association news: Mentoring, social media to eliminate deadtime in your career

摘要

Universities teach you first principles and math to take off in a technical career. However, a launch pad is not much good without the launch vehicle. Proficiency in automation depends upon "learning on the job." It is generally acknowledged that it takes about five years before an automation engineer is productive and ready to be the plant area or project lead. So what can you do to cut this deadtime out of an automation career and avoid the worst-case scenario of failure to launch? To understand what has and could be done consider what accelerated my development. I was fortunate in going to work for Monsanto, who at the time was a leader in modeling and control with the likes of Professor Emeritus Dr. James Fair (University of Texas), Dr. Ted Williams (Purdue), and Automation Hall of Famers Bob Otto, Vernon Trevathan, and Terry Tolliver, and a whole host of top-notch designers.