What do/did you do for a living?

[Paratus]

Mechanical Engineer by degree

Work for NASA as an
International Space Station Flight Controller

 

[Engineer]

Mechanical Engineer by degree

Work for NASA as an
International Space Station Flight Controller

Awesome! :thumbsup:

 

[Paratus]

Awesome! :thumbsup:

Thanks!

It's a fun job but the hours are tough on the home life.

 

[tcsenter]

If you describe my job according what I spend most of the time doing, then I'm a driver... who occasionally repairs and maintains laboratory machines.

My title is Field Service Engineer, though. I really like it. Lots of really nice perks.

When I worked in the medical field, I met a few biomedical engineers who did on-site repairs/maintenance on big-ticket surgical equipment. They flew first-class all around the country, often to different countries. e.g. The guys who repaired or serviced the $5.0M Carl Zeiss microscopes were dispatched from Europe, and billed $500+/hr plus travel and other expenses. A typical routine maintenance bill might be $12K. An actual repair might run $50K.

 

[Kanalua]

Attorney. Independent Contractor.

Love it. Only wish my job was more stable and I made more money (don't we all).

 

[JJChicken]

Accountant.

+1

 

[freegeeks]

freelance IT/Network engineer

 

[SeaSerpent]

I work in a state of the art sawmill

 

[PaperclipGod]

Mechanical Engineer by degree

Work for NASA as an
International Space Station Flight Controller

:awe:

Can we be friends?

 

[iGas]

Thanks!

It's a fun job but the hours are tough on the home life.

I'm not sure as how much NASA worked you guys, but around my site most Mech E are dead weights that wanders around aimlessly (trying to look busy) or getting in my way.

 

[IronWing]

Hello my name is Joe and I work in a button factory...

 

[santz]

I am 26, did my double major in accounting and finance from IU. I currently work in my father's wholesale textile company, trying to learn the ropes so far and a 9.30am - 9.30pm job with only one day a week off.

Its boring as hell and I hate it, requires me to learn multiple languages to deal with international clients which i am not very good at, but the pay is v.good. I think I will hate it and be stuck here forever by my own free will.....

 

[Spacehead]

I run a surface grinder for a small tool & die shop.

 

[jlee]

You know when you watch TV and see a car commercial and the fine print at the bottom says "Professional driver on a closed course. Do not attempt."? I think that'd be fun.

I like my job, though (police officer), but I'm planning on going back to school anyway. Not sure what for yet..but I'll figure something out.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

programmer. no regrets

 

[tcsenter]

You know when you watch TV and see a car commercial and the fine print at the bottom says "Professional driver on a closed course. Do not attempt."? I think that'd be fun.

I was thinking that guy who maintains Jay Leno's car collection has a pretty good gig.

 

[Sumguy]

Day - Information Systems Manager.
Night - Material Handler for submerged electro-plating.
Weekend - Helpdesk local ISP.

Holy shit, dude

 

[TheSiege]

Electrician

I want to be a Estimator/Project Manager and should be one in a few years when my degree is finished and might go back for my BSEE

 

[mizzou]

I'm in your closet, watching you masturbate

 

[sourceninja]

My title is programmer/operations

What that means is I get to sometimes write java or php web applications and spend most of my time implementing new tech, managing the ESX cluster, building servers, backups, patching, etc.

Sometimes I wish that programmer part would be more vital.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

In house patent attorney for a small engineering company (formerly for a large IP firm).

Would rather be a professional golfer or at least a golf instructor.

More realistically, I'd rather be a teacher or a career counselor. No money in either position, however.

 

[Rubycon]

Sound / Lighting / Stagemaster in the cruise industry.

 

[Ballatician]

No doubt, my job rocks in a lot of ways. The trade-offs are periodic on-call duties for nights and weekends and unpredictable hours during regular workdays. I don't always get to clock out at 5 o'clock. I've occasionally had to work till the wee hours of the next morning in order to finish a job, and it's not like I knew it was coming when I got up that day. It can be tough to make plans after work during the week since I never know for certain what time I'll be off. I get paid handsomely for overtime, though.

Oh, I guess I could add that they supply me a Lenovo T61 laptop and PDA phone with unlimited voice and data. If/When it breaks, they can usually turn a replacement out to me in 2 days. I could literally stomp my phone to bits and have a new one in 48 hours. I even got to expense my bluetooth headset.

I have to be super careful with my driving record, too, since they insure me.

Is this with a large well known company?

When I worked in the medical field, I met a few biomedical engineers who did on-site repairs/maintenance on big-ticket surgical equipment. They flew first-class all around the country, often to different countries. e.g. The guys who repaired or serviced the $5.0M Carl Zeiss microscopes were dispatched from Europe, and billed $500+/hr plus travel and other expenses. A typical routine maintenance bill might be $12K. An actual repair might run $50K.

What sorts of companies are we talking here?

 

[FallenHero]

I'm a cop, and I love my job. My bosses, not so much, but my job is fantastic.

 

[tcsenter]

What sorts of companies are we talking here?

The companies for whom the biomedical engineers worked? It depends.

For the really sophisticated/pricey equipment, it was near always factory-authorized because the parts and training required to service or repair these things just isn't available from any other company but the manufacturer. e.g. the guys who repaired our Carl Zeiss powered microscopes worked for Carl Zeiss (one of them I can remember had a German accent). Whether they worked through Carl Zeiss as independent contractors or employees, I don't know, but you had to call the manufacturer to get them.

For other equipment, the hospital employed its own biomedical engineers/technicians who did maintenance or repairs, or contracted with other companies who provided these services, such as the medical equipment supplier/reseller.