DeVry University in Arizona use to offer 3 Electronics Technology Degrees, a BSET, an ASET, and an AAET, which was basically Electronics “Lite”, with minimal math and science requirements. UC/LLNL hired at least one DeVry Arizona college student (that I know of), who had not even completed 1 year of his AAET, which was the Electronics Lite Certificate portion of the AAET degree.
Most UC/LLNL ET new hires at the time either completed a BSET, ASET, or had significant Military ET experience. So why did UC/LLNL hire this DeVry student who had not completed his AAET degree? Because UC/LLNL was HELL-bent on filling “underutilized” job categories. It was DEI on steroids. Because of his “underutilize” status, this individual quickly became a Teflon Politician/manager, nothing bad ever stuck to him.
Oddly, this manager would often speak of the need to hire from top tier ET colleges for Lab jobs. Oh, the hypocrisy of the anointed ones.
14 comments:
Who is this lab person? Is he still at LLNL?
1999: Top Livermore physicist resigns
“Mike Campbell, the associate director for laser programmes at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the US, was in charge of building the $1.2 billion National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Livermore…Campbell left his position last Friday after a series of anonymous faxes was sent to officials at the Department of Energy (DOE) saying that he did not have a doctorate degree.”
The $1.2 billion 1999 NIF estimate was on the low side of course, and to my knowledge, Mike Campbell, was not in any “underutilized” job category.
Maybe the DeVry hire that didn’t complete his AAET, never said he DID complete the AAET DEGREE, and UC/LLNL just stamped him with an AA “degree equivalent”, meaning no education falsification on his part. Having said this, If I were a Lab Tech, I would rather work for Tech manager that had completed the rigors of a Tech degree or comparable experience in the military, and that could also stand behind past material technical accomplishments. A pipe dream these days.
https://physicsworld.com/a/top-livermore-physicist-resigns/
Now we have a situation where technicians in the sense of what was around over 20 years ago are more valuable than engineers today. And a lot of these engineers are doing everything they can not to engage with the hardware. They may be able to watch YouTube videos and build Tesla coils in their parent’s garage, or program RasPi’s to do something clever with no application, but they are not stepping up.
It’s not their fault, either. The outgoing management for the last 15 or so years has failed with mentoring, except in the superficial sense that they checked the boxes and have put the cool posters up. So now you have the worst case scenario, a weapons lab complex that is still reliant upon technology that is older than the new people, who have little to no interest in anything much older than 10 years from today, much less 20 0r 30. Because their horizon is shorter than the people who used to do those jobs, and they don’t want to waste any time learning about something they can’t use in their next job in 18-24 months, right about the time they are qualified enough to really be a contributor. Oh, and everyone wants to be in management, because the ones that elect to stay, though they may not have the technical experience, they can see the writing on the wall. When the music stops they want a safe place to sit.
4:57 That pretty much sums it up. The “designers” who do exist genuinely cannot distinguish a computer simulation from an experiment; to them they are synonymous.
“Oh, and everyone wants to be in management, because the ones that elect to stay, though they may not have the technical experience, they can see the writing on the wall. When the music stops they want a safe place to sit. “
Correct. How many LLNS managers were in the layoff (gray march) of 2008, or placed into EIT status when NIF failed to reach ignition in 2012?
The original post does not name the individual - it's Lord Voldemort, or Tom Marvolo Riddle for those that delve deep into that sort of thing.
4:57 That pretty much sums it up. The “designers” who do exist genuinely cannot distinguish a computer simulation from an experiment; to them they are synonymous.
12/31/2022 5:56 AM
Right, and the "designers" consider experiments suspect because the data have "error bars" that never turn up in simulations.
“The original post does not name the individual - it's Lord Voldemort, or Tom Marvolo Riddle for those that delve deep into that sort of thing.”
Or perhaps the individual is hidden in plain sight.
Tech managers that are allowed to skip over technical degree requirements at a Scientific or Technical Lab like LLNL, is politically driven from the get go. Unfortunately, they don’t have an appreciation or a solid point of reference with degreed tech employees. Some Tech managers acquire a token Associate of Arts degrees after the fact (shh). Ultimately, they become paper pushers that must rely on back door wheeling and dealing to move up the ranks for pay and promotions. Watch out if you work for one.
“I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.”
-Richard Feynman, theoretical physicist
What is an “Electronic Technician diploma” at DeVry? Is this a 2 year degree, certificate of completion, or something else?
“Pico received his Electronic Technician diploma from DeVry in 1981, and returned to receive his bachelor's degree in technical management in 2004…”
https://www.llnl.gov/news/news-briefs-october-3-2008
In the absence of a stated college degree, generally a “diploma” refers to a high school graduate, or a college level (3-12 month) certificate of achievement. LLNL publications usually identify the college credentials of the person the story is about. Since the weblink provided was a LLNL “News Brief”, and not an outside news source, it is highly likely the “Electronic Technician diploma” was a certificate of achievement, and not a college degree.
“Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.”
- Barry Switzer
So a Lab Tech Manager got ahead of the line in a major way via the end justifies the means diversity expressway, but of course, doesn’t feel the need to own up to it? Yes this gives legitimate diversity efforts a bad name. Now what? Which Lab employee is going to say publically, “His Majesty the Emperor, had no degree?” None of them if they care about their job.
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