John Pratt earned a Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Originally thinking of going a pure Electrical Engineering hardware route and working on audio hardware his Play Station stopped working and he tore it apart and fixed it and realized he really enjoyed doing that which drove him towards the Computer Engineering path.
Now working on embedded software for robotic vision, he really enjoys it because with embedded software there are many constraints, such as the processing power and memory size that makes designing those systems fun and challenging. He spends a lot of time in the lab connected to the hardware during development and recommends that when you do your designs, you design them for the long haul. The software you design will live for a long time, so take care to document, make it readable and maintainable.
John also recommends that you find something in your field to play with to help bridge the theory you learn in college to the practical application side but be careful not to chase to many cool ideas as you are also defined by the things you do not do. Find one thing and learn it well. He enjoys reading C|net and recommends the book “America the Ingenious” by Kevin Baker
Don’t forget to get a free audio book from Audible at www.stemonfirebook.com
Free Audio Book from Audible
96: PHD Nanomedicine – Embedding messages into Nano Particles – Joy Wolfram
95: PHD In Quantum Chemistry and Quantum Mechanics-From Professor to Sales-Eva Vankova
94: PHD Biomolecular Structure and Design – Wants to make the world a better place – David Beck
93: PHD Biomedical – Nano Technology For Medicine and Drug Delivery – Alessandro Grattoni
92: PHD Chemical Engineering – Stretchable Electronics – Michael Dickey
91: Aerospace Engineer – You will fail a test or class along the way – Erin Young
90: Mechanical/Robotics/Computer Science – Nothing Cooler than Being a Woman in STEM – Alexis Block
89: Mechanical Engineer – From Sales to STEM Ambassador – Jay Flores
88: Chemical Engineering in Additive Manufacturing 3D Printing – Stacey Delvecchio
87: Bio engineering, Biomedical, Mechanical – Try as many new things – Juhanna Robberts
86: Digital Design Architect – Electrical Engineering – Do what you commit to – Nathanael Huffman
85: Epidemiology and Biostatistics – Stop Starting and Start Finishing! – Rebecca Carter
84: Physics and PHD in Solar Physics studying the Sun – Stephanie Yardley
83: Computer Science and Entrepreneur: You need to architect your career – Chris Smith
82: Civil Engineer – Was not aware of STEM until after her first degree – Mel Butcher
81: Mechanical Engineer focused on Sports Biomechanics – Alison Sheets
80: Science Geek to Management – Biology and MBA – John Heltemes
79: Data Scientist at Facebook – Don’t be afraid to try something new – Brandon Rohrer
78: Computer Science – You need to focus on the human side to solve complex problems – Zoey Gagnon
77: Chemical and Electrical Engineer with some great insights – Stephanie Chin
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Commercial Edge: Unleash the Power of People
The emPOWERed Half Hour
Reaching your Goals
Insights@work
Business Dad
The Ken Coleman Show
Becoming You with Suzy Welch