Bill Wheeler
Member
Hello All,
First of all I want to express my amazement with the group here that takes as much interest and time to help out others regardless of how trivial the problem appears to be. I've been lurking in the background for about a year now and I find it truly unbelievable what the members of this forum do on this site for "free". Face it - time is money and many of the things all of you do for the average "Joe" out there are the things that other profit from.
I'm following a suggestion from Ron Beauford to post here for some practical and personal advice. As it stands now my occupation in the Silicon Wafer Manufacturing Industry is quickly coming to an end with the closing of my plant sometime in April. After 28 years working in this field, and very few Wafer opportunities within 1,000 miles of Cincinnati, it looks as if I’m going to have to look for an occupation in some other industry sector. Due to the nature of the plant closing (foreign competition) we are being granted educational and other benefits under the government’s TAA program. This means that I may actually be able to consider doing something more in lines of what I want to do and not so pressured to relocate and stay in the high stress environment that this industry has become.
My background is that of a ME dropout with 80 hrs towards a BS degree that started out in 1982 as a technician responsible for maintaining silicon crystal growing equipment and I now hold a senior engineering position responsible for capital projects that in many years totaled in excess of $1M/yr. I’ve spent many years learning as a process engineer in every area of wafer manufacturing and I’ve spent the last 15 years implementing new manufacturing technologies and processes as a project engineer. Very often the jobs assigned to me entail making major changes to existing tools or designing supporting facility sub-systems for the manufacturing tools. In most cases it has required me to perform every step from conceptual idea and cost analysis through final process implementation and qualification. This includes performing process safety analysis, electrical/mechanical design, documentation (including CAD drawings plus technical process and maintenance documentation), and controller programming. Depending on the budget constraint I sometimes even find myself assembling my own electrical panels and the mechanical equipment. I guess I’m considered as a one stop problem solver by the manufacturing, facilities, equipment maintenance, and process engineering groups because of my many cross function skills.
Being a non-degreed engineer I have always felt that I had to work twice as hard to gain the full respect of my peers. I always eagerly accepted every new challenge offered to me which has allowed me to shine in the light of others that I work with that have higher educational degrees. Because of my intense desire to learn how things work and for what purpose the process is expected to achieve, I had a few mentors over the years take notice and give me the rare opportunity to learn and develop a wide range of skill sets, that combined, I consider as rather unique. It never has mattered much to me that I was thrown into a new problem that I was ill equipped to handle - I would research on my own and assimilate what was needed to get the job done the right way. I have little to no formal training that I can show a piece of paper to an employer to substantiate my qualifications. In most cases when I talk about my experience and capabilities I get that look – you know the one where they think you’re full of s***t. It’s not until I get to talk in the proper technical language that I can convince those that there is truth in my words.
I started working with PLC’s in the mid-80’s and have had my share of different makes form TI, Modicom, Eagle Signal, Omron, GE Fanuc, Direct Logic, and Mitsubishi (plus I’m sure 1 or 2 other odd balls that I’ve forgotten). If my company wasn’t closing my most recent assignment was to be my “signature project”. It was a rather large distributed I/O system based on an AB ControLogix platform (over 250 I/O over 1 local and 6 remote racks that included 50+ analog channels). The scope of the project was to replace a circa 1970 technologies control system that uses pneumatic-pneumatic process control technology and a TI-530 for straight discrete I/O control (valves, lights, PB’s, etc. - no analog). The control system planned was also intended to be the starting point for a much broader factory automation control scheme that would eventually replace an aging DCS. I could have really hung my hat on this one – it really hurt to drop 16-months of work just when I was ready to start cutting P.O.’s.
The normal person in my situation might best use his educational benefits and go for a “Project Management” education considering the expected pay range for a Project Manager with my years of experience (completing an Engineering program @ 52 is really not much of an option). My true desire is in process control and automation. I guess I’m an idiot to love beating my head against a wall as I work through a sticky process control problem, but I can’t think of anything that is more fulfilling than to see the final results of my own creativity. I still get that proud feeling when I walk past equipment that I built 15 years ago that is still running flawlessly today.
The problem I’m faced with is I just don’t know what educational programs that an employer looks at that would make me stand out or even how to present myself to a prospective employer as already being somewhat competent since this line of work has never been my main focus. There is no doubt that my skills as a controls integrator can even come close to matching up to someone with just a few years of focus in this field and technology, though I would hope that someone would view my background and industrial experience as a high enough plus to overcome a few my deficiencies, I really need to highlight something that catches someone’s eye and have them deem me qualified for something a little more than an entry level position. As far as the limits to my control knowledge go; I have had very limited exposure to motion control and no experience in networking or other communication protocols (i.e. HART, Field Bus, Ethernet/IP, etc.). Most of my control background centers on single point tools involving chemical processes (Flow, Level, Temperature, Pressure, etc.). I have somewhere between 10 to 20 control projects under my belt that started from an idea and a blank piece of paper plus at least twice that number more of retrofit projects that required significant hardware and software upgrades.
Any advice as to how an old f**t like me can better himself and make the move would be greatly appreciated. I am very sincere about this and realize that I’ll need to start close to the bottom - I’ve been there before and don’t have a problem with this. I’ve financially put myself in a position to where I can spend my next 13 working years doing something I thoroughly enjoy without too much worry over a significant pay reduction. I’m even considering offering my services out to one of the local control engineering firms at an intern level (or even free for a short time) just to get a chance to see if I can fit in. Even buying equipment and software out of my own pocket for a self directed educational approach in order to hone my skills a little more isn’t out of the question.
Sincerely,
Bill Wheeler
Sr. Project Eng.
SUMCO USA
Maineville OH.
[email protected]
First of all I want to express my amazement with the group here that takes as much interest and time to help out others regardless of how trivial the problem appears to be. I've been lurking in the background for about a year now and I find it truly unbelievable what the members of this forum do on this site for "free". Face it - time is money and many of the things all of you do for the average "Joe" out there are the things that other profit from.
I'm following a suggestion from Ron Beauford to post here for some practical and personal advice. As it stands now my occupation in the Silicon Wafer Manufacturing Industry is quickly coming to an end with the closing of my plant sometime in April. After 28 years working in this field, and very few Wafer opportunities within 1,000 miles of Cincinnati, it looks as if I’m going to have to look for an occupation in some other industry sector. Due to the nature of the plant closing (foreign competition) we are being granted educational and other benefits under the government’s TAA program. This means that I may actually be able to consider doing something more in lines of what I want to do and not so pressured to relocate and stay in the high stress environment that this industry has become.
My background is that of a ME dropout with 80 hrs towards a BS degree that started out in 1982 as a technician responsible for maintaining silicon crystal growing equipment and I now hold a senior engineering position responsible for capital projects that in many years totaled in excess of $1M/yr. I’ve spent many years learning as a process engineer in every area of wafer manufacturing and I’ve spent the last 15 years implementing new manufacturing technologies and processes as a project engineer. Very often the jobs assigned to me entail making major changes to existing tools or designing supporting facility sub-systems for the manufacturing tools. In most cases it has required me to perform every step from conceptual idea and cost analysis through final process implementation and qualification. This includes performing process safety analysis, electrical/mechanical design, documentation (including CAD drawings plus technical process and maintenance documentation), and controller programming. Depending on the budget constraint I sometimes even find myself assembling my own electrical panels and the mechanical equipment. I guess I’m considered as a one stop problem solver by the manufacturing, facilities, equipment maintenance, and process engineering groups because of my many cross function skills.
Being a non-degreed engineer I have always felt that I had to work twice as hard to gain the full respect of my peers. I always eagerly accepted every new challenge offered to me which has allowed me to shine in the light of others that I work with that have higher educational degrees. Because of my intense desire to learn how things work and for what purpose the process is expected to achieve, I had a few mentors over the years take notice and give me the rare opportunity to learn and develop a wide range of skill sets, that combined, I consider as rather unique. It never has mattered much to me that I was thrown into a new problem that I was ill equipped to handle - I would research on my own and assimilate what was needed to get the job done the right way. I have little to no formal training that I can show a piece of paper to an employer to substantiate my qualifications. In most cases when I talk about my experience and capabilities I get that look – you know the one where they think you’re full of s***t. It’s not until I get to talk in the proper technical language that I can convince those that there is truth in my words.
I started working with PLC’s in the mid-80’s and have had my share of different makes form TI, Modicom, Eagle Signal, Omron, GE Fanuc, Direct Logic, and Mitsubishi (plus I’m sure 1 or 2 other odd balls that I’ve forgotten). If my company wasn’t closing my most recent assignment was to be my “signature project”. It was a rather large distributed I/O system based on an AB ControLogix platform (over 250 I/O over 1 local and 6 remote racks that included 50+ analog channels). The scope of the project was to replace a circa 1970 technologies control system that uses pneumatic-pneumatic process control technology and a TI-530 for straight discrete I/O control (valves, lights, PB’s, etc. - no analog). The control system planned was also intended to be the starting point for a much broader factory automation control scheme that would eventually replace an aging DCS. I could have really hung my hat on this one – it really hurt to drop 16-months of work just when I was ready to start cutting P.O.’s.
The normal person in my situation might best use his educational benefits and go for a “Project Management” education considering the expected pay range for a Project Manager with my years of experience (completing an Engineering program @ 52 is really not much of an option). My true desire is in process control and automation. I guess I’m an idiot to love beating my head against a wall as I work through a sticky process control problem, but I can’t think of anything that is more fulfilling than to see the final results of my own creativity. I still get that proud feeling when I walk past equipment that I built 15 years ago that is still running flawlessly today.
The problem I’m faced with is I just don’t know what educational programs that an employer looks at that would make me stand out or even how to present myself to a prospective employer as already being somewhat competent since this line of work has never been my main focus. There is no doubt that my skills as a controls integrator can even come close to matching up to someone with just a few years of focus in this field and technology, though I would hope that someone would view my background and industrial experience as a high enough plus to overcome a few my deficiencies, I really need to highlight something that catches someone’s eye and have them deem me qualified for something a little more than an entry level position. As far as the limits to my control knowledge go; I have had very limited exposure to motion control and no experience in networking or other communication protocols (i.e. HART, Field Bus, Ethernet/IP, etc.). Most of my control background centers on single point tools involving chemical processes (Flow, Level, Temperature, Pressure, etc.). I have somewhere between 10 to 20 control projects under my belt that started from an idea and a blank piece of paper plus at least twice that number more of retrofit projects that required significant hardware and software upgrades.
Any advice as to how an old f**t like me can better himself and make the move would be greatly appreciated. I am very sincere about this and realize that I’ll need to start close to the bottom - I’ve been there before and don’t have a problem with this. I’ve financially put myself in a position to where I can spend my next 13 working years doing something I thoroughly enjoy without too much worry over a significant pay reduction. I’m even considering offering my services out to one of the local control engineering firms at an intern level (or even free for a short time) just to get a chance to see if I can fit in. Even buying equipment and software out of my own pocket for a self directed educational approach in order to hone my skills a little more isn’t out of the question.
Sincerely,
Bill Wheeler
Sr. Project Eng.
SUMCO USA
Maineville OH.
[email protected]
