Interview with an Ockham Member

Today’s interview is with one Ali Kishk, who shares my (rather good) taste in fantasy books, humor, and most importantly for today, drones.

Why did you join the drone team?

“I’ve always wanted to join one,” says Ali, and then he backtracks. “Okay, ever since joining the university I’ve wanted to join one. So not always.”

Most teams, however, are only interested in full-time positions. The drone team, on the other hand, runs on a sort of “accelerated timeline”, according to Ali: where other teams develop their vehicles every two or three years, running on a multi-year timeline, the drone team develops a drone every year.

“And within that year, there are several projects that one can do, and that was great for my minor period,” he continues. “That was mainly the reason why I joined the drone team. The other reason being… well, drone – sky, very cool.”

Were there other minors you had in mind?

“Well, the main reason why I joined the student team is because I didn’t like the idea of part-timing it,” Ali responds. “They tell you basically, oh, design this, design that. Run that simulation, or whatever, and that didn’t really sit well with me.”

So in short, he didn’t have other minors in mind. Another reason why doing a student team is good, says Ali, is because you get to actually apply what you’ve learned in classes into something physical, like a drone.

What is your official title in the drone team? What do you do, and what’s the workload?

Ali points at his shirt, where his name is printed in bold letters, and underneath it reads: Airframe Engineer. 

“For the drone team, you basically have all the external parts you see, which are 3D-printed, but you also have the skeleton underneath all that, and that’s what I’m working on. That’s what the airframe is, and what we’re doing is we’re making sure all the parts slide in and out of the frame smoothly, and make sure that all the other parts make sense with one another through the airframe.”

As for the workload, since it’s a full-time position, it’s a 9-5 day in and day out.

Is there a specific goal you want to achieve with the team? 

Ali thinks for a bit, and then shrugs. “Aside from my minor assignment? Not really. My minor assignment hasn’t even been approved yet, but it will soon – by the end of this week, hopefully.”

And what is his minor assignment? Ali has to design a specific part of the drone, manufacture it, test it, and then write a report about it, and that is what he will turn in for his minor period.

And finally, would you recommend doing a student team instead of a regular minor?

“Yes,” says Ali without hesitation, nodding fervently. “I mean, you’re studying and taking classes for the rest of your study. It’s a different thing to do, sitting down with a bunch of people and designing and engineering a drone. A student team is definitely something worth doing.”

-Wisang Umam, PubliCie