Technology and Maine is NOT an oxymoron
6 January 2013
I love Maine. I love the ocean, the mountains, the people, and especially the sense of community that I find in Mainers that seems to not be as prevalant in the other places that I've lived. I love Maine... now. However, I must admit, when my husband decided to build us a home in the woods of Gray, I was a bit skeptical. I mean, could we even get internet access? The answer was, yes, but only via satellite. There were almost unusable restrictions on bandwidth. YouTube was out of the question. I thought, what kind of backwards place is this?!? I was a graduate student at M.I.T. at the time, and I couldn't even VPN into the school's network to get my work done. It was incredibly inconvenient. Fortunately, a lot has changed in five years, and things up here are accelerating along at a rate that is boosting Mainers into a tech-savy world. This blog is intended for all Mainers - whether you're a computer programmer or a stay-at-home parent who just wants to learn more.
I am a mechanical engineer by education, and I currently work at a software company as a training engineer. I develop online tutorials that teach people how to use our software, and I also go out and give live trainings. It is a fun job that I get to grow with everyday. But, my deepest passions, when it comes to technology, lie in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, and getting the younger generation excited about technology and potential STEM related careers. Because of this, I volunteer some of my time working with and speaking to youth about what I do and getting them engaged and thinking about their own potential in this ever-changing world.
In this blog, I will explore the different companies in Maine that promote STEM careers, research the avenues that are available in education for STEM development, and also just share some neat stuff that I've learned along the way.
Have you ever learned about a new technology - an app, a website, a piece of software, or even some hardware - that excited you? And, then, you got to pass along that excitement to the people around you? There is nothing like sharing that feeling of "we're savy to something cool" with someone else. My intention is to do that here.
I plan to update this blog on at least a weekly basis. This is my first day, so I'm overzealous, and have included multiple posts to kick this baby off. But, if you see me slacking, send me a message to push me into gear!
I love Maine. I love the ocean, the mountains, the people, and especially the sense of community that I find in Mainers that seems to not be as prevalant in the other places that I've lived. I love Maine... now. However, I must admit, when my husband decided to build us a home in the woods of Gray, I was a bit skeptical. I mean, could we even get internet access? The answer was, yes, but only via satellite. There were almost unusable restrictions on bandwidth. YouTube was out of the question. I thought, what kind of backwards place is this?!? I was a graduate student at M.I.T. at the time, and I couldn't even VPN into the school's network to get my work done. It was incredibly inconvenient. Fortunately, a lot has changed in five years, and things up here are accelerating along at a rate that is boosting Mainers into a tech-savy world. This blog is intended for all Mainers - whether you're a computer programmer or a stay-at-home parent who just wants to learn more.
I am a mechanical engineer by education, and I currently work at a software company as a training engineer. I develop online tutorials that teach people how to use our software, and I also go out and give live trainings. It is a fun job that I get to grow with everyday. But, my deepest passions, when it comes to technology, lie in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, and getting the younger generation excited about technology and potential STEM related careers. Because of this, I volunteer some of my time working with and speaking to youth about what I do and getting them engaged and thinking about their own potential in this ever-changing world.
In this blog, I will explore the different companies in Maine that promote STEM careers, research the avenues that are available in education for STEM development, and also just share some neat stuff that I've learned along the way.
Have you ever learned about a new technology - an app, a website, a piece of software, or even some hardware - that excited you? And, then, you got to pass along that excitement to the people around you? There is nothing like sharing that feeling of "we're savy to something cool" with someone else. My intention is to do that here.
I plan to update this blog on at least a weekly basis. This is my first day, so I'm overzealous, and have included multiple posts to kick this baby off. But, if you see me slacking, send me a message to push me into gear!