I've been moving around a bit for the past few years...
I've interned in aviation, power electronics for PHEVs, and in the web startup space.
I was really inspired by the web startup. The web is hyperconnectivity, which means many, many free examples of excellent work to learn from and be empowered by. I'm just trying to add teensy bit more stuff. Ideally good stuff.
I grew up in a small town in KY. I attended U of K after high school with a major of Electrical Engineering. Working hard and getting lucky opened the door to a series of internships around the country.
I interned in Electrical Engineering for EETREX, where I got my hands dirty with building from schematics, making schematics, and doing data analysis on lithium-ion cells. I made a big report at the end, concluding that the cells in use were often unreliable and potentially unsafe.
Colorado was my first flight outside of the nest. I found that a new culture could take over, if you let it. I got into hiking, skiing and rowing in my free time, learing to enjoy the great outdoors and to live healthy.
I got into low level programming and some GUI software at GE Aviation, a branch of Edison's 150+ year old company. I was part of a team responsible for testing jet enginges via custom sensors and electronic systems. A new system was under development at my time there, and I coded up a prototype GUI along with some basic embedded software.
I found a local Wakeboarding park and a surfing ride which was skill-based at the local waterpark. I learned a lot about midwestern sensibilities in my time there.
I found an internship in operations at a small web start-up called Bombfell which was based in Manhattan. We were serving over 1000 customers from day 1, and I learned the nitty gritty details of how start-ups operate. I was introduced to web development during this job, and I started learning front-end.
The city was amazing for me. My eyes were opened to the world of activity that had been just 1000 miles away from me for my whole life. I developed a new framework for thinking about opportunity, and I am eternally grateful to the friends an co-workers that I had there.
I went to work for an electronics-specialized branch of GE Aviation as a circuit design intern. I built models of circuits for the first half of the summer, and for the second half I built circuits with a bread board. I loved the empowerment to create.
I had the chance to get an apartment on the beach with a few of my intern cohorts. So I bought a big surf board during my first week there and slowly learned to catch waves. Lots of time was spent on Jax Beach :)
I moved here seeking experience and without a plan, right after graduation in May. The city has been very stimulating, and I've met some awesome, crazy people here so far.