a sampling of the 2016 PDI fellows
Alymamah Rashed
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Alymamah graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York with a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts, and has worked a series of short internships in New York City: Tanja Grunert Gallery, Kai Matsumiya Gallery, and currently, the Museum of Modern Art.
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From Alymamah:
Starting in early January, I began an internship at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which is in the hub of New York City, in the department of drawings and prints. It has been a very stimulating path for me to work in multiple galleries across the city of New York, for I have learned to adjust to different work environments and cultures. The museum environment is a large scale work environment, and quite different from the more intimate galleries I worked at in 2016. I have been working directly with the department curator, my supervisors, and cataloguers on two major projects that are directly related to my knowledge and interests.
One project involves a future exhibition of a well-known African American artist called Adrian Piper. The exhibition will be taking place in 2018 and the Museum has been working on this exhibition for the past couple of years. I have been personally interested in Adrian Piper’s work since her work addresses issues of race, philosophy, and identity. I learned about her through one of my art history classes at the School of Visual Arts in New York. I am now learning more about her through my daily tasks at MoMA and through the Museum’s resources that inform these tasks. I conduct research through the Museum’s archives and through outside sources to find interesting materials on this artist such as interviews, articles, videos, etc. I am also responsible for cataloguing each art work in the exhibition by creating object folders, fact sheets, bibliographies, and other things. This process not only helped me gain more information about the artist and her art, but also stimulated my mind and recrafted my philosophy as an emerging fine artist.
My second project focuses on the Silverman’s Fluxus Collection, which is a collection of Fluxus objects that MoMA acquired. Fluxus is an art discipline that took place during the 1960s and 1970s, which included a group of artists, composers, performers, designers, and poets. It was a discipline that went against Clement Greenberg’s modernist views of understanding and producing art. This movement was created by George Maciunas. He created instructions and assigned them to many artists in order to mass-produce artworks and art objects. He wanted to make art accessible to the masses and he was one of the first artists that introduced the concept of “games” within the art world. Each artwork came in many different editions and compartments. MoMA acquired this collection and have worked directly with Jon Hendricks, a Fluxus consultant and author who has catalogued Gilbert and Lila Silverman’s Fluxus collection. I had the opportunity to meet Jon on my first day at MoMA. I was reading one of the Fluxus books that he wrote and then I found him standing right in front of my eyes. I will never forget that precious moment. In terms of my responsibilities within the Fluxus project, I am conducting research on artists that we do not have enough information on by visiting the archive's facility, researching through MoMA’s library, and gathering additional content online. I am also responsible for creating object folders for each artwork, compartment, and edition and for editing existing folders in order for the cataloguers to be able to correct it on The Museum System (TMS), a database that holds MoMA’s entire collections, exhibitions, artists, etc. I have also had the rare opportunity to go to MoMA's storage facility in Long Island City, to work directly with the collection and to be able to create physical object folders to catalogue the collection.
Being at MoMA has helped me build both my professional and social skills, and fueled my curiosity towards the art world and others. Being a very large organization, I have the opportunity to interact with different individuals from different departments every single day, and develop professional friendships, mentorships, and much more. It has been an eye opening experience to meet people from all sorts of professional backgrounds and practices, and I am very grateful for this opportunity.
Starting in early January, I began an internship at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which is in the hub of New York City, in the department of drawings and prints. It has been a very stimulating path for me to work in multiple galleries across the city of New York, for I have learned to adjust to different work environments and cultures. The museum environment is a large scale work environment, and quite different from the more intimate galleries I worked at in 2016. I have been working directly with the department curator, my supervisors, and cataloguers on two major projects that are directly related to my knowledge and interests.
One project involves a future exhibition of a well-known African American artist called Adrian Piper. The exhibition will be taking place in 2018 and the Museum has been working on this exhibition for the past couple of years. I have been personally interested in Adrian Piper’s work since her work addresses issues of race, philosophy, and identity. I learned about her through one of my art history classes at the School of Visual Arts in New York. I am now learning more about her through my daily tasks at MoMA and through the Museum’s resources that inform these tasks. I conduct research through the Museum’s archives and through outside sources to find interesting materials on this artist such as interviews, articles, videos, etc. I am also responsible for cataloguing each art work in the exhibition by creating object folders, fact sheets, bibliographies, and other things. This process not only helped me gain more information about the artist and her art, but also stimulated my mind and recrafted my philosophy as an emerging fine artist.
My second project focuses on the Silverman’s Fluxus Collection, which is a collection of Fluxus objects that MoMA acquired. Fluxus is an art discipline that took place during the 1960s and 1970s, which included a group of artists, composers, performers, designers, and poets. It was a discipline that went against Clement Greenberg’s modernist views of understanding and producing art. This movement was created by George Maciunas. He created instructions and assigned them to many artists in order to mass-produce artworks and art objects. He wanted to make art accessible to the masses and he was one of the first artists that introduced the concept of “games” within the art world. Each artwork came in many different editions and compartments. MoMA acquired this collection and have worked directly with Jon Hendricks, a Fluxus consultant and author who has catalogued Gilbert and Lila Silverman’s Fluxus collection. I had the opportunity to meet Jon on my first day at MoMA. I was reading one of the Fluxus books that he wrote and then I found him standing right in front of my eyes. I will never forget that precious moment. In terms of my responsibilities within the Fluxus project, I am conducting research on artists that we do not have enough information on by visiting the archive's facility, researching through MoMA’s library, and gathering additional content online. I am also responsible for creating object folders for each artwork, compartment, and edition and for editing existing folders in order for the cataloguers to be able to correct it on The Museum System (TMS), a database that holds MoMA’s entire collections, exhibitions, artists, etc. I have also had the rare opportunity to go to MoMA's storage facility in Long Island City, to work directly with the collection and to be able to create physical object folders to catalogue the collection.
Being at MoMA has helped me build both my professional and social skills, and fueled my curiosity towards the art world and others. Being a very large organization, I have the opportunity to interact with different individuals from different departments every single day, and develop professional friendships, mentorships, and much more. It has been an eye opening experience to meet people from all sorts of professional backgrounds and practices, and I am very grateful for this opportunity.
Ayoub ashkanani
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Ayoub graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering and later on continued his studies with a Master's in Industrial Engineering at the University of Central Florida. Ayoub was offered his dream job by Boeing and started working at the Boeing St. Louis facility in early March 2017.
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From Ayoub:
Growing up with a passion in aviation, I always knew I wanted a career in the aviation industry. Ever since I visited the Boeing facility in Everett, WA, I knew it was my dream job to work there. When I was first informed that Boeing wanted to interview me, I couldn’t believe it! Soon afterwards, I was offered a dream job with the company. I was soon going to be the first Kuwaiti to be working on Boeing’s newest aircraft, the B777X.
I started working for Boeing early March 2017 as an Industrial Engineer on the new B777X program. The B777X is the successor to the most successful wide-body jet to ever be built, the B777. When completed, it will be the world’s largest twin engine jet. The single most exciting fact about my job is that it is on an aircraft that hasn’t been manufactured yet, meaning I will be part of the pioneers of the world’s most efficient aircraft to be.
Working at Boeing has a feeling like no other. A company with approximately 150,000 employees still manages to provide the feeling of one small family. I felt part of that family as soon as my orientation began at 7 AM on March 3rd.
Growing up with a passion in aviation, I always knew I wanted a career in the aviation industry. Ever since I visited the Boeing facility in Everett, WA, I knew it was my dream job to work there. When I was first informed that Boeing wanted to interview me, I couldn’t believe it! Soon afterwards, I was offered a dream job with the company. I was soon going to be the first Kuwaiti to be working on Boeing’s newest aircraft, the B777X.
I started working for Boeing early March 2017 as an Industrial Engineer on the new B777X program. The B777X is the successor to the most successful wide-body jet to ever be built, the B777. When completed, it will be the world’s largest twin engine jet. The single most exciting fact about my job is that it is on an aircraft that hasn’t been manufactured yet, meaning I will be part of the pioneers of the world’s most efficient aircraft to be.
Working at Boeing has a feeling like no other. A company with approximately 150,000 employees still manages to provide the feeling of one small family. I felt part of that family as soon as my orientation began at 7 AM on March 3rd.
Mohammed alqallaf
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Mohammed graduated with his Bachelor's degree in Architectural Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was invited to join the Ghafari Associates team as a Mechanical Designer in August 2016. He is responsible for providing or extending mechanical systems (HVAC, plumbing and fire protection) designing new construction and renovating industrial, commercial, and institutional facilities. He also develops construction drawings which address the installation, integration, interconnection and control of mechanical components within applicable building codes.
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From Mohammed:
My experience at Ghafari Associates has been great so far. I have been learning something new almost every day. I look forward to going to work, the team is very friendly and trusting of me. I have been handed numerous responsibilities and I've always tried my best to maintain an excellent work ethic. I look forward to having more experiences and growing personally through this journey. I have a passion for LEED and the design aspect that goes into LEED certification: energy modeling, increasing efficiency of a building. My yearlong project will come up with a better process for delivering and tracking communication with Ford, and getting sign offs from Ford more efficiently. |
From Ghafari Associates:
Mohammed is an excellent at listening and communicating. This allows him to quickly learn our standards of HVAC design and layout. We are able to give him small areas of buildings to complete the HVAC layout with only minor direction. We're group based, team based; we get together for discussions all the time. Mohammed is not afraid to ask questions. He wants to be challenged more, to do more. We'll give him more responsibility, more technical work, more coordination. We have worked with Ford Motor Company on a number of projects. We have two 'year+' jobs coming up on office complexes; both have a degree of LEED components in them. Mohammed will be included on the team that generates models on screen and designs. |
Sarah Gharib
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Sarah graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Systems Engineering, with a Health & Safety Focus. She was offered a position as an Industrial Hygienist at Boeing's Everett, WA facility and started there in March of 2017.
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From Sarah:
One of the roles of an industrial hygienist at the Boeing Everett Site is to assess and sample exposures of hazards associated with the different operations and programs. Personnel and area sampling are the two types of sampling conducted, depending on the situation and concerns. The Everett Site facilities I have assessed and sampled thus far have included aircraft assembly, composite manufacturing, painting, and interiors manufacturing. The major hazards associated with these facilities are noise, chemical, dust, and UV radiation. I have also conducted an indoor air quality area sampling at certain offices in the Everett Site.
My third week with Boeing at the Everett Site has been going great. I appreciate and value the Boeing culture of working together and helping one another. There are eight other industrial hygienists (IH) who are all Americans, and I love working with them. I truly work with an excellent team and an even better mentor and supervisor. It’s been an outstanding learning experience so far; I have been gaining a lot of knowledge and my mentor is having me work on many projects that deal with different operations and airplane programs at the Everett Site. I haven’t encountered any real challenges yet, but I have a great support system from my team and I know I will overcome any challenges I have in the future. The advice I can give from my experience in these past three weeks is to most importantly always have a positive attitude, be friendly to everyone, always be willing to accept any projects given to you, and ask for projects if you have free time. It has been an honor to be part of the Boeing family, and the best part about working at the Boeing Everett Site is getting to see the Boeing 747, 767, 787, and 777 planes. I have gained a huge appreciation of the aerospace industry and am becoming an airplane fanatic!
One of the roles of an industrial hygienist at the Boeing Everett Site is to assess and sample exposures of hazards associated with the different operations and programs. Personnel and area sampling are the two types of sampling conducted, depending on the situation and concerns. The Everett Site facilities I have assessed and sampled thus far have included aircraft assembly, composite manufacturing, painting, and interiors manufacturing. The major hazards associated with these facilities are noise, chemical, dust, and UV radiation. I have also conducted an indoor air quality area sampling at certain offices in the Everett Site.
My third week with Boeing at the Everett Site has been going great. I appreciate and value the Boeing culture of working together and helping one another. There are eight other industrial hygienists (IH) who are all Americans, and I love working with them. I truly work with an excellent team and an even better mentor and supervisor. It’s been an outstanding learning experience so far; I have been gaining a lot of knowledge and my mentor is having me work on many projects that deal with different operations and airplane programs at the Everett Site. I haven’t encountered any real challenges yet, but I have a great support system from my team and I know I will overcome any challenges I have in the future. The advice I can give from my experience in these past three weeks is to most importantly always have a positive attitude, be friendly to everyone, always be willing to accept any projects given to you, and ask for projects if you have free time. It has been an honor to be part of the Boeing family, and the best part about working at the Boeing Everett Site is getting to see the Boeing 747, 767, 787, and 777 planes. I have gained a huge appreciation of the aerospace industry and am becoming an airplane fanatic!
Yousef Ali
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Yousef graduated from California State University, Fullerton with a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, and is using his skills and interests in mechanical operations in his work with General Electric in Greenville, SC.
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From GE:
Yousef's strong professionalism has resulted in an attitude toward constant learning and adapting. He promotes open dialogue within the team toward achieving better solutions. Yousef is aware of his early career status, and he uses both successes and failures as opportunities for himself to leverage going forward. He is an early adopter of change for self-improvement. He has really learned from the experiences he's had thus far. Yousef turns academic skills into learning at work. He learns from past experiences. Yousef has accelerated his cycle time quite well during his time at GE. |
From Yousef:
I always wondered how I would translate the knowledge I have gained in my studies into real world applications. This transition was a big step for me, especially since I haven’t had a job before in my life. Today, I can say that working for GE and the PDI program has been a success thus far. I have gained valuable experience within 5 months of working in the combustion design team at the Greenville plant. From Gas Turbine parts and their implementation into different lines, to learning from highly skillful and intelligent engineers in this field. I had the experience of working in a team to develop the highest efficiency gas turbines in the world, which is a big deal. Most of GE’s gas turbines are used all over the world to provide power and electricity to people (Kuwait included). I helped my team come to conclusions on the performance of the mechanical component I was assigned to work on. For about a month I held various tests in the flow lab. I analyzed the data from these tests and interpreted them in a summarized manner. It was essential to communicate the results I saw in a precise manner, so I led meetings and discussions with chiefs, technical leaders and senior engineers to explain this matter. Today, the next step is to develop further designs to improve the performance of this component. My main responsibilities currently are to lead testing in the lab and create kinematic UG’s for the team indefinitely. Other side tasks I worked on, other than the seals, consisted of Engineering Change Requests to complete or follow up, post-processing data, hand calculations, and inventory research. Working in this dynamic role has given me the exposure to technical skills from a wide range of tasks given to me, as well as “soft skills” such as taking the lead on the tests, and communication with Chiefs, Technical Leaders and Senior Engineers about our next steps to give our customers what they need. I look forward to the rest of my internship here at GE Greenville, and anticipating growth for my team and me. |
