In the beginning…
I was born in Bangor, ME in 1978. I lived for a while in Presue Isle through elementry school before moving back to Bangor. Here I worked at various jobs ending as a machinist at a small machine tool factory that large drill bits and reamers before everything changed.
The Oath
Even working as a machinist it was hard to make ends meat here in Maine. At this time I had a child on the way and decided the best thing for us was for me to enlist in the US Navy. I spent five years in the Navy as an election completing various training missions and one six month deployment to the Mediterranean. I learned about working as a team and maintaining mission readiness . My skills I learned in electricians mate A school were put to the test repairing Landing Craft Utilities (LCU’s) at Assault Craft Unit 2 in Little Creek, VA. These landing craft had a small crew of up to 12 with just one electrician to keep all of the systems running. We dropped off tanks trucks dozers and lots of humvees on the beach. We launched inflatable boats for Seal operations and performed joint field operations with other nations militaries. It was an interesting time and I learned a lot about electrical ship board systems, electric motor/motor controls and lighting.
Hooked on Power Electronics
After leaving the military I got a job for a crane company called Konecranes. I worked out of the Portland, ME office. My primary responsibilities were OSHA inspections on cranes and lifting equipment, maintenance and repair of overhead cranes, electrical upgrades on cranes such as wireless controls, motor inverters, PLC controls. This was my introduction to power electronics which I fell in love with. I think it is the combination of power and control that draws to it. I ended up building a three phase inverter with my partner in college for my senior project. Power electronics is what led me to seek a higher education as well.
Back to School
I decided that I had learned what I could from Konecranes and decided to head to the University of Maine to earn a degree in electrical engineering. It was tough but some I managed to get through it. One of my favorite classes was High altitude balloons where we built small sensor payloads and launched them to the edge of space then recovering them later usually in a swamp deep in the Maine woods.
The Weather
In 2015 I graduated from the Univeresity of maine and started working for a company called RainWise in Trenton, Maine