About Craig
Well I guess we shall let you into a little about myself. The letter below is a cover letter free written. Basically a way of explaining my self in a way that is much too long and aloof for a company to read. Since this is my website and my company I can give you all my cover letter. It is a work in progress, so any abrupt changes and lack of ending is on purpose. Thank you.
To whom it may concern.
I am a creative, strong willed electrical engineer in search of a home. I am hard working and well rounded. I graduated from the University of California, Santa Barabara School of Engineering with a 2.3 GPA and while not impressive on paper, I fulfilled emphases in several different electrical engineering fields to educate myself and I rebuilt a car. With my grades suffering and myself feeling claustrophobic I took a year off. In that time I rebuilt a car as a way of centering myself. It worked out quite well and when I returned to school and work I felt accomplished and stronger.
I am interested in robotics, animatronics, and automation, creating something lifelike with the use of servos, actuators and microcontrolers. Robotics has always interested me from my time in space camp when I was young to when I took courses in college about robots. During a college course I developed a small robot for one of my classes, the idea was to have our robot follow a course and pick up cheese. We designed it after a front loader so it would be able to grab the cheese and then place said cheese on a wall. For the most part it worked. It retrieved two pieces of cheese and placed them on the wall before time ran out. It was a modest approach as the victors in the challenge built behemoths that would just go out and swallow as much as possible.
Computer vision and image manipulation interests me greatly as well. I have been an amateur photographer for 13 years(professional for 2) and having the fuller understanding of how my camera works but how the programs i use work, not only enable me to fully understand my work but it also enables me to assist other and explain fully what needs to be done or how to use a imaging system. Computer vision deals more with sensors than anything else, and it is interesting because in certain ways it mimics how humans handle input and in other ways it goes so far beyond what we can grasp. To see the data that is available to us but in a raw form instead of what we have already processed is truly amazing.
My hobby of re-purposing devices is how i acknowledge and take pride in the past but fully try to move something into the future. There are many useful parts that have not changed over the years, but technology gets smaller and its ability to compute or fulfill a goal gets stronger. Currently I favor old computer and electronic enclosures and update them new or different electronics. Like the conversion of an original apple mouse. The mouse went from an old trackball to a optic tracking mouse. It still looks the same but now its tech is only several years old. This is part of a whole conversion I hope to take place where i can transform an old 92 Macintosh Plus and turn it into a media server and Audio video entertainment console.
I was raised with my abilities as an engineer in mind and my love of macgyver and how things worked lead to an uncanny ability to fix things. I am also very handy with a swiss army knife and a roll of duct tape. The swiss army knife in its various shapes and forms is very useful and you will usually find me with one on my person not for protection but for the pure versatility of the tool. The kind of handy man/Macgyver fixer allowed me to be more useful in my jobs. Taking on more responsibility and really lending a helping hand in the overall function of the company.
My hard work and loyalty to a project us best seen from my hobbies and my friends. My willingness to help out at what ever cost to myself is what my friends see. My hobbies see love, compassion, and design. Function, form, and creativity work hand in hand. The main creative hobbies i have are my cars and furniture making. I have been making tables and cases and such for several years. What I love most about building furniture is that not only do you start with a raw material and an idea and end up with a functional usable piece of art, but also through each new piece I can see an evolution in my skill and concepts on creation. Originally my furniture was purely functional. Raw in form and although built like deck would still fit withing a small space. As I got better at the creation of the furniture the function grew. Tables were no longer just tables but inlaid boardgames for the nights when you just want to enjoy some game time with your friends. The inlaid chess board and scrabble board in my coffee tables are my latest creations. Each one a gift and although in build they may be similar each are designed for their users.
My hobby of cars has deeper roots than the furniture but the creativity in them is hidden for the most part. It grew from the repair of the family vehicles and an interest into the mechanical and electrical processes that make an automobile function. From looking at my old Jeep you would never see the various switches and adjustments made over the years. But for several years it has had a computer built into it. Brackets and modifications I design and build myself and I do it so that the average person doesn’t realize the fact that the center console is actually laden with electronics. What I like most about working on cars is the many skills required to really work on the, the ability to fix and make mechanical pieces, the ability to understand electronics and its blending with the mechanical, and even upholstery when working on the interior. My skills as a seamstress were greatly improved when i had to sew my convertibles roof in place while on my back and using a needle and very capable thread.
My athletic hobbies include kayaking and skiing. On both there is this unfamiliarity with the terrain and this whole new world just feet away. With a kayak it is what lies beneath as you paddle across the ocean. With skiing it comes from the tress and the feelings and sound that come from the frozen water that you are riding on top of. I find joy in both due to their complete removal from what is normal for myself. Gliding across the water is freeing and kayaking and skiing are one in the same in that respect. Enough pressure will turn that ice and snow back into water. The interaction with nature is also a large plus in both, whether it be he deer and moose in the woods staring at you as you go by or the dolphins and seals that gaze at you with curiosity. There is a feeling of travel to a different land even though you are really only in your back yard.
