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Alumni Career Feature – Wayne K. Patrick

We feature alumni with interesting careers from a variety of career areas. To find out more about the alumnus profession contact them via the e-mail provided. Or if you are interested in being featured, e-mail us at alumni@pct.edu.

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Wayne K. Patrick

• A.A.S., Fiber Optics, 1993
• JDS Uniphase
• waynepatrick@comcast.net

How did you choose your present career? Please explain how you decided to major in your area of study during college.

I was always interested in electronics. I liked taking things apart and figuring out how they worked. My passion was audio/stereo. I chose fiber optics because it was interesting, new, and at the cutting edge of technology.

What advice do you have to offer to a student who is struggling with identification of a major/career field in college?

Narrow down your choices as much as you can. Get involved in a co-op or study work group. Take some general studies courses and try to see what interests you.

How were you hired at your present position?

I saw an ad in the newspaper in June, 1996, for Uniphase -a small fiber optic company with 14 employees. I responded, was interviewed, and offered a position. I received an employment packet the day after my interview and agreed to begin in two weeks. The company has grown from 14 to 13,000 employees.

What positions did you hold before this one?

Prior to this job, I worked at SmithKline Beecham installing video teleconferencing equipment. I worked there for three years. I started with SmithKline Beecham as soon as I graduated from Penn College.

What would you tell a Penn College graduating student about your career field?

It's very interesting, demanding, and fast-paced. I'm currently a project engineer. I manage a complete product line, handle all the designs and testing, and coordinate all the departments to get the job done. I manage the transmitters, receivers, and optical amplifiers product line for a variety of uses for the government and commercial use. The variety of the product line provides new opportunities - there is always something new happening in the field.

What was the most significant thing you learned on the job during your first year?

After the first year, my job was somewhat repetitious. I realized I wanted to do more. I started thinking about engineering positions and going back to school. I started exploring the market and what I needed to do to become an engineer.

What was most difficult about your transition to the world of work?

I didn't have much of an adjustment going from college to my first job. The work I was doing was very similar to lab work I had done at school. It came very easily. Once I moved into engineering, it was hard for me to grasp things. You approach problems differently. You start at the beginning and at the end and collapse into the middle. You can't start a project without knowing where you are going to end. You have to think about the designs from all stages. It takes time to develop this skill. I sometimes still have problems with it.

What was the greatest strength of your Penn College/Williamsport Area Community College education? (What did you learn at Penn College that helped you a great deal in your career?)

I liked the aspects of fiber optics - it was a new field on the cutting edge of technology. I picked up the basic skills and built from that. When I started at SmithKline I was actually helping a lot of engineers who did not have that experience because it was such a new field.

What should students in your field do to prepare themselves for their career?

Pay attention to algebra and trigonometry when you are in school. It will slow you down when you work in the electronics field if you do not have a solid math background. Get as much math and science courses as you can.

If you were a Penn College co-op student, please describe the benefits of that experience.

I had two co-op experiences. The first one I worked for a power supply company. I did assembly work and testing of power supplies. Then I did a co-op for a telephone company. I helped install complex telephone equipment. I learned that the first co-op experience wasn't what I wanted to do. It was a good experience but I decided it wasn't for me. I liked the second experience because it was more cutting edge and hands on. I liked the line of work because I was able to apply what I was learning at school during my co-op.

What do you find the most enjoyable about your career field and your present position?

Knowing that I'm on the cutting edge of technology and knowing that we are pushing the limits of technology and changing the world. It's an exciting field.

How do you see your field changing in the next three to five years? Will this change require you to obtain additional training?

I basically see a lot of the optical assembly work being automated. That will speed up the production. Optics is changing so quickly that I see myself continually needing to update and obtain training. The training is mostly on the job because the technology is very new. Our company does a company lunch training every other week and new information is introduced to employees.

What are your plans for the future? Where do you see yourself in three years?

I'll probably continue to move up in engineering. I'd like to move into a senior engineer position but that is a longer-term goal. When I first started, I was a technician then continued to move up until I moved into a development engineering position and eventually a product engineer position.

If you could redo your college experience, how/would you prepare differently to enter the workplace?

I would have become more involved in the professional groups such as Instrument Society of America that students could participate in.

From your perspective, what are three to five needed skills that your employer was seeking in a new employee?

Ability to learn new technology, understand fiber optics, microwave, RF, management of tasks and people.

Have you received any special recognition or awards through your employment or professional organizations to which you belong?

At JDS Uniphase I received five service awards and received stock-option grants. I participated in the JDS bike team for MS and our team received the best new team award for doing the MS 150 (150 miles biked by each person on the team).