Cheers!

With so many years in the business, and with countless hours on the road and in sales meetings, Marissa has been in a wide variety of situations, and has plenty of stories.  Many are humorous and almost all of them have a lesson within.  Marissa has decided to share these short stories in audio format for people to listen to and learn from.  We hope to host her short audio clips regularly.  Feel free to list questions you may have for Marissa in the comments section for this article, or look through her website and contact her directly.

Eric grew up in Swampscott, MA – 25 minutes or so north of Boston.  As a boy scout he became fascinated with Ham Radios, went on to get licensed, and has been using them ever since.  A passion for radio, coupled with his father’s encouragement, led him to attend Wentworth Institute of Technology where he received his EE degree.

He has worked for a few Tech companies in the Boston area over that past several years, notably spending 6 years as a test engineer at MIT Lincoln Labs.  During this time he pursued additional studies at Tufts University, focusing on RF and Microwave applications.

I was enamored by everything Eric was telling me about Ham Radios.  Whereas a CB Radio is more local, Ham Radios have the ability to communicate globally.  Depending on atmospheric conditions, geographic location, antenna configuration and operator skill, one can speak around the world.  Eric has been able to speak with others in Australia, and even had a conversation with members of the Royal Family in Jordan.  With a Ham radio on his bicycle, one in his truck, and his set-up at home – Eric is always able to see who is on the air and chat with them.

I was amazed to hear about how often various frequencies and operators use Morse code to communicate.  Many can approach 40 words a minute and are able to have flowing conversations.  He has been in severalcompetitions locally and finished 5^th or so last year in the ARRL Field Day Competition.

Be sure to check out Eric’s myspace pages for music (he plays the drums in two bands) and to also check out some of his photography.

PM Blues
Rumbletones

Eric’s LinkedIn

Feel free to contact Liam Morris if you are interested in being featured in one of these short bios. Contact Information is in the authors section of the blog.

John has only been raising horses since 2005.  The strong housing market allowed the Cardones to move up to Grenada and begin that venture.  Prior to this, John worked with JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) in Pasadena as part of the Electro-Mechanical Engineering Group.   JPL happened to send a recruiter to John’s College, Cal-State Northridge, where he was majoring in Mechanical Engineering.  Having experience as an Associate Engineer while in college was a great bonus.  Samples of work in hand, he met with a recruiter who later hired him to JPL where he would spend 22 years.

John moved into design because he found it to be more exciting than project management.  He enjoys the “hands-on, actually-doing-the-work” feel of being a designer.  Within JPL he was an integral part of three Mars Rover projects.  Space constraints and bulky insulation complicated the design of the electrical components.  The Mars Pathfinder Rover which landed on July 4, 1997 contained John’s first very complex board.  He was convinced that rigid-flex was the best way to handle the difficulties presented by the various constraints.  The result was a 30 Layer Rigid-Flex board with a long flex finger that could travel outside to the various instruments.

Each new Rover has included significant improvements and John has been right there effecting change and development.  The MER (Mars Exploration Rover) was sent to Mars with the understanding that 90 days of operation would be a success.  However, the new designs and improvements made over the initial rover have made it such that the Rover has been working for over 5 years.

John’s work left an impression on his Co-Workers at JPL and he was asked, even after leaving JPL, to be a part of the new Mars Rover project set to launch in 2011.  He is still designing and continues to seek out various contracting opportunities.  Feel free to take a look at JMC Design Services’ website.  Hosted on HotPCB is also current copy of his resume.

If you are interested in being a Featured Designer, be sure to read the Background article and get in touch with Liam.

Designers have started contacting me concerning this project, and the enthusiasm is contagious.  Many have asked me to describe how it will work, what type of biographies we are looking for, how it will help them, etc.  I have tried to explain a few of the core details of the project below.  However, keep in mind that this is a young, organic project and you have the ability to help develop it into whatever you want.

The purpose of the Biography is to tell the story behind the Resume.  This is a chance for you to shine and share the lesser known details about yourself.  In my experience I have often found that the most qualified (on their Resume) are not necessarily always the best people to work with.  I like to develop relationships with those I work for/with, and their passions, past, and future ambitions all influence our working relationship.  This project will give each designer an opportunity to tell others about how they got into the industry, what their passions are, talk about their favorite music, share stories, predict where they see the industry going, say what they want to do in the future, describe what types of projects they hope to work on, etc.  The biography is a strong marketing tool for the individual and hopefully just plain fun.  As this blog gains traffic, featured designers will hopefully receive some good publicity and they’ll have something to show to their colleagues, friends and families.

Feel free to get in touch with me if you are interested in this project, whether it be in helping to assist in authoring some of the biographies, you wish to be featured, or you have suggestions.

Cheers,

Liam