Presentation of transitioning
from College to Engineering for
Chabot College
Presenter Bernhard Stonas
Engineering-10: Intro to Engineering • Guest Lecture
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Mr. Bernhard Stonas
College to Work Transition
• Started at Chabot in fall 1991.
• Went to SJSU from Chabot in 1994.
• Finished my undergraduate degree at SJSU
1997.
• Finished my graduate degree at SJSU 2000.
Engineering-10: Intro to Engineering • Guest Lecture
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Mr. Bernhard Stonas
What college taught me.
• Physics and Calculus. The better you understand
the details the more of an understanding about
problems and their solutions.
• Understand the fundamentals of engineering
Circuits, Logic, Dynamics, Structure of Materials
and be able to play with them.
• Thinking through problems backwards and
forwards. Translating logic into equations.
Engineering-10: Intro to Engineering • Guest Lecture
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Mr. Bernhard Stonas
Jobs that I had during college
• Apprenticed as a bicycle welder summer
1994 (unpaid).
• Worked for Voodoo Titec in summer 1995.
• Worked for WheelSmith in summer 1996.
• Worked for SJSU semiconductor lab from
1996 through 2000, on and off.
• 2 internships at BMW summer 1997 and
1999.
Engineering-10: Intro to Engineering • Guest Lecture
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Mr. Bernhard Stonas
What the jobs taught me.
• There is no partial credit. You get paid only if the
job is done to the customers satisfaction.
• That everyone will have a different opinion of you
the middle ground matters, not the extremes.
• No one cares where you came from or your
disabilities it is just can you perform your job and
how good are you at it.
• The customer does not care if you are having a
bad day, also do not take your issues out on
customers or coworkers.
Engineering-10: Intro to Engineering • Guest Lecture
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Mr. Bernhard Stonas
What the jobs taught me
Engineering wise
• Production equipment does not have to be
designed to look pretty; it has to never
break down.
• The engineering (design) cost in a product
is much higher than that of its production
equipment.
Engineering-10: Intro to Engineering • Guest Lecture
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Mr. Bernhard Stonas
Work after College
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Applied Materials
Immersion
Stihl
Aero Union
Wolfe Engineering
Runco
Invenx
Engineering-10: Intro to Engineering • Guest Lecture
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Wolfe Engineering
Natus Medical
Hantel
Superbulbs
Redwood Systems
Wafergen
Mr. Bernhard Stonas
4 Biggest skills sets out of
college to learn
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ECO’s Engineering Change Orders.
BOM Bill of Material
Understanding other people’s designs.
Communication through drawings,
documentation, and presentations the
organization of parts .
Engineering-10: Intro to Engineering • Guest Lecture
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Mr. Bernhard Stonas
The most helpful things I wish
someone would have taught me.
• Change management
• Know what you can negotiate and what you
cannot negotiate with.
• Understanding the difference between the
contracting and permanent mind set.
• Know what you are willing to lose to win
and what you are not willing to risk.
Engineering-10: Intro to Engineering • Guest Lecture
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Mr. Bernhard Stonas
Change Management
• Update yourself with the latest software
programs techniques and issues.
• Social change will open up new fields that
you can jump into if you are positioned
correctly.
• If you do not change with the times, change
will be forced upon you, or you will be
removed.
Engineering-10: Intro to Engineering • Guest Lecture
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Mr. Bernhard Stonas
Know what you can Negotiate
with
• Know the scope and issues of the
project/job.
• Know what engineering issues will cause
the system that you are designing to fail.
• Know the key people around you who can
help you achieve what you need.
• Work with people to build consensus and do
not let politics alienate the people you need.
Engineering-10: Intro to Engineering • Guest Lecture
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Mr. Bernhard Stonas
Permanent Placement
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Stability of job.
Stability of people.
Benefits.
Longer time between jobs.
More reliant on certain industries.
Much more repetitive of a job.
Engineering-10: Intro to Engineering • Guest Lecture
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Mr. Bernhard Stonas
Contract Engineering
• Get a breadth of exposure to a lot of
different problems.
• If you get a bad client the job will be over
soon.
• Get to understand many different industries.
• High turn over of jobs but because of
breadth easy to get new jobs.
Engineering-10: Intro to Engineering • Guest Lecture
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Mr. Bernhard Stonas
Know what you are willing to
give up
• Know yourself. Habits Issues
• Every employment will ask you to sacrifice
something different.
• Know what you can give up and cannot
give up.
• You will have to give up something know
how much you are willing to give up.
Engineering-10: Intro to Engineering • Guest Lecture
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Mr. Bernhard Stonas
Tips and Hints
• Do not stay seated. Expose yourself to new ideas
and work.
• Help people both those above and below. You may
never know when you need the people below you.
• Judge people on how they deal under stress,
because the work place is stressful.
• Judge people with how they treat people below
them.
Engineering-10: Intro to Engineering • Guest Lecture
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Mr. Bernhard Stonas
Any questions
• What other things do you want me to talk
about.
• Projects
• Companies
• Legal Issues
• ?
Engineering-10: Intro to Engineering • Guest Lecture
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Mr. Bernhard Stonas