Happy Wednesday.

I would never have imagined that only working for 40 hours a week could feel so busy or leave me out of breath like spending 80 hours a week at school.  I am just so excited about the whirlwind of new information and ideas that are part of what I am going to be doing here.

I spent most of my first couple of days in the office taking care of business, getting all my accounts and access needs set up as well as doing the online compliance training which covers things like appropriate workplace behavior and corporate procedures.  A tidal wave of new information about the main project I was going to be working on came in getting me thoroughly inundated with some specific goals and tasks for the next week or so.

This project is call the RHOV, or ‘Replacement Human Occupied Vehicle.’  It is the new deep diving submersible, which will be replacing the current one for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution named Alvin.  When completed, this vehicle will be the deepest diving vehicle able to reach over 99% of the oceans floors.  Here is a link to an article about the contract: http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=7545&tid=282&cid=36888&ct=162.

My specific role in the design process is that of a Control Systems Engineer.  Right now I am doing a lot of the vehicle’s design evaluation to make sure everything will perform as intended.  This work has introduced my to processes involving statics, dynamics, specific mathematical applications, and other engineering and physics ideas which will give me a great head start in some classes that I have not taken yet.

Some of my time is also spent working on other projects in small parts when I have time.  One of the most important things I will be evaluated on is how much effort I put into seeking out work on my own and not sitting around waiting for someone to tell me what to do.

Outside of work has also been a blast.  Going out on the town with my new roommate, one of the other interns I have already made several friends in the area.  This is great because now someone I can call is always willing to go to the beach or check out the nightlife.  Lockheed Martin also has several meet-and-greet lunches and training programs where all of us as new interns will get to meet many of our new coworkers.  They also have a few dinners; local boat cruises, and some fun days planned.

Until next time!  I have to run and write down some ideas I had for some of my tasks at work.  Cannot get that math out of my head!