My Internship project is to explore Arduino and Raspberry Pi and find projects that students can enjoy working on in a programming camp next summer. Some of the skills you will need for this project include some programming knowledge, knowing how to solder, and also hooking up circuitry. I will have support from my mentors because they are giving me feedback on the projects that are going to be featured in the programming camp.
So far, I am enjoying SPAWAR! I want to tell a lot about this company, but I can't tell a lot due to classified information. On the first day, I was a little nervous with what I was going to do for my mentor. Once I started working, I was assigned to mess around with Arduino and Raspberry Pi in order to develop fun projects people can work on. It actually made me quite interested in researching Arduino and Raspberry Pi from developing projects. I already learned new skills from working at SPAWAR. For example, I learned how to solder circuitry and I learned the basics of Arduino controllers. I already learned how to use Javascript from doing the Programming Intersession. So, that made me a little familiar with computer programming. I find Arduino and Raspberry Pi interesting to work with because there are many things you can make the controllers do. For example, making musical tones, lighting up LED lights, and even make text appear on LCD screens. Overall, I really enjoy working at SPAWAR because of the various things you can work on with Arduino and Raspberry Pi.
Some of the things that strike me about my workplace are that I am basically working in my mentor's office, I am working with various programming technology, and I am offered laptops that are suitable for working with Arduino and Raspberry Pi. I also found out that they have very strict rules about photos and about the programming information.
Some of the things that strikes me about my colleagues is that one of them is from High Tech High Chula Vista and my mentor's colleagues all get along pretty well with scheduling and planning. I find my job interesting because I am essentially giving my mentor feedback and project ideas that my mentor can use for the activities at programming camps. I also find myself getting used to programs like Arduino and the various mechanics. I am excited about learning more about the programming languages and also seeing how my project ideas turn out for the programming camp. I am excited for that because I am basically designing the projects and the various activities that will help encourage students to be interested in programming. Some of the things that I might be worried about would be if my project ideas are not very good and if the projects don't turn out well. I also worry about if my Photo Essay captions give away too much information. SPAWAR wants its information classified, especially if I use photos. I always have to ask for permission to take photos and I have to show the photos to my mentors for feedback before I can post the photos on my blog. These are the questions I asked to my SPAWAR mentor, Chris Deckard.
What should I know about you before I start working here? I am a laser physicist working for the Navy for 31 years. I am now supporting the effort to bring the excitement of science and engineering to middle and high school students in the community. Your task will be to help us design some computer programming classes using Arduino and Raspberry PI controllers. What are your main duties and responsibilities? I am a senior scientist at the lab and I am responsible for advancing science and technology. I am currently responsible for establishing partnerships with local schools and organizations to inspire and excite K-12 students in science, Technology, engineering and math (STEM). I am also in charge of working with universities to establish collaborations for advancing scientific and engineering research. Why did you choose to work here? I did an internship while I was in college and liked the people and the environment. I am a native San Diegan so I really liked the idea of staying in San Diego. How did you end up doing the job that you do? A friend told me about the internship opportunity while I was in my senior year in college. From the internship I was offered a position when I graduated. What skills and training are necessary for your position? I needed to have a science or engineering degree to work on the projects through my 31 years at the lab. A BS was sufficient, but I returned to school (being paid by my lab) to earn Mater's in Physics and Math. How did you acquire these skills? Through school? On the job? While the college degree was the foundation for my work, I learned much more on the job than I did through the books. The good thing about my degree was that I had all the tools (math and physics) necessary to be a valuable asset to the lab. Is there anything you wish you'd realized about the world of work when you were my age? I wish I had an opportunity in high school to intern at a job (I worked at Jack-in-the-Box). A real job would have helped me understand better why I was learning all the things in high school and given me a different perspective. What is a typical work day like? Much time is spent in meetings trying to figure out how to best perform the tasks that I am given. I also spend a lot of time talking to other scientists and engineers to find out their needs in science and technology so I can better decide how we can work with the universities. I also spend a great deal of time learning about the K-12 standards, best classroom practices, etc. so that I can develop activities for use in the classroom where we can bring the relevance and excitement of STEM to students. How is this organization structured? This is a Navy Civilian lab and we work for the Department of Defense. We have a Civilian Executive Director and a Navy Captain as our Commanding Officer. Our job is to explore technologies that will be beneficial for the military and provide the best information to them and keep them safe. There are over 4000 employees at our lab with over half of them scientists and engineers. What does it take to be successful in this organization? I believe in any organization you need to be committed and work hard. You need to be able to communicate with others which means getting up in front of people and voicing your ideas. You need to be a team player as no one here works by themselves. It takes a group to meet all the needs of the projects. What other advice do you have about working here? I have enjoyed working here for 31 years. I have been able to work on a variety of projects and with some great people. The key is to find your passion and then coming to work is exciting and fun. Most days it does not feel like work. How important is getting along with other people in your career? Getting along with others is really important. I have had to work with all kinds of people and to be successful you need to figure out how to work with different personalities. Most of the time you just need to find the specialty of the other person and capitalize on their strengths. |