Cameron’s Excellent RTI Adventure

Hey all!

Cameron here (of course?). So here’s how my first day has gone. I met Mrs. Michelle, as shown in my earlier post, before I had an intro session about the program. After the session, we went on a tour of the building, meeting several of her coworkers along the way and we were also promised a demonstration of one of their experiments, where they test the effectiveness of firefighter gear. Sounds cool, right? Well, the guy actually has to stand, in the gear, and exercize in various positions for 30 minutes, all the while being in a wind tunnel with Fluorescent aerosol flown around. Afterwards, they sit in a uv light area while the scientists determine where they need to reinforce the gear. I think it’s awesome they just sit there and glow…

Anyways, after the tour we tested several ECMs by lighting a kerosene lamp and placing them in this thing:

The kerosene lamp is in the right compartment, while the ECMs are in the glass door. They use pumps to take in the smoke, and then we evaluate their efficiency by checking for white lines, which indicate blockages (these are bad, if you don’t realize…). A picture of the graph is below!

After a couple of tests, we left and went to a safety meeting (concerning the department, not me :P), where we met this guy:

This is Mr. Stan Parker, head of security at RTI, and I gotta say… Doesn’t his moustache look awesome?! Literally, I want that moustache when I grow up. Now I only need to grow facial hair…

Other than his awesome moustache, Stan Parker is also pretty nice, and has some very interesting, if not fun, stories.

After meeting Mr. Parker, we went to lunch, had a delicious cheeseburger and fries (I know what I’m eating for my two weeks!) and then headed back to the office to continue working with the ECMs. After a ton more tests (all of which were perfect, if I do say so myself), I was offered the chance to try it by myself. Mine vs. the master’s is below.

The Master (above)

Mine (above)

They’re pretty close, right? The control (left) has a palm tree-like blockage, and the test (right) is ideal (as in, no blockage) for both. A job well done, if I do say so myself.

After receiving a delivery containing more ECMs, the day ended. Tomorrow, we go back to testing them. I hope you enjoyed my post!

Thanks,

Cameron L.

Day 1: SAS-ing it up!

Today, Grace and I started our 4-day shadowing experience at SAS. First, we got a tour of the Finance building with Lisa, the head of this sector of finance management. We met the rest of her team, and then she gave us an overview of how she and her team fit into SAS. We learned that there are over 6o countries where SAS has locations, and Lisa even told us about some of the struggles that come with collaborating with international employees! In addition, we talked to two employees about analyst and budgeting careers. And finally, we got to sit in at a Finance Division Meeting.

-Khushi

SAS Day 1: M&M’s!

This week another student, Khushi and I, Grace, are shadowing the Global Research and Analysis team at SAS under Lisa. This group works within the Finance branch of SAS, analyzing, collecting, and managing the ledgers and expenses SAS undergoes. We learned the ins and outs of SAS financial analysis, from the data collection systems to how to coordinate international marketing, as well as budget distribution amongst the SAS community. We even got to attend a finance department meeting!

The breakroom perks at SAS contain a generous supply of M&M’s.

The T building on SAS’ campus has a beautiful water fountain! (no sign to be found, though.)

Receiving my badge for the week in the main lobby.

First Meeting!

First meeting with Mrs. Michelle McCombs.

Cary Academy Work Experience Program 2016

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Students in the Cary Academy Work Experience Program (23 rising seniors in 2016) use this blog to post daily about their experiences in a range of real-world work settings. Feel free to peruse and see what our amazing students are up to!