Cerulean Cordillera

Posts Tagged ‘Self Development’

Last Tuesday, I’ve began my job at AMD’s Markham location. This would be my very first official, proper job, as all of my previous jobs dealt with selling knives at people’s houses and working little jobs in little chain stores. I wouldn’t belittle those jobs, as I did feel I learned much from them, but AMD’s experience will be very, very different.

For one thing, this is an office job. I get a cubicle with plenty of space, and throughout the course of the day, instead of punching timeclocks and following orders strictly, I am free to meet my position’s needs however I want to. Hence, my performance is now completely my own responsibility. If I want to be outstanding, it’s totally up to me – my own initiative, and my own efforts. In a nutshell, I work in a team of roughly around eight to twelve people. Our team is called the Component Quality Engineering (CQE) team, and we basically do preliminary regression testing for component code that come out of the dev team. In order to perform my work, I need to first get familiar with the software associated with my tasks, then I need to gain the necessary experience to make good decisions in monitoring daily changes in the code, and there’s a bunch of miscellaneous tasks and responsibilities as well. All the people in the team have been very nice and helpful so far, especially my current mentor, who has been explaining things to me nonstop for the past week despite having his voice going noticeably hoarse at least twice now. I will try to learn quickly to make their jobs easier.

The software we’re working on is basically the various drivers for AMD’s graphic cards (the ATI cards). Particularly, I volunteered for the application portion of these drivers. The most significant thing I’ll be doing testing for is ATI’s Catalyst Control Panel (CCC). This is a rather visible piece of software that everybody who has an ATI card must be very familiar with, and I have to say, being a part of this company culture, seeing the scale and orderliness of the corporate system here, and working on something that will enter so many gamer’s daily lives – all these makes me feel quite important. It looks like I’ll have to learn VB for this job, but more importantly, I’ll be getting real experience and knowledge on how the software development works in these huge and successful companies, and I think that will probably be the most valuable part of this experience.

Since the past Wednesday, I’ve started driving to work. Traffic in the morning was alright, but traffic in the afternoon is usually horrible. It takes about a bit less than an hour in the morning to get to work, and up to an hour and a half in the afternoon to get back home. The good thing, however, is that I’m already getting lots and lots of driving experience. I look forward to see how incredible of a driver I’d be after sixteen months of driving like this. As long as I’m careful, I’ll be able to avoid accidents. Access to a car also means quite a bit of freedom that I never had before. All of a sudden, my world no longer extends only a few blocks outward from UofT, although I have no idea what new possibilities are opened up. It’s like playing Age of Empires 2 and having just researched the cartography tech – all of a sudden you can see the terrain of the rest of the world, but there’s still the fog of war preventing you from knowing what’s really in those places. Haha, what a geeky metaphor, though I’m sure if anyone has played any RTS game they’d know what I’m talking about.

To everyone else who are starting their jobs: good luck, work hard, and be smart!

Originally posted on Tuesday, March 17, 2009

It’s been a while. I have updated the articles page with photographs from the remaining two days of the cruise trip. Those two days were merely days spent at sea, so there’s not much new things to take photographs of. In any case, this closes the chapter on my week cruise.

<Edit: Since moving to WordPress, the “articles” page is no longer the location for the photographs. Photographs for days 1~5 can be found in previous blog posts. Photographs for days 6 and 7 are here.>

I’ve also updated the cool links page with a few more articles mostly about China and Tibet. One article, the one by Michael Parenti, has an overwhelming amount of citations and sources, whereas the other one, by Peter Hessler, is written with quite a neutral outlook. They’re quite a refreshing change from the media’s constant bashing of China’s Tibet policies. With the Tibet issue, I recognize that there are lots of things that we don’t want to see, like government creating an unofficial state of martial law by sending in lots of soldiers. However, I’m of the opinion that before you demonize the Chinese government, at least try to understand the situation as situations are often much more complex and harder to deal with than people think. The more articles I read on this, the less certain of the whole picture I become, and thus the less I want to make conclusions about it.

This past Saturday I visited a friend whom I haven’t conversed with for a very long time despite the fact that she lives just down the street. From the visit, several things were made apparent. Our lives certainly grew apart since university began. She still houses the same spirit of self-improvement that I no longer share. Actually, that’s not true. I think it’s our psychology that’s different, and thus our methods for tackling our own growth differs as well. I am not as strong or disciplined as she is, so if I try to handle things like she does, I will get burned out easily. This is why a better strategy for me is to maintain constant harmony with myself and allow my irrational desires to push me to grow at a natural pace. And with my rate of growth, I’m quite content.

It seems that we no longer have many things in common to talk about now. It’s kinda interesting actually. She kept on insisting me to relax, and don’t always be so serious, or something like that, yet I kinda wanted to point out that Innis in general is extremely clean, organized, simple, and square-like just like any office building. When I entered her room, I saw two computer screens in a neat room. One screen was displaying news from BBC, the other screen was on several communication streams including Skype. When I sat on the bed, she would be talking to people over IM not unlike a scene where an office worker is communicating with her client over the Internet. When the phone rings, it is immediately picked up in a professional-like manner. When we talk, her voice was quiet and efficient. In that kind of environment, it feels like waiting at a receptionist desk. Naturally, I got into my “serious” mode without even realizing, and later on when I tried to get out of it, it just didn’t feel natural.

I think most of my other friends would agree that I’m usually quite balanced between being serious and being goofy. That’s how I am naturally, but for some reason this becomes restricted in Innis, I guess tis one of the reasons why I dislike that building.

Hmm… Woodsworth rez is probably worse.

Ah, right. I got an AMD job, and it was quite an ego boost. PEY results for first round was released last week, and I was ranked #1 for two positions. When I went to the PEY office, the people there told me that you don’t see people with multiple offers very often during round one, and if you do see them, they’re usually for people with top marks in the program. My GPA right now, although on a rising trend since I rebounded from the fall during first year second term, still only reaches a 3.3. Yet, of the six applications I got a response from, I got four Interviews. Of the four interviews, each one of them went very well, and I got ranked #1 for two of them. It seems that my efforts got me results.

Since the beginning of PEY, I made sure to treat each and every job application as if it’s the job that I absolutely just have to get. To do this, I did my research and made sure to cater every cover letter to the position. It was important to show them that I understand what the job is about, and I tried to do that to the best of my ability. This included attending info sessions, talking to past PEY people, and doing online research on the company and positions. Every time I submitted an application, I would know that my application will be the one that looks a great deal more solid than the average application.

Apparently, doing this got me quite a few interviews. According to the career center, if a company wants to reject a student, then the company must indicate this on the PlacePro system, so I would know if I was rejected. I applied to about 20 places in total, got responses for six, and no responses for the remaining. Some of those companies probably backed out of the PEY system due to the economic scene, others probably haven’t reached a decision yet. Out of the six, I was rejected by two, but got interviewed by four. This can probably be roughly considered as a 66% interview rate, so clearly all those research was worth it.

Then I adopted a perspective of confidence. For each and every Interview, I was never nervous or fearful of rejection. I made sure I dress well. Upon meeting the person I made sure to shake hand firmly and project an image of confidence and professionalism. The thing with Interviews is that, if you can deal with the nervousness of anticipation before and when meeting the person, then everything after becomes perfectly normal. I knew that I was perfectly capable of tackling any problems or questions they might throw at me because I had confidence in my abilities and my personal growth in the past. Throughout the Interview, I didn’t treat it as them interviewing me to see if I’m good enough. Instead, I treated it like we’re both interviewing each other to decide whether we can work well and create something together. Apparently, once you’re in that mindset, talking was easy, efficient, and fun. At the end of each of these Interviews, I’d feel this awesome sense of self. It made me start thinking that if I ever need a mood booster, an interview would do the job.

And apparently this worked. Out of the four interviews, I was really only weeded out by one, and that was the interview where I was interviewed by four employers at once, and it was a management position. I believe I only lost that position because I lacked the experience or training. For the other three interviews (one hardware, two software), I got ranked by them all, as each of them sent me an email afterwards telling me I’ve entered their final selection pool. And out of these three, I got first place for two of them.

So, on Monday, May 18th, I’ll be beginning work at AMD’s Toronto office. The position is a testing position, but quite an extensive one. The idea is to make sure various AMD graphics chips are compatible with all sorts of operating systems, programs, and platforms. Not only will this offer quite some experience with computer graphics in general, there’s also a chance to work with Windows 7 before anyone else. There’ll be lots of challenges ahead, but I’ll definitely be able to overcome them. Meanwhile, this also means I need to obtain my G2 license before May 18th. I’ll also need to look for housing for the summer and next year.

I also attended an info session on graduate school yesterday. The session was hosted by Willy Wong, my old prof for E&M. Graduate school seems to be really tough both to get in and to stay in, but the idea of it is very awesome. Apparently the minimum requirements is a mid-B average. If I maintain my current level of grades, and improve a little in first term fourth year, I’ll have a chance, and if I have a chance, then my pro-activeness will make it an almost certainty. I’m still not going to make a decision about it until after PEY, when I have better knowledge of the industry’s conditions. However, I think it is likely for me to try for a M. Eng after getting my degree. And then if I’m still ambitious (I’m fantasizing now, lol), I might go for an MBA. Ultimately, I want to make a difference with my knowledge and skills, and I want to do it in my own natural way.

I’m getting hungry now. Recently I’ve been criticized by several people for not eating healthily and not exercising. These are things I will get to eventually, but for now, other things have higher priorities.

Originally posted on Saturday, January 24, 2009

Let’s do a quick reassessment of my life and goals.

Let’s start with an Assumption: I want to study hard, understand everything, and become a great engineer

Question: If I understand everything, will I become a great engineer? How great will I be?

More importantly, does it take understanding everything to become a great engineer? Will, say… understanding everything in Newtonian dynamics (a first year course outside of my specialization) be necessary for me to become a great engineer?

Answer: No. So let’s revise the assumption:

Assumption: I want to study hard, understand all that is relevant, and become a great engineer.

Of course, a great engineer, for me, would be a computer engineer who takes active and important roles in the development of projects that are both amazing and significant. So, what does all that is relevant consist of when it comes to this definition?

• I will need to know programming languages and have hardware skills
• I will need to know the design processes in practice for all such projects
• I will need to know how to create and use mathematical models for various systems and algorithms
• I will need a detailed understanding of computing concepts and computer architecture
• I will need experience and knowledge of the current state-of-the-art and market conditions for such projects
• I will need to be able to notice and pertain my performance to the strengths and weaknesses of my teammates
• I will need to be appropriately social depending on the situation
• I will need to be able to mentally perceive and play around with the whole picture of the project
• I will need to have my goals set and tasks organized
• I will need to be relatively fit in order to generate enough energy for these efforts

Ah, that’s a good list. We will work with this list from now on. This list contains items that must be met before I can say that I have all the qualities it takes to become a potential great engineer. If I am a great engineer, I will already have these qualities. If I have these qualities, I may not yet be a great engineer if I have not generated results. First, acquire these bullet points, next, apply them in real-world projects, and if both succeeds, then maybe I can call myself a great engineer.

Some bullet points come from understanding things in my classes. For example, knowledge of computer architecture may be obtained easily simply by learning concepts from classes. Currently, three of my four classes directly belong in this category: computer hardware, operating systems, and engineering economics. The fourth, dynamic systems and control, is not with the area of my specialization, and I am only taking it because of breadth requirements, so therefore I only need a semi-decent mark in that course. How much I learn from the course will not matter.

The three courses, however, must be treated with a serious attitude. I will expect A-grades from those three courses, and I will expect deep understanding of those course material after the course is finished.

Back to the list. Some other bullet points comes from merely experience. For example, programming language skills can only come from writing code for projects. I can choose to write code like mad to gain experience, but that is not an efficient method and will not work very well for me. Therefore, I will merely expose myself to opportunities to train up such skills, and that is all.

Others, such as organization skills, only takes small but constant effort. I am already persevering on many of these things. For example, I create and follow my daily schedule using Mozilla Sunbird. Past experience with establishing these habits tells me that attacking it head-on with willpower is not a good solution. Instead, what worked was the strategy of trying to naturally integrate these habits into everyday life, a small chunk at a time. This process will certainly continue, as it has been ongoing since years ago.

And that’s that.

Now, engineering isn’t the only part of life. So let us now focus on the other stuff. The goal is to integrate myself into a lifestyle with meaning, which I am constantly trying to do. The following are conclusions drawn from past mistakes:

Learning Does Not Equal Meaning: Let’s face it, not all knowledge is valuable. For knowledge to be valuable to me, they must have qualities that I deem to be valuable. For instance, useful knowledge is valuable, so are certain knowledge that I enjoy learning despite its lack of utility. It is foolish to learn for the sake of learning. If I learn something, then it should be something I want to learn. I will not let my principles to drive my desires, for that is unnatural. I will have my desires drive my principles, for then I will be true to myself. For instance, I do not follow duty because my principles tell me that duty must be followed, instead, I follow duty because I would feel guilty, or frustrate at the inefficiency I would cause, otherwise.

Trust Neither The Mind Alone Nor The Heart Alone: Mind is the source of conscious thoughts and willpower. Heart is the (poetic) source of unconscious desires and feelings. Obviously, each keeps the other in check, and a healthy balance is thus achieved. I will not reach any desired states if I rely only on rational thinking or if I rely only on following emotions. At the moment, my belief is that a wholesome and autonomous life is only possible when I trust in both and passively – but consciously – acknowledge my body’s efforts to achieve such balance.

Remember The Ultimate Big Picture: I strive for nothing for its own sake. Instead, all that I strive for I do so because they will contribute to my happiness, which will feed my unconscious, irrational desire to be happy. This is true of all human beings whether they admit it or not. Openly admitting this creates a more solid practical foundation for my principles and way of life. This is not a morally inferior view of the world for I do not acknowledge any such absolute moral standard that can be used to reach such a conclusion. Arbitrary principles without ground in irrational desires will only serve to confuse the hell out of us and make us do things that we have no idea why we’re doing.

The strategy for life, then, is to simply put effort into things that I am interested in or that I find to be meaningful on an unconscious, irrational level. For example, I would never apply for a job position unless the job itself interests me. The amount of effort I spend on these things is obviously naturally influenced by how interesting or meaningful such things appear to me. However, putting extra effort is always a good idea because it would obviously increase the chances of success and make wasted efforts less likely.

That makes things pretty clear, lol. Happy Chinese New Year everyone!