Anyway, I never did see what was broadcast, but friends and family say i was quite stunning in my safety glasses and operating that large and pricey piece of nondescript equipment. Funny thing is, when the CEO says "hey, we need some footage- do something that looks like science..." you do it.
-this is so close to the truth it's creepy-
A typical day at work is split between the shop floor, a meeting room and my desk; let's say 40%, 40% and 20%, respectively. The shop floor would include the test area, featuring large, nondescript high-power boxes powered by a litany of computers, as well as thermal chambers that are basically car-seized boxes that operate as an oven and freezer, depending on whether you want to cook or freeze your battery sample. And by sample, of course, i mean people. (you gotta tell 'em! It's people...) Also on the shop floor is the proto-type build area where i've been known to wield an assortment of tools typical engineers have only seen on television shows hosted by men with beards and new england accents. Finally, this would include the place where I would conduct various a-typical attempts to collect data on matters such as pack noise, thermal management system flow rates or maybe power losses across high voltage connections. In conclusion, this is where the science (magic) happens.
Spending time in the meetings rooms, like dealing with a stripper's bad breath, is just part of everyday life. Most of these meetings are held because a) management wants to discuss something or b) the customer is mad about something. I should point out here that moral at this company is higher than I've ever experienced before, both personally and throughout the whole company. Of the few dozen people i work with directly in a typical day, there's only two that people seem to dislike. One is Danger Steve and the other is Dr. Lunch and Dr. Lunch isn't really a bad guy- just kind of annoying, and every since Danger Steve (who started the same day I did) came around, no one seems to talk about Dr. Lunch as much.
Finally, there's my desk/cubical. It's larger- half the size of my bedroom, but located RIGHT by the main door, so there's a cold draft and everyone who walks in can see what I'm doing or not doing. I typically work about 50 hours a week and at least one day is normally an 11 or 12 hour stint, but i don't mind because i enjoy the work. When i do have down time, I venture to the desks of some of the people who have been there from the beginning. My company was founded just a few years ago with about 10 people from an R&D firm. The first few years were mostly proof of concept work and one-off design. My mentor-guy was one of THE guys working on the GM EV-1 back in the day and everyone who's been there for a couple years has a picture of them self standing next to some variety of electric car, bus or other. (The scary part is i recognize most of those vehicles.) I will now reveal the full extent of my geekness by divulging the true giddiness i feel when hearing about developing the EV-1 and whatnot. Man that was a sweet ride. No i never saw the movie. No i don't watch The Office.
5 comments:
wow...I guess I never realized how hot safety goggles were...
*thinks*
Any chance you can bring those home one night? You know, so we can talk alternative energy in a realistic way.
Is that what you look like at work?
But.. I thought we were buddies!?
How did he get the name Danger Steve?
Actually, i came up with that (I'm pretty proud of it- It's the first nick name I've ever given someone that stuck) Basically, he's a senior engineer but knows nothing about mechanics or hands-on stuff and is likely to kill himself or one of us every time he's in the lab.
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