Who I am
I am an intern in the machine shop. My mentor is John Wallace. We are currently working to gear up the tunnel for the High Speed Civil Transport wind tunnel test. We are making any parts that the tunnel mechanics or tunnel facility might need and any parts that the model might need. An example of this is that we are making little filler blocks to replace a block that was there to take measurements in a previous test with this model.

We do a lot of work on the manual mills and lathes. We also have the Computer Numerical Control capability. This is a machine that does everything a normal cutting machine will do except it is all computerized. It can make parts faster cheaper and with more speed and accuracy. I learned how to operate these machines on the job.

My Career Path
Ever since I was a child I have always been interested in mechanical things. I used to take all my toys apart. I had started taking computer drafting in school. I thought I might like to do that as a career. I realized that I did not want to sit in front of a computer eight hours a day. I'd rather be out moving around doing different things.

This job allows me to do different tasks each day. I wake up in the morning and think how exciting is that I get to go to work today. In this job I get to do a lot of interesting things I've never seen before and would never see anywhere else and I get to use machines that I would never see anywhere else. It's very stimulating working in a Research and Development type job because you get to do something new each day that's never been tried before and you are doing it for the first time and you have input on the design.

When I was a child
I used to play soccer. I was in 4H for about eight years. I did animal projects on pigs and goats and was a project leader. I have been in marching bands both in high school and at San Jose State University. I play the alto saxophone.

Advice
Learn as much as you can at home. The more experience you get before you start a job the better. I had experience at home using machine tools. This was helpful in my job.

Future Goals
I want to go to San Jose State University and get a Bachelors of Arts degree in Industrial Technology. I would like to work in a shop like this.

Personal
My favorite hobby is building model airplanes. I like to build and fly the remote control and scale models.