12/03/01 -
I'm still employed, and I figure I made the right decision. I did end up getting another three interviews over the next couple of days, but I had to turn them down because I had already accepted GFI's offer. It's still a good offer, I'm just a little worried about the pay. Some of my peers will be making 30% more than me. :-(
Classes are officially over, and studying has officially begun. Another term is quickly coming to an end. Over here in Waterloo, we have something called the End of Term Pub, at which is played the EOT Video. Yours truly was partly responsible for putting that together. We decided to use a Star Wars theme, and created a kick-ass video that solicited such responses as "best EOT video ever!" and "best video directors ever!"... yup, I'm the best... and it only took 40 consecutive hours of work to complete.
Only 135 study hours left. I'd better get back to work.
11/26/01 -
I'm employed!
Starting January 7th, I'll be working at GFI Controls. Check out their website for an overview of what they do. My job should consist of doing quality testing and making performance enhancements on their current products. Some of their product line has something like a 15% failure rate, and they want me to find out why and, more importantly, to fix the root cause. That's right, I'm going to be getting a crash course in FMEA - Failure Modes and Effects Analysis. The job might not be the best, and it's certainly not my number one choice, but it is a job, and the pay's not terrible (at $15/h, it's not spectacular either), and I'll probably learn a lot about analysis, fluid flow, and gas dynamics. Overtime is also available, if I'm that concerned about money. More than anything, I'm just glad I got the job. Now I only hope I don't get an interview for Fakespace... that would just be a kick in the nuts.
10 days till exams!
4 days till End Of Term Pub, and the EOT video that goes with it! Guess I better start working on that...
11/21/01 -
Still no response from any of my applications in the Hunt. It would be nice to get an interview one of these days, or at least to know that nobody loves me.
Tick-tock goes the clock of finals.
11/19/01 -
It's been awhile since my last update. That's mostly because not much has been happening. I've applied to a bunch of new jobs, which you'll find in the Job Hunt section. These jobs look pretty good... I just hope I still haven't set my sites too high. Still no responses, but that could change any day.
My presidential campaign was unsuccessful, and so I remain without responsibility. I would still like to do something next term, so I'll probably pick up a few directorships or something (directors organize events, from resume workshops to semi-formal dances).
Work's been piling up lately, and I missed a couple of crucial classes in Dynamics, so I'm kinda stuck on kinetics. Too bad for me, I guess. With two weeks until final exams, I think I just might be burning the midnight oil. At least I'm still enjoying most of it. Unfortunately, I still can't settle on an option or specialization. This is actually important, now, because I have to decide now whether or not I want to take Mechatronics. I'm not averse to being in Mechatronics, I just don't know if that's all I want to do; I've still got my heart set on taking the Physics option. I guess it doesn't have to be all, since I know of a few people who are doing both Mechatronics and Business, but they work themselves to the bone. Of course, it doesn't seem likely that I can schedule the Physics courses in at any point during the next 2 years anyway, so it may not matter. Besides, taking Mechatronics would preclude me from taking Fluid Mechanics & Thermodynamics, which seems to interest me a good deal. Whatever, I've got more important and immediate things to worry about. Until the next update...
11/02/01 -
So, XCellsis has given me the thumbs down... officially, they cancelled their job here, but that's just how companies tell us that no one at Waterloo got the job. Bastards!
Looks like I'm off to the continuous phase. For those not familiar with continuous, it means I apply to any and all jobs that may or may not look appealing in the hopes that one of them will first give me an interview, and then like me enough to give me a job. Continuous differs from the Initial phase in that with the initial phase, I can only apply to jobs for a limited amount of time, then we go through interviews, then everyone finds out whether they were matched up with a job at once. Continuous, on the other hand, let's you apply to jobs as they appear, potentially being offered the job the same day as the interview. It's not really a bad setup, it's just that I'll now have to focus on getting a job instead of doing school work. Oh well. I'll be crossing my fingers.
11/02/01 -
Dammit!
So, despite what I thought were some really good interviews, and even being fully qualified for some of them, I have had a grand total of zero offers, and one rank. For those not privy to Waterloo's style of co-op, a rank means that the company liked you, but liked someone better, while a not ranked means that they'd like to give you the finger...
Since the ranking form that I just got is preliminary, with information coming in throughout the day until 4pm, there's still hope for XCellsis, but not much. I didn't feel too confident about that one, but hey, you never know. Right now, I'm staring continuous in the face. Oh well, time to pick up the phone for Kvaerner, and anyone else I can think of.
11/01/01 -
Well, it's been a full week now since the last update. I'm actually writing this on the 31st, but I figure I might as well start the next month. A lot's been going on, and a lot hasn't been going on. We'll start with the goings on first. Brace yourself.
I've entered into the Engineering Society Executive election, and as President, no less. Yes, for the first time in the history of Daren, I've taken a proactive role in official politics. I've got the popular vote, I think, but it's a three-way battle between me, a current executive member, and another guy who's probably got more experience than I do, but who's not as favoured as I am. Like I said, I think I'm a little more popular with the voters, at least that's what my campaign is showing. The race will probably be won if I get my name out and show myself to be competent, which hasn't happened to the extent that I'd like. Anyway, it's only day 4 of the campaign, with another 3 school days remaining. Campaigning, I've found, is a lot of work. Here's crossing my fingers.
My midterms have all come back, and I'm proud to say that I'm passing the term. My exam average was 61% for five courses, which isn't quite at the level I want. But, 61% is better than anything lower, and frankly I was expecting lower, so I'm pleased with myself. Highest mark of 78% in digital logic, lowest in Thermodynamics of 46%. I also didn't study Thermo nearly enough, and what I did go over magically disappeared once I sat down at the exam. However, knowing that the amount of work I'm currently putting in is greater than what I put in pre-exams, and that I'm even enjoying ODEs (that's right, I like math for the first time in my life), I'm not too afraid of the big bad finals. I've just got to maintain a certain level of work, which is really quite easy to do if you're not lazy. Here's to a higher final average...
I still have no word on the last two question marks in the Job Hunt. I've got a feeling both of them are cancelled, which usually happens when a company doesn't take their tentative interview date. I shouldn't be worried about it, but I am, and all because of the stupid job market. Like Andrew at UBC, our co-op department has issued a job-shortage warning, and so I'm afraid that my piddly little four interviews won't secure me employment, especially employment of my liking. And if I don't get a job in the first round, I'll be banished to the continuous phase to battle it out amongst the other 70% of the students in co-op. As with Andrew, my co-op coordinator will inform me that I must work harder to find a job, and that I shouldn't fret if my experience sucks, and everyone goes into continuous at some point. Right. I'm still putting the XCELLSiS job at 1, CSA at 1.5, followed by COM DEV and Saint Gobain. It seems two of my friends are going to be working in Vancouver, so it would be quite ironic if I'm out in St. Hubert or some other place that's not Vancouver. C'est la vie. I go where the work is.
10/24/01 -
Huzzah! I've written a new Discourse!
I've also updated the Cohorts section...
I have yet to receive any more news on the job hunting front. My interview with the Canadian Space Agency went really well, at least on my side. It was another phone interview, this one went much better than the last one with XCELLSiS/Ballard. The interviewer was from Vancouver, so I suspect that had something to do with my being selected. I was a little worried before about that, because I was one of two Mechs selected for that position, with everyone else from Elec or Systems. Of course, nearly everyone else was also in 1A, a full 12 months of schooling behind me, plus I've got some CAD and project experience, which the interviewer said might come in handy. The job definitely sounds cool, though. Microsatellite modelling and stuff, with other projects going on all the time. The downside: their pay is less than industry average, in the range of $12-13/hour. All the same, I think I'd jump at the chance to work there.
So, as it stands now:
1. XcellsisAnd I have two question marks left, for a better CSA job and a job with Research in Motion. Not sure where RIM would stand, but that's dependent on whether I get an interview with them. Only two weeks left before ranking day...
10/20/01 -
I feel terrible, so I'll keep this short.
Grad students with something to prove suck. Midterms made for a 2 hour time slot but which take 2.5 hours are lame. I picked up an interview the CSA, which is cool, for a junior programming job, which may be cool. I can code, not very well, but I'm not sure I really care for it. It may be good experience, though. As always, we'll see how the rankings go.
10/18/01 -
I like having a frequently updated page... it puts me ahead of Andrew! Yeah, I'm da man! That's right, me!
NEway, I received an interview with COM DEV Space Ltd. today, I'm one of two candidates being interviewed.... intriguing. This, unfortunately, is currently my least favourite job, both potentially and by interview. It sounds like a carbon copy of the Honeywell job posting I applied to a little over a year ago. Hopefully I will get an offer at another place instead of or in addition to this one, so that I'm not placed in the same position as last year being forced to take a job.
Like most people in my year and up, I seem to be kicking ass now (as Andrew put it). I'm currently at my personal best for number of interviews, and there are still four question marks out there. Two of those four have tentative interview dates for tomorrow, so I should find out what's going on with those by tomorrow morning.
10/17/01 -
More updates in The Hunt. My interview yesterday went well enough, although the HR lady asked me a bunch of typical HR questions that I hadn't prepared for, like "describe a situation where you had a conflict with a fellow student or co-worker". Now, me being who I am, I usually avoid conflict and confrontation, so the number of actual conflicts I've had over the years can be counted on one hand. Unfortunately, that's not the answer interviewers like to hear. So I sat there for several minutes saying "um... uh..." until I could think of something. Oh well. Other questions included the number one Interview FAQ: "name a situation where you showed initiative". Then the engineer guy asked me "describe a mechanical project you've taken on by yourself" (?!). Yeah, right.
As far as everything else is concerned, the remaining jobs open to me are rapidly dwindling. I've still got hopes for an interview with RIM and Westport, but the remaining jobs I wouldn't be heart-broken to see closed to me. As always, time shall tell.
Midterms are not quite kicking my ass. I'm not showing them who's boss, but there've been too many tricks involved in too many questions. Two down, three to go. After today, the rest are relatively easy. Too bad I still have to get a technical presentation (with PowerPoint!) ready for tomorrow... in addition to seeing the grad student (not the professor) who marked my work report about his marking scheme, or lack thereof.
10/12/01 -
I've got an interview with XCELLSIS! Booyah! It's against two others only, so hopefully I won't have a difficult time making a good impression with respect to the competition.
I've also got midterms all this week. They suck. I'm completely on-track for one course, slightly behind in two, and not even thinking about another. The fifth course, Digital Logic, hasn't even crossed my mind yet. It ain't tough, though, so I'm none too worried.
I'm giving a technical presentation to the Faculty this Thursday, my first ever. It needs a PowerPoint component... time to break out the Wizard!
10/11/01 -
Yep, I went crazy again and actually posted something new. Nothing really important, just a monitor of my job hunt progress. It may morph into something better later on, who knows.
I'm getting a little tired of My Corner, and I recall that it's supposed to be temporary... look for a name change within the month.
Two days in a row?? Don't get used to it.
10/10/01 -
Or, as one of my classmates say, Binary Day. For those interested, or looking to see a geek strut his stuff, this day is equal to 41 in base 10...
On with the real world. As I sit here, writing the latest non-update and listening to Rage, I ponder life's little surprises. For example, who would've known even five years ago that I'd be enrolled in mechanical engineering at the University of Waterloo having the time of my life, making new friends and exploring whole new aspects of myself? Interesting times... but that's a topic for a Discourse.
Midterms are upon us! No more than 5 days separate us mechies from the repetitive stress of midterm exams. Fortunately, I'm not as behind as I was the last two terms. Unfortunately, this stuff is still damn hard. Plus I'm doing more on the side than in past terms, such as a Sanford Fleming Technical Speaking competition in which I have to compose and present a technical presentation. Due October 18th. With PowerPoint. At least I get paid $100 for 15 minutes work.
Politics are actually beginning to seem like fun. How odd.
The job market isn't too great this term, I wasn't too selective yet still only managed to apply to 18 jobs with 16 different companies. I've had an interview that went better than expected, even though I'm not too interested in the job. I can only hope that dream job is hidden within my remaining applications.
Anyway, I started off this week on a strong academic foot; I'll try to keep the momentum going for the rest of the week. Planned updates: I'll be putting up all my writings in the Discourse section from now on. A Projects page may show its face, partly to compel me to take on projects. Memes still interest me, but I haven't seen too many by casual observation.
9/30/01 -
Holy crap, I haven't updated this thing in over 2 months... that's got to be the longest hiatus ever. Then again, not much has been happening. Correct that, a lot has been happening, which is why I haven't updated in so long.
First, a recap of the last work term: it was awesome, my best term yet, very enjoyable, and yet oh so stressful. I was designing and building an automated machine that would stack these sheets of fiberglass material. Very interesting stuff, but I had to teach myself everything I needed to know about electronics and wiring. But I can now say with authority that I know the difference between a sinking and a sourcing input, how to program PLCs, proper wiring layout, and other neat stuff. Hopefully, I'll have an easier time finding a job this upcoming winter.
Which brings me to the co-op department. Ah yes, every Waterloo engineer's favourite organization, Cooperative Education and Career Services has been at it again here at UW. It took a little time for me to get my records in order, through no fault of my own, and many people were screwed all together; some people have their records showing them in first year, as opposed to third, and in non-existent programs. Sucks to be them, I guess. Stupid Needles Hall (read: Needless Hell).
I did Frosh Week here. It was cool. I got to yell and scream at timid first year engineers, some of whom still think I always dress in military fatigues and sunglasses, and that I take all disciplines. Suckers.
I'm currently about 2 weeks behind in most of my classes, but I expect to be back on track by the end of next weekend. I'm taking a full course load plus one; the extra course is Philosophy 100, Introduction to Modern Philosophy. It's pretty cool, but very basic. The most important stuff has been a lesson in formal logic, which has yet to be seen in any of my other courses. We're reading Bertrand Russell's "Problems of Philosophy", which surveys solipsism, knowledge, induction, and other interesting topics. So far I'm kicking the course's ass, taking home 2 out of a total 2 marks... pretty good, actually, since that puts me in the top 25th percentile of the class.
The rest of the term's looking pretty good. I've got an interview with a company in St. Catharines called Saint Gobain Technical Fabrics Canada. They make reinforcement fabrics for various industries. Not my first choice company, job, or location, but it's a good start. Other companies in my sights: Ballard, Canadian Innovation Centre, Canadian Space Agency, Cesaroni Technology, Husky Injection Molding, MDS Sciex, NCR Canda, Research in Motion, Rotzler Incorporated, TRIUMF, Westport Innovations, and XCELLSIS. Most of them are on the net, for those of you wanting to check them out.
Anyway, that's it for now. I'll try to get more content coming, but if I've got time to update, it means I've got time to study more... for now, I've got Resume v9.2 up. Garamond font is damn sexy!
7/25/01 -
Not really an update, more like a downdate, but I thought I would change my background colour back to the way it was. I just felt like having something different on my screen for a bit, but I like the old yellow.
I've made a few changes to the Rowing section, more just to keep it up to date with my exploits (or lack thereof).
I've added a technical reference/engineering section to the right. Snazzy name to come. The hymns are now within the section.
A short diatribe is up.
Speaking of snazzy names, I think I might change the name of my site from "My Corner" to something else a little more imaginative. Comments? You know where to go...
Wow, I just received an email from datoppin@yahoo.com telling me I've won a chance to register for a trip to the Bahamas. I wonder how those damned spammers managed that.
7/22/01 -
Not much to update. Changed the colour so it was different from Trevor's (chump), and made a few spelling corrections in the Meme section.
There really isn't anything else going on right now, work's dragging on as the vendors are taking their sweet time to deliver the goods. I guess c'est la vie.
7/19/01 -
So, I'm back to the infrequent updates. Was anyone surprised? Probably not.
Anyway, on to the new content: a Discourse, plus a Meme.
By the way, Andrew, I was the one who came up with The Soapbox. "Climb ye ole' Soapbox" is clearly visible in the Hall of Memories, which means I put it there before handing it over to you (and yes, I do realize that in the digital realm there's no real proof things were as I say, but you'll just have to trust me on this).
7/08/01 -
Today I finally update this forgotten html.
I've added a Hall of Memories page that describes the evolution of My Corner, and have cleaned up this front page slightly. Only slightly, because my artistically-inclined girlfriend said she has ideas of layouts and stuff, so I'll hold off on anything drastic until I hear her story.
The current format, for those unsure, has frequently updated or interactive material on the left, and "reference" type pages on the right.
A new Commentary is up, and a new (but currently empty) section entitled Meme Watch has been added. That's about it for now.
6/03/01 -
Take a wild guess what today's update is about...
Yes, everything's changing. Everything you see before you right now will stay here. There may or may not be a few additions later on in life. We'll see. Right now I'm tired, and I have work tomorrow.
5/29/01 -
Haha! Blitzkrieg update! I've got a new discourse up, and I'd just like to say that I WILL have a new look for this page up and running by Friday.
5/24/01 -
Okay, so two weeks isn't quite "soon". But, I must confess: I'm addicted to quake. I've been addicted to quake for quite some time now, probably going on 3 months. Oh sure, I dabbled in it now and then prior to my addiction, but this is really strong. I can't go a day without playing. Sometimes, I even have dreams about it. Every time I close my eyes, I see the little characters running around, shooting each other... it's getting in the way of my life... I think it may have been a factor in my school marks. Oh, I've tried to uninstall it, but each time I even think about it, I get the shakes. But today, I said "enough is enough!" I've put down the mouse. I've gotten up from my chair. Quake is being taken OUT of my drive and place BACK on the shelf! I'm taking back control of my life!
In other news, I've got a new discourse up, entitled "Private Parts". Now that that's out of the way, it shouldn't take me long to get the overhaul finished. I'll also be looking into changing the account to give the littlesputnik.net members a little more room.
There have been a few minor updates to the Cohorts section.
Oh yeah, and 10 days ago was the anniversary of Daren's eMenagerie/Daren's WebDomain/The Known Universe/The Little Sputnik. Happy birthday!
That's all for now.
5/08/01 -
It only took a month, but I've finally updated! Sort of... I'm only putting up a quick update to let everyone know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, nor have I forgotten that I have this little website that occasionally needs a little maintenance. I promise there will be more to come shortly, just as soon as I get my high speed fix. :)
Just to fill everyone in on what's going on with me these days, I am now working for QuestAir Technologies Inc. in Burnaby, BC. QuestAir makes these neat little devices that utilize Pressure Swing Adsorption to separate and purify gases, namely oxygen and hydrogen. Their claim to fame is that they can do it 100 times faster and 100 times smaller than anyone else out there, which is good news for people like Ballard. I will be designing and building a device used to construct PSA modules semi-automatically as QuestAir moves towards having production capacity, as opposed to its current research & development business. More details to follow.
Oh yeah, and I just noticed that The Little Sputnik has passed the 10k mark. Woohoo!
And a quick note about my email address: due to the idiotic setup of the Waterloo computers, my email address has been changed to datoppin@engmail.uwaterloo.ca. Please update everything accordingly.
3/30/01 -
So it looks like I get to make one more update before it's crunch time, but only because classes are finally over and I'm feeling just a tad exuberant.
Discourse and Diatribes (formerly Commentaries) has been updated somewhat, with a new format. I feel it might be appropriate to integrate this section with a forum in order to facilitate, or merely to allow, others to write.
My Bio has finally died after its long, slow, agonizing death, to be replaced by a Photo Album. Photo albums are cheesy, yes, but they do serve their purpose well. Useless Quotes has also been eradicated, never to be replaced.
My webpage has recorded 1000 visits in a single month. Wow.
Good luck to all of you writing exams in the coming weeks.
3/06/01 -
I've added Steve's link to the right. The Little Sputnik passed 8000 hits. A new forum was added. The user base is now being hacked/fixed. I'm afraid all other major updates and fixes will have to wait until after exams.
3/01/01 -
New content added above. :)
Life is shit, life is short, and soon the term will be over. Don't expect much of anything from me for a while.
2/23/01 -
Nothing new to report. I removed the background sound because it was pissing me off. More annoying random clips coming soon.
I thought about making a huge update today, but then I couldn't justify the effort.
2/18/01 -
Life continues. In honour of school, I decided to add some background music to this page that I feel expresses the state of affairs nicely. Look forward to other auditory samplings in the future.
The mini-bios have been updated very slightly. A shiny quarter to anyone who can spot the difference!
N.B.: It has come to my attention that Netscape doesn't use background music, so rather than figure out a way to satisfy 50% of the Sputnik visitors out there, I'll simply like the file here. I have also been informed that Raja's page is Strobelights, not Strobe Lights. The correction has been made.
2/13/01 -
Okay, I'm an ass for putting a broken link on this hallowed page. The link to my friend Fred's webpage is now fixed. Sorry, Fred.
In other news, studying and doing homework well in advance of any exams, and in a consistent manner, does in fact lead to better marks. Not that I'd know.
Also in the news, in an incredible display of engineering, the NEAR-Shoemaker deep space asteroid probe made a successful landing outside of mission parameters yesterday. Not only was this the first successful landing of any sort on an asteroid, thereby leading the way to invaluable information, but the probe's mission never called for the landing, which came after a full year orbiting the asteroid. Not that anyone noticed.
2/12/01 -
Midterms are pretty much over for me now, so most of the stress is over. Well, at least until I get the marks back, but that's a different story. I have only one exam remaining, that being for my Society, Technology, and Values 100 course.
Speaking of which, I decided to post the first essay I wrote for my STV100 course in the Random Variables section. Nothing can compare to kicking ass in a non-technical elective. The sheer bliss in being able to say "Ha! I'm brilliant, I don't need this stinkin' course but I'm taking it to help all these other poor bastards see the light" is just awesome.
I was hoping to make a few other changes, but time is short.
2/06/01 -
Midterms are upon us! Sinners, repent!
Small rowing update.
2/02/01 -
The first Friday of February. Cool.
The Little Sputnik broke 7000 visits. Also cool.
It doesn't look like the Discussion-board admin is alive, let alone willing to send me the old forum files. Not so cool.
No new changes, and there won't be any for some time. Midterms start on Monday. Damn.
01/31/01 -
Wow, it's the end of January already. And I didn't even mention my own birthday... oh well.
As mentioned before, school is ruining my life, even more so now that midterms are a bare 5 days away. Canadian Indoor Rowing Championships are on Sunday, so I decided to give the Rowing section a small update.
I came this close to changing the whole layout and writing a new Commentary, but just couldn't execute.
01/27/01 -
Well, looks like I managed to get that new Commentary up afterall. Yay me.
01/27/01 -
Trevor's page is now hosted on The Little Sputnik, as is The Soapbox. Please be sure to update your links as necessary. I'm still hoping to get this place looking a little nicer, but midterms are fast approaching, as I'm sure most of you are aware. My Commentary has been sitting half completed for about 2 weeks now, so I'm not too sure when it will be up. Maybe this evening, maybe next week... who knows?
01/21/01 -
Couple of new additions to Colleagues & Cohorts. School is ruining my life (read: no other updates).
01/17/01 -
More additions to Cohorts. A few minor changes to the right. Resume version 8.6.3 is up. Still working on that commentary! A new front page format is in the works, it will be up by next Wednesday along with the commentary.
01/16/01 -
I'm procrastinating on the new commentary, mostly because it's co-op time again, and I've been spending most of my spare time tweaking curriculum vitaes and researching employers. However, the commentary is half complete; it should be ready within a week.
I've added Paul's new page, and updated his link.
No other changes.
01/14/01 -
01/13/01 -
I'm back! I hope everyone's enjoying the new year as much as I am. Anyone find any monoliths yet?
Commentary's been updated. Resume is back online. Mini-bios updated.
In the works:
If anyone would like to have files or pages hosted on littlesputnik.net, just let me know. There's more than enough space here.