49er Engineers Together Again in Germany
An email from Jason Early, Electrical Engineering, 2007:
“I am in the test field in Erlangen, Germany. Pretty cool and the work environment is ‘where the rubber hits the road’. Crazy thing, Jessica (Jacey) Rogers walks in as a process engineer to run some tests! On top of that, Hannah (Austin) Arrington, David Ghali and Shelby Small are here in Europe. That’s five UNC Charlotte alumni coming together internationally and working on projects together even though we graduated at totally different times. I think this speaks miles for UNC Charlotte.”
The 49er engineers are working on international assignments for AREVA. Here is a quick rundown of what they’ve been up to:
Hannah Arrington, Mechanical Engineering 2007, works as an assistant project manager for the Doel project in Belgium. “I believe that my delegation has improved my problem solving skills and encouraged me to be more innovative and creative,” she said. “The environment is ambiguous and I have had to learn new communication techniques. I have had to deal with more complex issues personally and professionally. ”
David Ghali, Mechanical Engineering 2009, works as a project and mechanical system engineer with the PLEX project in Sweden. David says he enjoys working with many engineering disciplines in different cultural environments.
Jason Early works as a Safety I&C Engineer with the PLEX project in Sweden and will lead the site commissioning and installation software team. “Large scale international projects are challenging. Different languages, cultures, and business practices are all part of the challenge and the solution. Creating new solutions found in diverse ideas is the fun part!”
Shelby Small, Electrical Engineering 2005, works as the I&C Architecture Engineer for OL3 in Finland. “During my delegation, I have gained a new understanding of organizational challenges faced during a large, multi-national project. It is difficult to maintain good communication and coordination between groups of engineers in different countries. For a project to succeed, these groups must all work toward common goals according to a common time schedule. I have learned the importance of confirming, and often re-confirming, a common understanding of a given situation before decisions are made and actions are taken.”
(In the photo above, left to right: David Ghali, Hannah Arrington, Jason Early and Shelby Small)