Interview an architect/engineer?

My name is Asia and I am a sopomore at Oxon Hill High School. My architects [for my interview] bailed at the last minute so it would be very helpful if an architect/engineer [preferable in the DC area] could briefly answer the questions below.

1.What is your job title?

2.What exactly do you do?

3.Can you describe a normal day at your job?

4.How are your working conditions?

5.If it鈥檚 not too personal, what鈥檚 your salary, or how much do others in your profession make on average?

6.What got you interested in architecture/engineering ?

7.What are some of the key courses you took in high school and college to help you with your job?

8.What other training or qualifications are needed?

9.Are you eligible for advancement or promotions in your career?

10.Is math and physics for your job as important as it is said to be?_architects

11.What other jobs are comparable to yours?

12.Are you happy with your job? If not what would you prefer to do
include email plz

I'm a former electronics engineer, but I'll answer your questions, no problem.

1. Electronics Technician (senior journeyman)

2. Repair, clean, maintain and rebuild electronic circuits and electronic systems. My last assignment was air traffic control radars, next generation weather radars, radios and air field lighting equipment.

3. All of my equipment had regularly schedualed maintenance (either daily, weekly, monthly or annual checks and measurements arranged on a calendar). I would start my day completing this work. During my shift, I would respond to break downs or difficulties with the equipment assigned to me. With free time I would often inspect equipment areas for preventive measures.

Repairing involved outdoor and indoor work, on the airfield or inside hangars and repair shops. Repair and maintenance work involved everything from changing the oil in radar antenna motors to micro-miniature circuit board repairs.

4. My working conditions were usually medium to heavy industrial some of the time, and other times just light work in air conditioned rooms. The worst conditions involved installing new equipment in industrial areas or working on the air field while aircraft were on the runways. The best conditions were simple repairs or reading new tech manuals.

Outdoor work is done regardless of whether, and since I'm in a northern state, winter was no excuse. I'm fortunate that air fields are closed down in the worst weather since the runways have to be cleared before the air field can offer services.

5. My annual salary averaged about $50,000

6. I was never interested in engineering, it was a profession that more or less found me. I wanted something new, and there was a school in the area with a program. I was good at it, so I finished the program and got work first in a shipyard then at an airfield.

7. Architecture I think was the only high school class that I took related to my work, and I was good in those classes, as well. I was able to finish 4 semesters of material in my senior year (the instructor let me work at my own pace). Nothing really related to electronics, but I had a good understanding of how buildings were constructed, and it helped me resolve some issues in my career with some repair work.

In my last 2 years at the air field, we installed a new air search radar system, and the installation created a unique malfunction in the system that was in use: air traffic control radar displays were giving false images on the screens, and it was my job to figure out why and get rid of them. I was able to figure out that signals were reflecting off of the new construction. I had to draw out a fairly accurate rendering of the immediate area of the air field and narrow down the problem area. The solution was to turn the new radar antenna at an angle that would reduce or eliminate the reflections.

It turned out that 3 air fields in the country were having the same problem and I was the first to come up with a solution. I would have been at a loss without an ability to accurately measure and draw out the problem in the shop.

8. For my job, training is non-stop. First, I had to pass the technical training, then when I was assigned to a specific job, I had to learn the equipment, which involved a specialized school. My engineering school was in Illinois, my communications school was in Virginia, and my air traffic control school was in Florida. The last two schools were so specialized that there was only one place in the country offering the training.

9. Yes, but advancements are often in the form of training on new equipment upgrades. Technicians often don't want promotions until they're tired of doing field work. There's a lot of satisfaction from solving problems and fixing things, and administrative work is just not the same. So we strive for advancing our training and getting assigned to newer and more sophisticated equipment.

10. For electronics engineering, the most advanced math we use is algebra, and we only need basic understanding of physics related to our work. At an air field, meteorology is actually more relavent, both for the weather radars and for communications. Our radio signals pass through the air, so we have to know how the atmosphere affects the signal.

11. Other jobs comparable to what I do:

Cell phone tower installation and repair
Weather station installation and repair
Satellite communications technician
Installing digital systems and cabling in new commercial buildings
Fire alarm systems installation and repair
Security alarm systems installation and repair

(We had to be certified in all of these areas.)

12. I'm currently in a new field. I'm back in school taking accounting. I'll be taking the CPA exam later this year.

(I miss working at the air field.)