I love technology. I’m a mechanical engineer. I started on this track as I was growing up and had exposure to technical toys (Capsela, Technic Legos, RC cars and boats). I really looked up to some of the genius that is apparent in most mechanical designs. Then again, I was impressed by a lot as a kid, by things that I now find blasé. For example, there was a puzzler about how there was a broken window, and the culprit was deduced by the shattered glass being either inside or outside the house. That was amazing to me then, and a little embarrassing too. But it laid a question in my mind about deduction that I’m sure is still driving me to collect and deduce so much about what I see around me as an adult.
I love how much there is to know about the world. I love how every week I’m surprised by a new animal that comes from a seemingly endless diversity. I think about complexity a lot, about biochemical processes which I don’t really understand, and about which we have so much left to learn. Indeed some of the mechanisms are so convoluted by millions of years of evolutionary selection that the “original” goals of a certain gene expressions have changed entirely. Life does not follow KISS principles. It has plenty of time to iterate on its own design.
There is a lot of technology that is so complex that I know I couldn’t replicate it, possibly even with years of additional education. It’s experience that makes it so good. That’s an oversimplification though, because it also takes curiosity and dedication and a lot of other things to build that knowledge base up. Everything seems so simple until you try to actually do or make something. This applies to the non-technical world as well of course.
My work experiences have been mainly around numerical methods and CAD modelling, but also include international exposure. We have lived in four different countries since finishing university – the US, Canada, Australia and now Germany. Living in Australia for six years made me realize that there are so many different ways of life, and highlighted the things I took for granted in the US (both good and bad). My life is 1/3 over (at best), and I’ve lived pretty fully so far. I’m no extremophile, however, and generally prefer comfort over big adventures these days. Besides, real adventure is mainly a state of mind - curiosity. Learning German has been my latest adventure. I’ve woven my passion for development into that process with VocabScraper.
The best compliment I’ve possibly ever received was when a close friend casually referred to me as a “Renaissance Man”. It felt good, but it also made me more self-aware of how my diverse interests have contributed to the development of my personality and achievements (both in work and in play). I’m a passionate guy, and I’m interested in what I don’t know.
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