Career fair
Posted Oct 22nd, 2009 at 12:20 PM by ravage
There was a career fair going on as I was coming in today. Always a fan of free stuff I went in. I got a nice little haul, lots of pens including one with a little light bulb in it, a highlighter that I have absolutely no need for, two lollypops, a peppermint stick, a box of 'energy tablets' that I ate up immediately, a little globe thing that I intend to use as a ball and more. halfway through my free stuff romp I got a phone call from a friend who just graduated with a masters and is on the job market, asking me if i could proxy for him since he couldnt come. So i started taking the patter a little seriously.
So I came across this one company, with a particularly cryptic booth. They made processes efficient. I was mildly intruiged. Like business process management, I asked. Oh no, we are big players. We dont do SAP. we optimize things and make things better. yes but how? we go to people and u know, make things faster. yes but specifics? okay heres the example I like to give, say I go to a factory and the person tells me you can only operate this machine at 100 revs. why 100? why not 130? i bet you've never asked that have you (looking at me). i admit i never did. and its because of that that we make our money. we go to the factory and make things faster. so we'll run it at 130 and something might break. so we'll fix that. i appear unconvinced. he says why is it that when you go into a factory everything has a round number. its always 1000 cycles per sec or 100. why not 937. i say its probably easier to install and use that way. standards. he looks at me smugly and says and this is how we make our money because people like you fall for it. this is why the west is falling behind the east. and we're trying to make things better (what?). suddenly its personal. he looks at my sticker and says so ur a phd student. why did you do a phd? i said i got into research during my masters, enjoyed it and stuck with it. he says im not having a go or anything (he is) but i think phd is easy. you do do you? er.. im not a phd i never did it but i think so. why? because you're not making things better, i like to go into trade and make things faster and better. we're falling behind the East. I ask him why people cant have the same attitude towards science. we're advancing our knowledge of the world, making that better and faster. oh i agree with you he says, i go into a research labs and they'll have 10 phds on it, and they'll say we cant make this go faster than 100, and I'll say oh no, and in two days i'll fix it. this is why we're behind the East, they're doing things while we're sitting. im not having a go at phds or anything. by this time he is pretty emotional, I can see his gums as he talks. i say i understand completely. we shake hands, I not taking his brochure, he not offering it, with a mutual awareness of mutual disdain.
So I came across this one company, with a particularly cryptic booth. They made processes efficient. I was mildly intruiged. Like business process management, I asked. Oh no, we are big players. We dont do SAP. we optimize things and make things better. yes but how? we go to people and u know, make things faster. yes but specifics? okay heres the example I like to give, say I go to a factory and the person tells me you can only operate this machine at 100 revs. why 100? why not 130? i bet you've never asked that have you (looking at me). i admit i never did. and its because of that that we make our money. we go to the factory and make things faster. so we'll run it at 130 and something might break. so we'll fix that. i appear unconvinced. he says why is it that when you go into a factory everything has a round number. its always 1000 cycles per sec or 100. why not 937. i say its probably easier to install and use that way. standards. he looks at me smugly and says and this is how we make our money because people like you fall for it. this is why the west is falling behind the east. and we're trying to make things better (what?). suddenly its personal. he looks at my sticker and says so ur a phd student. why did you do a phd? i said i got into research during my masters, enjoyed it and stuck with it. he says im not having a go or anything (he is) but i think phd is easy. you do do you? er.. im not a phd i never did it but i think so. why? because you're not making things better, i like to go into trade and make things faster and better. we're falling behind the East. I ask him why people cant have the same attitude towards science. we're advancing our knowledge of the world, making that better and faster. oh i agree with you he says, i go into a research labs and they'll have 10 phds on it, and they'll say we cant make this go faster than 100, and I'll say oh no, and in two days i'll fix it. this is why we're behind the East, they're doing things while we're sitting. im not having a go at phds or anything. by this time he is pretty emotional, I can see his gums as he talks. i say i understand completely. we shake hands, I not taking his brochure, he not offering it, with a mutual awareness of mutual disdain.
Total Comments 13
Comments
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i love how u writePosted Oct 22nd, 2009 at 01:05 PM by lifeless
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shukria lifeless B-)Posted Oct 22nd, 2009 at 01:21 PM by ravage
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hahaha
"thats why the west is behind the east"!
you gotta love these characters!Posted Oct 22nd, 2009 at 03:41 PM by Ira
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what I was surprised at Ira is where did he think I was from? My victorian english notwithstanding, I am pretty eastern looking.Posted Oct 22nd, 2009 at 07:28 PM by ravage
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what a tool.... there was a reason why the efficieny formula was invented... and may i add, by my daddy dearest too
Posted Oct 22nd, 2009 at 07:49 PM by sadzzz
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seriously? he must be pretty famous then.
im close to discovering the inefficiency formula myself... just needs a bit more researchPosted Oct 22nd, 2009 at 10:24 PM by ravage
Updated Oct 22nd, 2009 at 10:30 PM by ravage -
Yeap.. the alogrithm is called NEH.
N standing for my dads name (Nawaz) and E and H were his supervisors or professors when he was doing his research..
u can search for it
If you look at NEH heauristics, you can find some info on itPosted Oct 22nd, 2009 at 10:54 PM by sadzzz
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Just did! That is some really very impressive work Sadzz, almost every resource says its one of the highest cited works in his field.Posted Oct 22nd, 2009 at 11:01 PM by ravage
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yeah tell me about it.. and he's my daddy haha.... bit hard to believe.
Actually, if u look at my sister, u could believe it.. otherwise prob not hahaPosted Oct 22nd, 2009 at 11:02 PM by sadzzz
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well we all struggle to meet our parents standards, though in your case i wouldnt be too hard on myself for not getting there. in science you know you've done something major if its named after you. in my masters uni there was a guy who was the R of something called RSA, and he basically king of his building. everyone talked about him with hushed voices, as if he might hear.
i didnt know there were any pakistanies like that. really nice to know.Posted Oct 22nd, 2009 at 11:10 PM by ravage
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yeah... i dont think id ever get to the standards of my dad. Also hes a very very humble man... hence i never really thought much of it until i met my hubz who is gaga over my dad.. Lol..
actually i havent followed in his footsteps in terms of profession.... lil sis has, hence i was saying u could believe she were his daughter.Posted Oct 22nd, 2009 at 11:17 PM by sadzzz
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gaga he should be... i think by virtue of genetics you should have the right to make all decisions regarding scheduling.Posted Oct 22nd, 2009 at 11:27 PM by ravage
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LOL... so i doPosted Oct 22nd, 2009 at 11:36 PM by sadzzz
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