S02-E02 Antonio is a technician at Lawrence Livermore National Lab

Antonio works as a technician at Lawrence Livermore National Lab. He had experience working in machining and drafting and went to a 2-year community college. He started as an intern at the Lab and now works as a full-time technician. Hear about Antonio’s journey and what working as a technician at a National Lab is all about.

The Talking Technicians podcast is produced by MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center, through financial support from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education grant program.

Opinions expressed on this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the National Science Foundation.

Join the conversation. If you are a working technician or know someone who is, reach out to us at info@talkingtechnicians.org.

Links from the show:

The Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC): https://micronanoeducation.org/

Lawrence Livermore National Lab Careers for Students: https://www.llnl.gov/join-our-team/careers/students

Lawrence Livermore National Lab Careers Site: https://www.llnl.gov/join-our-team/careers

Normandale Community College Vacuum Technology Program: https://www.normandale.edu/vacuumtechnology

Delta College’s Electron Microscopy Program: https://www.deltacollege.edu/program/electron-microscopy

Connect with Antonio on Linkin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonio-correa-barrios-59933167

Episode Web Page: https://micronanoeducation.org/students-parents/talking-technicians-podcast/

Transcript

Peter Kazarinoff  0:02  

From MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center. This is Talking Technicians, the podcast about technicians, who they are, what they do and where they come from. I'm your host, Peter Kazarinoff. I teach technicians and engineers that Portland Community College. In each episode, you'll meet a working technician and hear their story. That means real interviews with real technicians about real jobs. At the end of each episode, you'll hear actions you can take if you want to be a technician too. In this episode, you'll meet Antonio. Antonio works at Lawrence Livermore National Lab in Livermore, California. Antonio, welcome to Talking Technicians. 

Antonio  0:51  

Hey, Peter, thanks for inviting me. Really glad to be here. 

Peter Kazarinoff  0:55  

Absolutely. Thank you for being on this episode. So tell me about yourself. Where do you live? And how long have you been there for?

Antonio  1:03  

So currently, I live in Manteca, California, which is a small town, located in California, Central Valley. And I've lived there for most of my life.

Peter Kazarinoff  1:13  

And you grew up there. Is there anyone else in your household right now? 

Antonio  1:18  

Yeah, so I have a very lovely wife and a beautiful 12 month old daughter,

Peter Kazarinoff  1:23  

Well congratulations, and no one thinks he's seen any challenges working as a technician and being part of a young family?

Antonio  1:33  

A little bit. You know, the work can be demanding at times, and, you know, dedicated to the project. So if I need to stay over a little bit, I'll stay in. And just just being away from my family is kind of the biggest challenge. I wish I could be there all the time to watch her grow, but...

Peter Kazarinoff  1:51  

And as part of your work as a technician, do you get things like benefits through your job and vacation time, so you can support and spend time with your family?

Antonio  2:00  

Yeah, we definitely have vacation and benefits.

Peter Kazarinoff  2:04  

That's great. It's really good to have those supports. So tell me about where you work. And what's your job title?

Antonio  2:12  

So I work in the vacuum processes lab, which is a group within Lawrence Livermore, where I'm a senior mechanical technologist and in - in this group, we do we make PVT films for other groups within Lawrence Livermore.

Peter Kazarinoff  2:28  

So you work at Lawrence Livermore National Lab in California. Can you tell everybody a little bit more about Lawrence Livermore National Lab? What is it? And what are the main research topics that Lawrence Livermore pursues?

Antonio  2:42  

So one of three National Labs, and our primary mission is to keep the world the safer place.

Peter Kazarinoff  2:49  

And you mentioned that you make PVD films, what? What does PVD stand for? And how thick are these films?

Antonio  2:56  

So PVD stands for phase, physical vapor deposition, and it's a way to make thin films in a vacuum. It works by vaporizing atoms from a target material, and condensing them on to whatever we want to coat. In this case, our films range from a few atoms thick, you know, dozens of atoms thick to - to 1000's of atoms, or a few with up to a micron thick, would it be in the range that we deposit.

Peter Kazarinoff  3:29  

And do you work on with a team? Or do you work by yourself?

Antonio  3:33  

I work on a team. 

Peter Kazarinoff  3:34  

And what other kinds of job roles do you interact with? Who else is on your team?

Antonio  3:41  

So we as technicians interact with everyone from PI's or principal, investigators, scientists, engineers, management at the laboratory and other technicians.

Peter Kazarinoff  3:53  

Do you work in shifts? Or do you have a kind of set nine to five schedule?

Antonio  4:00  

Fortunately, for our group, we work a set nine to five. Mix makes it a little easier. I don't have to worry about coming in the middle of the night. But although sometimes the project might require that and we definitely have the flexibility to - to come in and do what we need to do.

Peter Kazarinoff  4:17  

Since you started at Lawrence Livermore, have the hours that you work changed or is it regularly just been a nine-to-five for you as a technician?

Antonio  4:25  

It's regularly we've been a nine to five. Fortunately, we have an alternative work schedule for those of us that commute. It gives us every other Friday off. So at the end of the two weeks, we have a 80 hours of full time work. And it gives us that extra day off for not having to commute.

Peter Kazarinoff  4:46  

Yeah, that's nice. So when you started at Lawrence Livermore, did you start as a full time employee or did you work as an intern or in some other capacity first?

Antonio  4:57  

I actually started as an intern? I worked as an intern for about a year at a group where we were building laminar targets for shock physics experiments. After that I got hired on as a contractor. And then I became a full time employee shortly after that.

Peter Kazarinoff  5:15  

So you mentioned you started out as an intern, and now you're working as a technician. Are there opportunities for further professional growth at Lawrence Livermore National Lab?

Antonio  5:26  

From my from my experience, there's definitely a lot of opportunities for technicians. And the more knowledge and skills that you get, the greater these opportunities become.

Peter Kazarinoff  5:36  

Have you ever trained anyone at Lawrence Livermore Lab?

Antonio  5:40  

I have I've since taking - since expanding my skills and knowledge, I've gained enough technical ability where I can start passing that on to new hires, or, you know, people that are joining the group, even engineers that are joining our group. I'm teaching them on how to operate the systems and maintain them and even some of the thin film processes.

Peter Kazarinoff  6:03  

That's amazing that sometimes the technicians are the ones teaching the engineers. 

Antonio  6:08  

Yeah.

Peter Kazarinoff  6:09  

So how did you get to where you are now? What was your work experience and your education experience before going to Lawrence Livermore?

Antonio  6:17  

The way I got here, I'll give you the short version is I worked in manufacturing and got exposed to many aspects of the field. And then I supplemented that with the, with the coursework in engineering and technology. And I feel like that's what helped me get to where I am now.

Peter Kazarinoff  6:33  

Did you go to a community college?

Antonio  6:35  

Yeah, so I started at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, California. There I received a certificate in drafting. At the same time, I was working at a machine shop and started sweet started off sweeping the floors, and then eventually ended up operating manual mills and lathes and then operating the CNC equipment. I just kind of kept trying to learn as much as I could and get as much knowledge and experience as I could and while going to school. So after I received that drafting certificate, I got an opportunity to work for an engineer in Stockton, California, who was designing case packaging equipment. I worked for him, doing all the drafting the detailed drawings for the pieces of equipment that we were making. This wasn't a glamorous job, and it wasn't an glamorous worksite. But it was a good opportunity to learn a new set of skills, especially considering that I was the only other employee for him. So being in that role kind of allowed me to learn all the other aspects of you know, how he was running his business, how he would design the equipment, procurement of parts, the design and assembly and field work - field service for the equipment. So I got exposed to a lot of different things. And I think that was attractive to the lab. When I got the opportunity to intern, I applied for an internship got interviewed, explained to them what I've done up to that point. At the same time, while doing all this I was expanding on that drafting certificate with the Engineering Technology courses. And all that definitely helped helped me stand out a little.

Peter Kazarinoff  8:32  

What are some things that community college that you learn that you feel like were helpful to secure that first internship? Because you did have some technical background in drafting and machining.

Antonio  8:43  

Definitely the the math classes that I was starting to take chemistry, the fundamental sciences, and a few things outside of the scope of my classes at AC/DC circuits, computer programming. I think all the technical classes definitely helped me stand out a little more.

Peter Kazarinoff  9:03  

And how did you find out about Lawrence Livermore National Lab and know that it was an option for you?

Antonio  9:09  

Well, growing up about 30 miles away, I've heard about it. And it was kind of always something that I wanted to do. I grew up watching movies 80's sci fi movies like short circuit and the Terminator 2. And, you know, as always, they always had like cool robots being built in secret labs. And you know, I always wanted to do something cool like that. And the older I got, the more I understood about what the lab did and its capabilities and the the breadth of technology that goes on and I kind of made it a goal of mine to be like I want to work there like that's what I want to do. And at Delta College, had a program with the lab where they would come and interview prospective students for internships and I was fortunate enough to  - to be in In those interviews, and..

Peter Kazarinoff  10:03  

Well congratulations on securing that internship and the full time position. 

Antonio  10:07  

Yeah, thank you. Thanks.

Peter Kazarinoff  10:09  

Do you remember what it felt like your first day at Lawrence Livermore National Lab? What did it feel like when you walked in that first day?

Antonio  10:18  

I felt like honestly, I didn't belong. Like just so many smart people. Being surrounded by all this knowledge and technology and not knowing, you know, what's what was kind of daunting. I definitely had my fair share of imposter syndrome. But after getting to know people, and kind of orienting myself, one where things are located, it's started to become a really, really cool place and really exciting place to work.

Peter Kazarinoff  10:55  

What does it feel like now compared to that first day working as a technician?

Antonio  10:59  

Yeah, there's days I drive in. And I still think to myself, well, I'm pretty, pretty lucky to be here. So I still am thankful that I get to come in and work with all these intelligent people and work on these cool projects.

Peter Kazarinoff  11:14  

What advice would you give current students or people who want to transition their careers and become a technician like you?

Antonio  11:20  

So from my experience, I would say, mentored mentorships. That's kind of what helped me get to where I am, and not being afraid to try something that you don't know anything about. I didn't know anything about vacuum and thin films. Before joining the group, I actually worked in a group that utilizes their services. So I kind of understood a little bit about what they did. And then an opportunity came up where I could join the group. And I decided to do it because I knew nothing about vacuum. And that jump kind of helped me helped put me in a position where I can learn so much. So don't be afraid to do something you don't know anything about. Don't discredit your past experiences. There's definitely life experiences and, and skills and training that I've had that weren't really directly related, but definitely carried over into what I'm doing now. And don't be afraid to take a job that isn't glamorous. You know, I've had that job in Stockton, that wasn't glamorous at all, but it paid off - itpaid off really well. And I have a lot to thank for that, for that experience.

Peter Kazarinoff  12:36  

And that's great advice. Thank you for sharing. What was something unexpected about working that you only learned after you started at Lawrence Livermore National Lab?

Antonio  12:46  

So as a technician, I didn't know how wide of a scope you can do as a technician. A lot of these technicians have moved up into positions where they're designing, where they're managing. Just this just the breadth of the capabilities of a technician.

Peter Kazarinoff  13:07  

That there are a lot of different roles that they can take on.

Antonio  13:11  

A lot of different roles, a lot of different projects, a lot of different skills that they can acquire. I guess I guess I had kind of a narrow view of what a technician was just, you know, pushing buttons pulling a lever. 

Peter Kazarinoff  13:23  

Mm hmm. And it turns out that jobs are just so much more varied than just being a button pusher, right?

Antonio  13:31  

Oh, definitely. 

Peter Kazarinoff  13:33  

Great. Well, you've shared some links that we're gonna put in the show notes. If anybody is interested in Lawrence Livermore National Lab or looking for a career there. Do you have any final call to action? For students out there or people who are interested in technician jobs?

Antonio  13:51  

Definitely. If you have that spark, keep at it. Pursue those classes that are there to hard keep keep up with the technology, it's changing all the time. So expand on it just don't. I wouldn't try to focus on one thing necessarily, but just try to get a broad understanding of a lot of interesting things. And then and then maybe specialize in a subject.

Peter Kazarinoff  14:16  

Antonio, thank you so much for being on Talking Technicians.

Antonio  14:20  

Thank you, Peter. And thanks for having me. 

Peter Kazarinoff  14:22  

Bye now.

Antonio  14:23  

Bye.

Peter Kazarinoff  14:29  

Talking Technicians is produced by MNT-EC the Micro Nano Technology Education Center through financial support from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education grant program. Opinions expressed on this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the National Science Foundation. Join the conversation. If you are working technician or know someone who is, reach out to us at info@talkingtechnicians.org. We're always looking out for great guests to share more stories with you.