Organization
Purdue University
Profile
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Employment StatusUniversity / College Undergraduate
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Biography
John Franklin Lillard IV Profile
Introduction My name is John Lillard, and I am a sophomore engineering student at Purdue University pursuing my Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. My passion for knowledge and intrigue in “how stuff works” has guided me to pursue engineering, and I would like to share why. My parents tell stories of how I used to love taking things apart, just to know how the things I interacted with in everyday life actually did the things they did. If it was not engineering, then I was always interested in problem solving, and as an engineer, that is what I do every day. I used to brag about what I called “inventions”, and even if it were nothing more than a fountain pump trickling water all over our kitchen floor, I was proud of it. As I became older, my “inventions” became more complicated, and at a certain point, exceeded the bounds of what I could learn from my parents. When I started to research online how I could start doing things like making a pressure washer out of PVC and a propane tank, I knew that I was interested in doing something like that for the rest of my life. Sure it could be considered dangerous, and I know that now, but it was a challenge that I developed, researched, and came to the production a usable product.
When it came to choosing to Purdue, I had no idea what I wanted. In fact, I thought I wanted a smaller school. My parents wanted me to explore all of my opportunities, and determine which school would be the best fit for my learning habits and lifestyle. After looking at approximately 21 schools, I choose Purdue because of the people, the atmosphere, and because Indiana was a change and I wanted something different. Coming from Maryland to this cornfield town, the 12 hour drive is definitely a change in pace! My classes thus far have been far from easy, and after surviving through thermodynamics, one of the most difficult classes in the country, I know that I will continually be challenged with something different every day. My reward thus far has been all of the friends I have made in college, of course, but also the satisfaction of getting things accomplished, and the gratification that it provides. All in all, Purdue challenges me every day, and because of that challenge, I know that I am becoming the best engineer that I possibly can. Credentials & Experience Applied Experience I have been a Boy Scout for the last 12 years, and have progressed through the ranks to become an Eagle Scout. I have continued my dedication to scouting by being awarded the silver palm, have acted as my troops senior patrol leader for 2 years, and have gained brotherhood status in the national scouting honor society, the Order of the Arrow. I have acted as the assistant senior patrol leader of a contingent of 50 people in the 2010 national scout Jamboree, with over 50,000 people in attendance. This has been a large part of my upbringing, and the skills I have learned extend far from camping. One job I have held throughout most of high school, and continue to work for, has been working as a crewmember aboard five vessels of Watermark, Chesapeake Cruising Company. As a crew, we are continually trained up to and beyond coast guard standards of safety working on vessels with over 200 people. The experience I gained in doing that extended from interaction with people from all over the world, to near perfect timing of handling lines on boats on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay. My passion for boating, and being on the water, apart for the fact that I am from the sailing capitol of the United States, Annapolis, Maryland, has continued into me deciding to purchase and restore a 1966 Sea King fiberglass 16 ft. tender vessel. As of now, and 100’s of hours of dedication, the boat is one of my greatest joys. Engineering Experience As a student in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University, with interest in minoring in Electrical engineering, I have been attempting to further my knowledge in things other than classes, and more than working. I went for a few summer classes at a local tech school to get people interested in engineering and technical work, and excelled in the electrical and mechanical components we were exposed to. In individual work, I was working on circuits weeks ahead of others, and did not think any otherwise. I started my knowledge in high school in the more applied field by working for an electrical contractor as a warehousing employee getting supplies organized for construction of the electrical infrastructure of, now, one of our cities largest high rises. In doing that, of course I gained a work ethic comparable in timeliness of a well-tuned machine, but it gave me insight into how important preparation is for the success of a business, but also how something so small can impact a whole operation. As a junior in high school, I was first introduced to engineering after becoming a Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (SEAP) apprentice for the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. As an apprentice I was exposed to research during the summers for the Materials division of Mechanical Engineers in the Naval Weapons department. This exposed me to more equipment in a week than I had ever been exposed to in my life. I was being trained to do research on alloys, and characterization of materials for use on Naval weapons systems. I continued on apprenticeship through high school up until I started at Purdue. Technical Experience In the first 2 weeks of working at the Naval Academy, I learned how to use an oscilloscope to test strain gauges for high strain rate impacts, an environmental chamber to do testing of alloys in ranges of temperature and humidity within 1 percent, calipers to carefully determine volume of samples, a micro-ohmmeter to get extremely accurate conductivities of materials, an autoclave the size of a small car, a micro –ultrapycnometer to determine densities of materials, and a Hopkinson bar to do strain rate testing on alloys from ceramics to bronze and aluminum alloys to different steels, and this list does not even scratch the surface. Although research can be a bit repetitive at times, I would not have given that experience for the world.
In college, I have continued to work for the Naval Academy, but now as an independent researcher for the Naval Weapons department on programming data acquisition systems for the Hopkinson Bar. I have also been asked to develop some imagery analysis routines and Matlab code of high power laser burns of composite materials. Professional Engineering Ethics In interaction with students here at Purdue, I have enjoyed my interaction with people from all over the country, and all over the world. As a freshman, living with mechanical engineer from Mumbai India exposed me to many people, and I loved learning about different culture. Adapting to different perspectives within an engineering context was a good way for me to be exposed to different worldly cultures. In my engineering classes I have needed to be flexible to understand perspectives much different than my own from people who have issues in much different ways than the way we see things in the United States. When is come to making ethical issues, as part of designing products for the future, risk analysis must be considered. Decisions of engineers must not be pressured from an economic standpoint if it endangers people. Making decisions can be a complicated or repetitive process that cannot afford deviation from established norms. While planning to produce a product in the design classroom environment, my team’s product went through many changes to improve safety. As engineers, we are obliged to do research on how a product might impact people’s lives, but keep the environment and economics in mind. Vision & Goals As an engineer, I am constantly striving to learn about technology, and pride myself of being up to date on the latest trends of “what’s new.” I am proud of the fact that I am running a beta version of Windows 8, Microsoft’s newest flagship operating system. In my current career path, I see myself continuing my education constantly, but more specifically finishing my Bachelor’s degree, and finding myself a solid Job in industry. As I develop my knowledge, I hope to become an important contributor to the engineering field, and start my own company in whatever way I see fit to do just that. I have an interest in Mechanical engineering, but really enjoy the combination of the electrical and mechanical aspects of engineering, and hope to find a job with nice harmony of the 2 fields. Considering the fact that we are living in an ever growing world, I see engineering and technology as not being constrained to one person, one desk, one idea, I see my engineering career as interacting with people from across a company to across the world. Professional work within the coming years must be considered as the interaction of thoughts of all, and the decision to pursue vitality of ingenuity.
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CitizenshipUS
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ResidenceUS
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GenderMale