#57 – Dave Cooper: Navigating from student to engineer
Dave Cooper went from barely graduating high school to teaching university engineering students. In between, he was a navigator for the Marines and worked on refrigeration systems for NASA. We also learn that Dave and Bert share an affection for animated cubic sponges with a palindromic name. He hopes to soon form a father/son engineering team.
Also:
- After leaving Marines, he decided to study aeronautical engineering largely because it was first alphabetically.
- Switched to mechanical because aeronautical engineering wasn’t available at the university he chose.
- Loved learning in college; in high school, not so much.
- Design project was a UAV.
- As a teacher, Dave struggled with fighting cheating.
- Students were more interested in the grade than in the learning.
- He still has a sextant.
- Started his own firm a few months ago and wants to work with his son.
- A lot of the world suffers from short-term thinking.
- Found his technical expertise was secondary to relationships.
- Linked In is useful for networking.
- Likes jujitsu and it is good for networking.
- The more fun you are having, the quicker you pick up a new skill.
- Dave and Bert both like SpongeBob SquarePants
Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com
Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".
