There you have it. I couldn't have said it better myself, or else I would have.
This has been roughly my exclamation every time somebody asks me how my first day of work was. Going into the internship, I had a very fuzzy idea of what I would be doing this summer at Catalyze Chicago. I had had some conversations with Bill (one of the cofounders of Catalyze Chicago) over email and had talked to Daniel (my mentor) about a couple of his projects that I could work on once I started.
From the website I could tell that the company was mostly made up of men. I had heard of people having negative experiences being of one few women in the workplace and not being taken seriously. I wasn't too worried about this, but I did imagine I would be working with a team of "bros." Going into an unpaid internship, I had friends who warned me that my work may be abused. I knew that Catalyze would be starting a busy summer and was cautious not to be stuck doing only the company's extra work.
In the first few minutes of my job my preconceptions were dropped. Soon after I walked into the office, I got to meet Daniel in person. I'm already excited to start working with him. He's a very organized and efficient person, and I like that. He has a very forward outlook on the company, and wants to push the progress being made.
This has been roughly my exclamation every time somebody asks me how my first day of work was. Going into the internship, I had a very fuzzy idea of what I would be doing this summer at Catalyze Chicago. I had had some conversations with Bill (one of the cofounders of Catalyze Chicago) over email and had talked to Daniel (my mentor) about a couple of his projects that I could work on once I started.
From the website I could tell that the company was mostly made up of men. I had heard of people having negative experiences being of one few women in the workplace and not being taken seriously. I wasn't too worried about this, but I did imagine I would be working with a team of "bros." Going into an unpaid internship, I had friends who warned me that my work may be abused. I knew that Catalyze would be starting a busy summer and was cautious not to be stuck doing only the company's extra work.
In the first few minutes of my job my preconceptions were dropped. Soon after I walked into the office, I got to meet Daniel in person. I'm already excited to start working with him. He's a very organized and efficient person, and I like that. He has a very forward outlook on the company, and wants to push the progress being made.
Daniel has a method that he calls "scraps," where he cuts up a bunch of paper cards and writes tasks on them to organize them by time sensitivity, interest, category, etc. It's like a physical version of a Trello board. He had compiled notes before I came with potential projects I could become involved with, as well as some suggestions for activities I could take on while I am at Catalyze this summer. For example, social media. Daniel recommends that I use social media to document my work here, and to post a YouTube video about once a week. Apparently Instagram is the social media platform with the most outreach - I didn't know that! I chose to write this blog, and hopefully I'll be able to keep it up! I tend to have a hard time keeping up daily journals, but I guess this doesn't have to be daily or extremely long, as I already seem to be making it. Daniel also instructed me to "make art" during my time here. I was thinking about tackling my ceiling star chart idea, but as it turns out, it would be super expensive and time consuming to fill a ceiling with that many LEDs. I'll have to continue brainstorming ideas, but I'm so excited to have an outlet for art.
While I am here, I'm going to acquire a lot of engineering skills that I really believe will help me grow immensely as an experienced engineer. I am the first engineer here, and Daniel referred to me as the "queen of the interns" because when they arrive in June, I will be passing down the skills that I learn in the next month to them. Skills I hope to gain this summer include:
As well as being a helpful mentor on the work side, Daniel is a feminist. He talked to me about the expectations of the members at Catalyze when it comes to how we treat each other. He knows women (for example Subi, here) who have been treated poorly in the workplace, too, and is very adamant about keeping up a respectful environment. This is relieving to hear, and I do already feel like I've been treated as a part of the team by the people I have met.
- 3D printing
- working with different microcontroller families
- working with different motors
- using data sheets
- becoming a self-starter
- PCB design work with Eagle
- circuit bending (taking an already existing circuit and personalizing it or tweaking its function)
- business/financial side of managing start ups
As well as being a helpful mentor on the work side, Daniel is a feminist. He talked to me about the expectations of the members at Catalyze when it comes to how we treat each other. He knows women (for example Subi, here) who have been treated poorly in the workplace, too, and is very adamant about keeping up a respectful environment. This is relieving to hear, and I do already feel like I've been treated as a part of the team by the people I have met.