My Very Own Normandy
Had another good week. The encouragement from the Divisional Director to explore new avenues in going about engineering problems has lead me into experimenting with using Google Sketchups for the construction some of the drawings. Lukas, one of the CAD tech, who has been semi-promoted to dish out the work, caught a glimpse of what I was doing and joked that since I am going some CAD-related work, I can be considered to be a CAD asset. I replied that I am that I am always up for a challenge. Couple of days later, I was up and running doing some basic detailing on train station schematics. Did a pure rave scene with the work: Whacked on some dirty, heavy beats on my iPod, wired in and blasted through the job. My new Line Manager was quite impressed with the my motivation and the work load I was going through. Words came from two colleagues that she was so impressed that she is hoping of trying to retain me for the next two summers then possibly try to employ me when I am done with my degree. It's strange how things can take a turn like that! Last summer I was getting completely blasted all over the show by Kasia, the work was dull and the people were drones. I was almost completely broken by what happened in Birkenhead, the experience was so negative that I was only too glad to see the back of the place. The Ferry trip back to the home side felt so bad that it was like my very own Dunkirk. I was demoralised, unfocused and was so put off from the industry that I was literally dragging my arse through the second year. This year, I have hit the beach running and am making head way in one of the top 5 company in UK to the extend that I am making a noticable splash within the company. I guess there were several good calls that helped decide such a radically different result to date:
Cutting Down Play
Compare to the five festivals of 2007, having just one mother-of-all festival has paid dividend. Glastonbury was more than enough to satisfy my lust for partying and instead of coming to work all hollowed out, weeks after weeks like last year, the afterglow was more than enough to kept me going for a long while. Plus keeping myself relative clean from toxins have no doubt improve my performance a lot in comparison to my hollowed-self of yesteryear!
An Early Start
Commencing my work placement early and taking a pre-emptive strike no doubt made a difference to the overall position between me another the other work placement. I would like to think that we are mutually supportive and have respect for one and other. During her first couple of days, I did my part to help introduce her to the office with the motivation that she was a fellow budding engineer-to-be (and that she was cute :p). However, as pointed out by a member of my team, to think that there is absolute no competition between us would be too complacent and naive. If the resources and workloads were limited (which it was!), then the ability to secure the best works would provide a good platform on which I can display my ability. Being there early meant that by the time the other placement started, I have already established an understanding with members of the team, enough that I was fed some of the more interesting leftover scraps. That in turn have kept me more interested and motivated so I was able to plow through the work with more vigour and purpose.
The Works
Without a doubt, the work given to me during this summer placement was A LOT more interesting than what I had to sit through last year. Knowing that the end product would somehow be of use to the public, that this work could potentially outlast our own lifetime was a great incentive indeed. Even when given some of the drier content to sieve through, the nature of the project was enough to have kept me going at a reason pace while producing work of a reasonable standard.
The People
I honestly can not think any more highly of the people who works in the company. Before I started, I heard rumours that people from the top 10 company in UK tends to have a chip on their shoulder but I didn't get any of that during my time on the placement. People were friendly, interesting and very encouraging. Each have their own personality, aspirations and cool things to talk about. During my adventures, I have came across leaders who would later go on to lead soldiers into battle, teachers who would continue to be shepherds of future generations and medics who are healers of the hearts and minds. Even when place side-by-side with such people, some people from the company shines just as brightly, displaying similar (if not higher) degree of charm, grace and integrity. They are people, I should aspire to become and compare to the people at the last placement, this all feels like a world apart! Needless to say, that the positive atmosphere the company have foster played a key role in allowing me to perform to the best of my abilities.
It is definitely a little too early to be chalking up the scores on the board but the above are nevertheless worth taking notes of because I believe they played pivotal roles in helping me be a better prospective engineer and could serve me in becoming a good engineer in the future.
Cutting Down Play
Compare to the five festivals of 2007, having just one mother-of-all festival has paid dividend. Glastonbury was more than enough to satisfy my lust for partying and instead of coming to work all hollowed out, weeks after weeks like last year, the afterglow was more than enough to kept me going for a long while. Plus keeping myself relative clean from toxins have no doubt improve my performance a lot in comparison to my hollowed-self of yesteryear!
An Early Start
Commencing my work placement early and taking a pre-emptive strike no doubt made a difference to the overall position between me another the other work placement. I would like to think that we are mutually supportive and have respect for one and other. During her first couple of days, I did my part to help introduce her to the office with the motivation that she was a fellow budding engineer-to-be (and that she was cute :p). However, as pointed out by a member of my team, to think that there is absolute no competition between us would be too complacent and naive. If the resources and workloads were limited (which it was!), then the ability to secure the best works would provide a good platform on which I can display my ability. Being there early meant that by the time the other placement started, I have already established an understanding with members of the team, enough that I was fed some of the more interesting leftover scraps. That in turn have kept me more interested and motivated so I was able to plow through the work with more vigour and purpose.
The Works
Without a doubt, the work given to me during this summer placement was A LOT more interesting than what I had to sit through last year. Knowing that the end product would somehow be of use to the public, that this work could potentially outlast our own lifetime was a great incentive indeed. Even when given some of the drier content to sieve through, the nature of the project was enough to have kept me going at a reason pace while producing work of a reasonable standard.
The People
I honestly can not think any more highly of the people who works in the company. Before I started, I heard rumours that people from the top 10 company in UK tends to have a chip on their shoulder but I didn't get any of that during my time on the placement. People were friendly, interesting and very encouraging. Each have their own personality, aspirations and cool things to talk about. During my adventures, I have came across leaders who would later go on to lead soldiers into battle, teachers who would continue to be shepherds of future generations and medics who are healers of the hearts and minds. Even when place side-by-side with such people, some people from the company shines just as brightly, displaying similar (if not higher) degree of charm, grace and integrity. They are people, I should aspire to become and compare to the people at the last placement, this all feels like a world apart! Needless to say, that the positive atmosphere the company have foster played a key role in allowing me to perform to the best of my abilities.
It is definitely a little too early to be chalking up the scores on the board but the above are nevertheless worth taking notes of because I believe they played pivotal roles in helping me be a better prospective engineer and could serve me in becoming a good engineer in the future.
Labels: Birkenhead, CAD, Civil Engineering, Manchester, turning point
posted by Twisted @ 13:58:00
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