Your personal/professional background

[pandaman]

I've been interested in space ever since childhood, and was hooked on the Apollo missions, so KSP is right up my street.

Compared to a lot of you guys I didn't go  anything like as far along the 'education tech tree' - professionally I'm a product design engineer, with no formal qualifications, just lots of relevant 'hands-on' experience, and the right mindset (apparently) doing mostly CAD/3D digital sculpting,  with other bits and pieces as needed. 

[Fearless Son]

Software Development Engineer in Test.  I took a single year of physics twice in college due to a poor grade on the first time through (I failed the first one due to a botched glasses prescription that left me unable to read the board even in the front row.)  Unfortunately said poor grades on the record despite my enthusiasm led to being unable to transfer to a four-year university from my community college, so I only ended up with an AS after five years of education.  

Still, I took a lot of computer science too, and managed to land a job in the software industry, though only as a contractor managing an automated test lab.  Since then I moved from contract to contract, mostly working at Microsoft, occasionally working at other places, doing work that was unfortunately less than challenging, unable to break into a permanent position.  The downturn hit me hard, watching my carefully built up savings slowly slip away during the long lull between contracts that unemployment could not cover.  Getting sick of that, I went back to school for a couple of years, got a certificate in Professional Game Development from the Academy of Interactive Entertainment.  It taught me a lot about rendering and working in Unity.  

After that I had one more contract, getting it by another former Microsoft contractor who was recruiting performance testers for a certain AAA game released in the fall of 2014 you probably heard of.  That was a pretty grueling nine months of crunch time, but worth it for the discipline and free dinners.  Contract ended a few months after release, and I was back on the job market.  

These days I work as an SDET after having finally got a salaried position after nearly ten years of off-and-on contracting.  Not working in games at the moment, not exactly exciting, but at least it pays well and actually puts some of my programming knowledge to use writing unit tests for APIs the company builds to exchange data between their servers and client applications.  KSP occupies kind of a sweet spot between a variety of disciplines I have a little passing knowledge in, and that makes me appreciate it.  

[StrandedonEarth]

Blew my shot at being a mechanical engineer, ended up picking orders and driving forklifts in warehouses. Too many choices for what direction to go into computers meant I chose to be a burnout video-gaming working warehouse grunt. After a brief stint in call centers, doing directory assistance ("What city and state please?") and printer tech support (awesome with hardware, but if the software didn't want to install, then it simply wouldn't install. I hated those calls), I found myself  becoming a truck tire retread technician, which I've been doing for the last 10 years.

Always loved space and science stuff. Still annoyed with myself for those wasted years spending more time nintendo-ing than studying. It didn't help that high school was too easy for me and I didn't really know how to really study.

Edit: I suppose I should add: Mid 40's, married with 3 children (two step-children; blended families seem to be the thing these days). At least i don't have to deal with ex's

Edited March 17, 2016 by StrandedonEarth

[MaxxQ]

I was 3 months shy of my 5th birthday when I watched Neil take his "one small step".  At the age of 8, I started building and flying model rockets.  Stuck with that for another 30+ years, as well as being something of an artist (had a partial scholarship to the Columbus College of Art & Design).  Have been reading science fact and fiction for as long as I can remember (read A Journey to the Centre of the Earth in first grade - age 6).  

After high school and one year of the aforementioned college, I joined the U.S. Air Force and loaded bombs on F-111F's (RAF Lakenheath, England - '84-'87) and F-111D's (Cannon AFB, New Mexico - '88-'91) for 7 years.

After that, several jobs, including a factory that made TV picture tubes - the old CRT-style - for just about every major television manufacturer in the world, a sign-making company (they had the exclusive contract for making the Bob Evans signage both on the highways and the individual restaurants), and Netflix.

I currently make jewelry (I work in sterling silver, copper, white, yellow, and rose gold, and precious and semi-precious stones) for a living, and doing very well at it, because apparently, all my previous jobs (and hobbies) contributed to me knowing how to use hand tools, design things, and work metal, as well as having a fine eye for detail work, that came mostly from my art and model rocketry hobby, especially when I started scratch-building scale rockets, like this one: 

 

[ansaman]

I was a physics major at one time and ended up in Strategic Air Command, eventually becoming a Unit
 Historian where I got to see nearly everything. I was always in love with space and remember watching the Apollo 11 landing as a kid. I also got to see one of the first shuttle flights when in was on the back of the 747 coming into Kelly AFB, Texas and a shuttle liftoff in person from the causeway.

I am a seriously dedicated KSP guy... EVERY DAY. I work in retail.

[WinkAllKerb'']

Most people will describe Kim Peek as someone sick unable to do some simple task.

To me Kim Peek is like a soul mate. "life is strange"

[Nich]

Unemployed aerospace engineer.  I wanted to be an astronaut but I have a hearing loss and vision impairment so that and fighter pilot are out of the question.  I spent 8 years developing aviation avionics but found the job to be way too boring.  Now having a midlife crisis and debating going back to school for my PhD. or getting a job in actual space engineering.  Had an interview to work with Boeing on the SLS that I am waiting to hear back from.  Fingers crossed.

Edited March 12, 2016 by Nich

[JPLRepo]

8 hours ago, nightingale said:

Software Architect.  I don't get to write my own code very frequently anymore (I tell other people what code to write), I've also always had a passion for game development, so KSP modding scratches both those itches for me.

I hear ya. Solution Architect (end to end architecture, software and hardware) these days (over 10 years now) Long gone are my development and support days (another 10 years) but KSP modding scratches that itch.

Edited March 12, 2016 by JPLRepo

[Cydonian Monk]

I'm a software developer with a BS Computer Engineering degree. I try to do good work though sometimes I'm not really sure I know what I'm doing... and I don't seem to be alone in that respect. Some days I'm hacking on telephony or RFID code. Others I'm trying to figure out where I left my phone. Really need a change of scenery, but every time I convince myself to go talk to some interesting other party life happens or I talk myself out of it. Most days I just want to move to a mountaintop and become a hermit. Or take up welding. Or both.

[Shania_L]

Wow, so many IT guys, I wonder if that is a KSP thing, or its just IT guys who post to forums?

Myself, I actually trained as a rocket scientist ... well Aerospace Engineering BEng, but thats the same thing really. Pity KSP didnt exist when I was studying or it would have made grasping orbital mechanics a lot simpler than the professors made out with endless whiteboards of Greek nonsense. But I digress, I left uni just in time to faceplant into the recent rescission and considered myself lucky to get an apprenticeship in Mechanical Engineering (to add the practical skills uni doesnt give you) 8 years later I now work as a quality/inspection engineer for a machine tool manufacturer.

I would really like to get into/back into aerospace or robotics, but I'm not sure what as.

[Im The One]

Well i am an aircraft mechanic on the f-16, don't have any degrees yet but looking for aeronautical engineering and also a A&P license as well. For me I have always been good at math and enjoy science and history. My favorite branch of science would have to be physics, especially since it seems we are making some big breakthroughs, and are that much closer to figuring out how gravity can work with quantum theory and the law of uncertainty, since we have found ways for all of the other forces to work into quantum mechanics. I am currently reading actually Stephen Hawking's books brief history of time and the universe in a nutshell and loving every bit of it. 

[HoloYolo]

My profession is 7th grade. The pay is low, the work is hard, and worst of all, we have READING.

[Evanitis]

Why not...

It's a background. The left part is personal, the right is professional.

[FancyMouse]

On 3/12/2016 at 7:51 PM, HoloYolo said:

My profession is 7th grade. The pay is low, the work is hard, and worst of all, we have READING.

Don't worry. You'll actually start to miss this time when you come to have a "higher"-pay work without reading.

[InterCity]

I work as an internist right now. It's far from my dream job, but because of rather strict family rules I've been forced to take this career instead of becoming a pilot. I've been involved with all sorts of aircraft since early nineties, when I was still a child. 

KSP is more of a consolation prize for me. Hopefully, I'll be able to afford at least an UL license soon. Shouldn't be too hard. If there's one good thing about my job, it's the salary

[Spaceception]

Just now, InterCity said:

I work as an internist right now. It's far from my dream job, but because of rather strict family rules I've been forced to take this career instead of becoming a pilot. I've been involved with all sorts of aircraft since early nineties, when I was still a child. 

KSP is more of a consolation prize for me. Hopefully, I'll be able to afford at least an UL license soon. Shouldn't be too hard. If there's one good thing about my job, it's the salary

Good luck at your license

But one thing, If you're above the age of 18, shouldn't the career be your choice?

20 hours ago, HoloYolo said:

My profession is 7th grade. The pay is low, the work is hard, and worst of all, we have READING.

My profession is 10th grade

The bad thing is, that I have a really bad case of a procrastinator, so I haven't learned algebra yet, does anyone know of good math tips?

[Astronut]

5 hours ago, InterCity said:

I work as an internist right now. It's far from my dream job, but because of rather strict family rules I've been forced to take this career instead of becoming a pilot. I've been involved with all sorts of aircraft since early nineties, when I was still a child. 

KSP is more of a consolation prize for me. Hopefully, I'll be able to afford at least an UL license soon. Shouldn't be too hard. If there's one good thing about my job, it's the salary

Sounds like you have a good job, but if you want to be a pilot, then don't let anyone take the dream away from you. 

Edited March 16, 2016 by Astronut

[InterCity]

9 hours ago, Astronut said:

Sounds like you have a good job, but if you want to be a pilot, then don't let anyone take the dream away from you. 

Well... The problem is that I'd get excluded from any heritage and lose family connection. Furthermore, no one would pay for my education in anything else than medicine. 

It also isn't that I hate my job, not by a long shot, it just wasn't at the top of my list. I might not be getting an ATPL anytime soon, but I'm still satisfied with my life. After all, I probably wouldn't meet my current fiancee if not for the med school

 

[Butterbar]

11th grader, applying to a bunch of Universities with the intent of majoring in either Political Science or Industrial Engineering, whichever is more convenient.  

Aiming to commission as a officer in the Marine Corps after college and become a infantry officer or pilot.  

[Astronut]

10 hours ago, InterCity said:

Well... The problem is that I'd get excluded from any heritage and lose family connection. Furthermore, no one would pay for my education in anything else than medicine. 

It also isn't that I hate my job, not by a long shot, it just wasn't at the top of my list. I might not be getting an ATPL anytime soon, but I'm still satisfied with my life. After all, I probably wouldn't meet my current fiancee if not for the med school

 

Life takes many twists and turns.  There is nothing wrong with flying as a hobby.  In some ways it would be nicer as you would be the one to choose where and when to fly - me, I just fly where and when I am told to. 

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

My profession is school.  However, I do enjoy reading aerospace textbooks extra-curricularly.

[Majorjim!]

As it says under my forum name, I am a waterman. I work on boats on the Thames in London. Single screw passenger boats up to around 200 passengers and a 650BHP 14 person RIB. I think I would prefer not to work on passenger boats and I am considering the RNLI or tug boats in the near future.

[adsii1970]

@Majorjim: Awesome! I live right near the Ohio River - literally - it is right out my back door. When I first moved in during June of 2011, I was fascinated by the amount of river traffic - not the river cruises or passenger river tours like in Great Britain, Germany, or France, but mostly cargo. For the first months, I literally stayed on my back patio and took pictures of the river traffic. I've been tempted to use my video camera and tape the river traffic for a full day... and then upload on YouTube...

The first image here is one where the lead barge broke free from the rest... bet some deck hand received a lecture on how stupid their mistake was... Anyhow, enjoy!

 

[Majorjim!]

Just now, adsii1970 said:

enjoy!

I did! Thank you. That second pic is amazing. i have never seen that many barges being towed, or pushed! Unless the tug is driving astern it looks like he is pushing them which is very impressive.

 

Edited June 3, 2016 by Majorjim

[adsii1970]

9 minutes ago, Majorjim said:

I did! Thank you. That second pic is amazing. i have never seen that many barges being towed, or pushed! Unless the tug is driving astern it looks like he is pushing them which is very impressive.

 

In these pictures, all are heading downstream. It's the same set-up going upstream with the exception they are no where near as quiet - and the vibrations from the engines can be felt in my living room, roughly 150 meters away!

The Army Corps of Engineers have dredged the channel to a depth of 45 feet (and they have to do it quite often) to accommodate the larger river tugs. The second picture is about the average size with the ones for Marathon (a local gas station chain) hauling petrol being a little longer. With the frequency of the river traffic, I could be on the lookout for those and snap you a few shots...

Edited June 3, 2016 by adsii1970