Digital Literacy Project The Interview

Enter that field and examine the inherent literacy practices you find there.
Lets talk about literacy within your discipline, being sure to mention the math
involved.
Well go back & forth on this, to figure out what literacy means.
-Theres different math classes, and different things you learn in each one.
Theres more you can do the farther you go.
Algebra leads to trig to calculus to differential equations.
From what I gather of your job, youre given certain inputs (a task, necessary data,
etc.), and you take these and use them to complete the task and make the right
outputs (using your own skills and methods). Im interested in what inputs you get,
for starters.
-If someone gave me a word problem. At work, We have x money in bank w/ this
interest,
-Hey, this is the problem Im having, can you help me solve this?
-Translating what they say into the math problem behind it, and solving.
-The word of translates to multiplication.
-Ten percent of a hundred dollars in my band account.
If youre given a task at work
Whats a common task youre given?
-We run this test, say on an air conditioner. Need someone to change temp on
thermostat, and need to see how long it takes to reach that temp. Can it sustain,
etc. Would take too much time for a person to do this, so can we automate this? To
hit start, then come back.
-Automating tests.
What is the input?
-We need an automated test machine that will set the thermostat for 6 values,
read the temp in the room, & when its maintained for awhile, change the temp. At
end, spit out graph.
-What code do I need to write to accomplish that task.
What programming language do you use? Did you know it in college?
-Visual Basic is the programming language. Learned since working at Viasat.
Any background in programming?
-Knew other programming languages, which helped you learn.
Did it take long to learn this language?
-No. Didnt take long to get a working understanding, but each new project requires
more knowledge. Given simpler tasks at first.
If you took a guy who didnt know any engineering/programming, what disconnects
would there be on this problem?
-He wouldnt know program flow. The computer executes this line by line, and you
have to know this.
-Programming visual basic, or programming in general.

-The airconditioner uses Modbus, the way they interface to the air conditioner.
-The air conditioner saves variables in registers.
-Register 1 holds the value on the thermostat.
-Register 2 holds the actual temperature.
-So the Visual Basic program commands Modbus to read the value in Register 2,
then commands the Modbus to set Register 1 at x degrees.
How does Modbus work?
Its on the air conditioner unit.
Other thing that you know specifically?
-What useful information is to gather from tests.
-Running the test, want to know if it makes it there, and when it sustains.
-Knows to look for the faults and warnings that show up on the air
conditioner.
-If it doesnt work, these things show you why.
Told Set it to this temp and make sure it can reach it. Knows needs more info than
that.
When they give you this test to automate, how much of it is up to you vs. told what
to do?
-This example, told the temps to test, and the pass/fail criteria.
-His freedom is in how he chooses to do it.
-You start out in engineering, and move into management, where you make the calls
on pass/fail criteria.
-Sturcture: Works for Chris. Responsible for all tests going on for system. H-vacs,
dehydrators, powering on correctly, etc. Run this test, automate this test. The
delegating guy.
-Layers of abstraction (talked about in computers a lot). Computers can be
described as just transistors, but can get into angates, etc. High up management
needs to know if it works or not. Level below says These are the things that we need
to test. Next level down figures out how to test them. Next level down decides what
the code looks like for the test.

Are there certain skills that are necessary to be literate in your discipline that
may differ from traditional definitions of literacy?
Are there skills its expected an engineer has?
-Math.
-Being able to think through a problem and figure it out. Problem solving.
-Working with people. Communicating with people.
-Engineers are stereotypically bad at this, so its ok.
-Being able to present technical data.
-Get a spreadsheet w/a bunch of temps and times. Gotta present this.
-Make graphs, organize it, etc. Problems, solutions, too.

Expected to have programming background?

-Nowadays, mostly yes.
What were some of your core classes in college for electrical engineering in
general?
-Basic circuits (voltage, current, etc.)
-Introductory programming
-Signal processing (fm radio to sound)
-Basic physics (mechanics/kinematics, electromagnetic, thermodynamics, quantum)
-Quantum physics: every action has equal/opposite reaction, f=ma
-On tiny scale, w/atoms, these dont work anymore, and physics acts
real weird.
-Chance that for very small things, probability that thing will
poof across walls
-Basic math (calculus, differential equations, linear algebra)
-Lots of fields & waves classes (antennae)
-Electives. This guy knows about antennae! Power systems!
Ever learn logic? Truth tables?
-Yes to truth tables and Boolean logic (1 or 0).
-Boolean compresses logic statements.
-Saw the logic stuff in Intro to Computer Engineering & CS 173, Discrete Structures
Any benefit to learning these logic things?
-Definitely handy to know. Why? Hm
-In my job, I think of things in a logical way.
-If the test is complete, then move onto the next test.
-If the test isnt complete, ask another question.
-Has the test failed? Yes, move on to another test. If no, do something
else.
-Pennett squares of possibilities. Two tests, either could fail/pass.
-Do I have a plan for any of these four possibilities? In the code?
Are there specific cultural components attached to the literacies within this
discipline?
-First thing coming to mind? Levels of education. Bachelors, masters, doctorate.
-The doctors are respected, impressive, and can go to them w/anything &
theyll do it.
-By working w/different people, you can see different strengths & weaknesses.
-Kris doesnt just look at the problem given; looks at problem needing solved
by end of day.
-When testing, notices things that need to be fixed. Loose wires, how it will
act in wind, etc.
-Aspects related back to math.
-Seeing ways people do things, and trying to learn from them.
-Culture of investing in young employees. Replacing the retiring ones.
-New people bring new ideas. Learned new kinds of things in college, son can
bring new perspective.

-New theoretical college stuff meets experience.

-Chris. Three people under him.
-Viasat tries not to have too much structure. Pools of resources.
-Project managers & resource managers.
-Resource manager: I have a team of engineers that need to work on
things.
-Project manager: Im working on this project, and I need 3 engineers to
work on it.
-Im an engineering resource, able to be used on an engineering problem.
-Once project is done, Ill get sent back to the engineering pool.
-When a group is overwhelmed, Hey, we have this problem, are you free to help?
Yeah, I can!
Whats unique about how engineers work together?
-Put engineers in a room w/a problem, theyre not just working to solve it, theyre
working to understand it. Why is this a problem? etc.
-Certain problems from communication issues, because engineers are
stereotypically bad at it.
-Three really smart men w/solutions, but cant communicate them.
-function over form. The solution that works the best, even if its ugly.
-Logical aspect to it. Not I feel like this is best, its This is the best, and heres the
math of why.
Emotion? When solving, is there more or less emotion than usual?
-People do get attached to their designs or solutions.
-I designed this. If you say it doesnt work, I might get defensive.
-The Ugly Baby Effect. Sorry, but your baby is ugly. No good way of
telling.
-We got a whole bunch of ugly babies to deal with. Oh no!
-Some sense of reward for successfully solving a problem. Good feeling. Its a
challenge. A sense of pride, & confidence in your ability to do it.
-How passionate people are about their work depends on the person.
-Some are really passionate, and others are more Its a job, Ill get it done.

Are there literacy skills that entry-level members of this field have to learn
anew?
-Biggest one is applying what you learn in college.
-College is very theoretical, see.
-On homework, solve this problem. At Viasat, thats not how its presented.
-There is no one correct solution, and there may be no solution.
How can schools improve their efforts to equip students with the essential
literacies of this field?
Is there a better way of having homework reflecting the field more?
Yeah.

How can schools improve their efforts to equip students with the essential literacies
of this field?
Some of the things I use most well at Viasat arent what I learned in college, theyre
what I learned in Robotics club in high school.
-First learned to program in robotics.
-And sotering.
-And wire gages.
-Very practical. Need to build a robot that works.
-Wrong wire gage? This is what smoke looks like, and how to use a fire
extinguisher.
How do you read a data sheet, or a manual?
Many more practical things.
Seems like a 50/50 thing. 50% from college, 50% from robotics.
-Crazy, cause what was a free hobby helped so much.
How can schools help?
-Encourage students to pursue it as a hobby.
-Faculty supporting robotics team/hackathon.
More open projects. Come to me and present a project you want to work on.
-Circuits class? I want to build my own thermostat.
-Getting practical, see.
-Not just labs, people pursuing what they want to.
-Mixed feelings about that. Choosing correctly is great.
Any of math teachers use more technical words than others?
-Calc II. Geared towards engineers. Frustrating.
With math, good to remember that math isnt the end field, exception of teachers
and math researchers. Its applied to other fields. Good to know.
-When am I going to use this?
-Showing students when theyll use math is one of the more important things.
-One way to do this: story problems/projects from multiple fields.
-Rocket project. These are equations for physics that describe how high
rockets go. Figure out this problem.
-Then go build a rocket.
-Fashion design. Given dimensions of person. Surface area. How much fabric
do you need?
-Engineers need to know how much current runs through these wires.
-Finance problems.
-Applicable to their lives now, not just in future.
Putting in another 2 cents for projects.
-Story problems are good (especially for the literacy), projects are better.
-Demos can be just as good as projects. You shoot a rocket, and have students
w/protractors.
-Not expected to figure it out on own, but brought into the experience.
Concluding thoughts:

Something to be said about our interaction tonight. Scott explaining literacy, and
Im literate in literacy and teaching, and Alex is literate in engineering. We meet,
and sort out whats going on.