a brilliant idea that you knew could go somewhere big, an idea that could take you all the way to the top? Have you stumbled across some marvellous inception of intellect into a desolate mind? Basically, have you ever invented something? I imagine that most of us in this program have invented, or at least conceived some sort of invention or idea. Personally, I had a marvellous idea when I was quite young, based on my childhood Gameboy, and all I can say is that I always wanted to play my video games in the bath.
I remember when I was in grade seven we actually had some people come to our class and discuss an invention of theirs with us. They showed us their invention, which was something to do with screen printing machines, and they told about what they had to do to patent their ideas. It was at this point that all my dreams were dashed to the ground, because, it costs thousands of dollars to patent something through the patent office, and then that’s only in certain countries, so you have to do it again elsewhere, and so on, and so on.
I would like to invent something some day, and I think that I am in the proper industry to initiate that. Other than the hopeful fame and fortune that would accompany such an invention, it would also be cool to invent something that would revolutionise the way something is done. I have seen a lot of new innovations in motorcycle technologies, since I’m into that kind of thing, and if I was to work in any industry that would be my preference and so I would hope to invent something to do with motorcycles. Maybe not even a brand new invention, but maybe some new way of making things work together, or a new process.
Well that’s all for me. See you in class.

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Searching for a job, you are, hmm?

I have decided to redirect this blog slightly towards co-op jobs and opportunities. I have never really had to search for jobs that vigorously, all of my previous employment circumstances have come from personal connections with someone on the inside. I guess I’ve had it pretty good so far. Hopefully that will continue after graduating; I’m hoping to get some more connections in the industry to make things easier for myself. This is part of the reason I’m contemplating signing up for the co-cop program now. Obviously contacts can be made outside of co-op, and there is a good chance I could procure a job in the industry with out the help of the co-op, there is something to be said for “position security”. But I suppose that even the co-op doesn’t guarantee you anything; there are still interviews to be conducted and résumés to be done. The main reason I would chose co-op is the greater variety of available jobs. I imagine you will find more opportunity through co-op than trying to find a placement yourself; there are so many aspects of the program that it would be all too easy to overlook many of them. It would be interesting to see if the co-op interviews are that much different from a standard employment interview, because, they know more about you and where you are coming from, and they know what level you are supposedly at. But on the other hand they probably try to make it as life like as possible, and realistically they are still looking for an employee. Connections, as Paul stated in our last lecture class, are invaluable in this region. It’s more about who you know than what you know, and I like that because I have quite a few connections. My dad knows everybody in this town, and went to school with half of them. I’m not ashamed to ask for a hand up, I’ll take a little charity any day. It’s only a shame that the school asks for a few hundred dollars for their charity…

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