QL+ mentor, Raymond Frank, is working with students at the University of Cincinnati on the Kayak Balance Assist Challenge for Team River Runner, Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky. For this project, the students have been tasked with the challenge of building a device to help veteran paddlers get in and out of kayaks, who have suffered a traumatic brain injury or who have balance issues.
What do you do for a living? Mechanical Engineer and Engineering Instructor for Butler Tech
How did you get into your line of work? I’ve been designing and building robots since I was in high school. I’ve been interested in doing competitive robotics and helping with my high school robotics team. With the teams' ongoing success, they asked me to take over the program to help expand the program’s offering.
Do you like your job? Love IT
What lessons has your work life taught you? Projects are the best teachers.
Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did that person teach you? Dave Campbell. How to be a great leader, teacher, and role model. His energy and enthusiasm he brings to a project is infectious and sparks others' curiosity for learning.
Describe your experience working with QL+ students. I worked last year with a QL+ project based out of Xavier that was intended to help a veteran from having problems with a prosthetic pinch point. The students that saw the best project results worked on their modeling skills more than their crafting skills.
What were like you when you were in school? As a college engineering student, I had a mindset of school first. My school work was going to be the foundation of my career so I took it very seriously and I pursued projects that interested me the most. Those projects were great talking points about the experience in co-op /full-time job interviews.
If you could pass on one important message to our QL+ students, what would it be? Fail Forward
