Gloat :)

[Aaron Koehl]

It occured to me I hadn't officially gloated yet. What's the good of having a forum if you can't gloat on it from time to time? :D

Per a recent thread, the pic police have requested proof of my gloat. What is the gloat? I recently finished up my Master's degree in Systems Engineering, from the University of Virginia!! How fun flies when you're doing time-- these pictures are from the end of May!

Pics are below; and yeah, my avatar just aged 7 years. :) :D

[Jim Becker]

Mazel tov! Congratulations! Very stylish hat, too... ;)

[Joe Mioux]

Congratulations Aaron.

Joe

[Von Bickley]

Congratulations Aaron

[Jerry Clark]

I know that was hard work but rewarding now and into the future-- Best wishes and good luck, you earned it!:D

[Dennis Peacock]

Congrats Aaron..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D

[Andy Hoyt]

So does he get one of those raises like Jim Becker got?

[Jim Tobias]

Congrats Aaron!!! Quite Impressive from UVA!!!

Jim

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Congrats Aaron! Best of luck in the future!

[Scott Donley]

Congratulations Aaron, may it bring you all the good things in life, you have earned it !

[Alan Turner]

Wonderful news. I wish you great success.

[Michael Stafford]

Way to go, Aaron! Best of luck in all your future endeavors!

[Karl Laustrup]

Congratulations, Aaron. That is a great accomplishment and something that only gets better with time.

Karl

[Vaughn McMillan]

Congrats, Aaron. Man, that is one BIG diploma they gave you guys. Looks like it's almost 10 feet long. :)

My ignorance is showing, but is the "Systems Engineering" related to computer systems, other systems, or both?

Way to go -

- Vaughn

[Tony Falotico]

Congratulations Aaron, an accomplishment you'll treasure all your life.

[John Miliunas]

Like I said on the "other" thread, CONGRATS, Aaron!:) If how smoothly SMC runs is *any* reflection on your systems skills and talents, you will never go hungry, my friend!:D Best wishes and continued great luck in both, your career and life!:) :cool:

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Congrats Aaron! I am sure it was very hard work, but you have earned a great degree from a wonderful university. The sky's the limit!

[Michael Gabbay]

Congrats Aaron! We won't hold it against you that you are a WAHOO! :D Actually I have 3 sisters that made the same mistake. When will they ever learn.... ;)

If you were only 20 years older, you could have had the pure pleasure of Easters Weekend. Those were the days!
Mike

[Carl Eyman]

Congrats, Aaron. Don't wear that tassel when you're working on the table saw.

[Dave Brandt]

Way to go Aaron! I know UVA is a great school, but you live in Williamsburg! How come not W&M? Just curious (my son just started there this year and loves it).

[Lee Schierer]

Way to go! Congratulations. Are you going to go for your Phd?

[Jackie Outten]

Dave,

Aaron actually works at William & Mary. He went into an accelerated Master's program at UVA so he could finish in 1 year. I don't believe that W&M has this type of program.

Jackie Outten

[Frank Pellow]

Congratulations Aaron. That's a great degree to have worked for and acquired.

[Ed Lang]

Congrats!!


And to think I work at UVA and did not know you were here!

[Roger Fitzsimonds]

Congratulations Aaron,
What an accomplishment, be very proud of it. The best part is you did it while you are young and have the reat of you life to use it. Good on you Aaron.

Roger

[Aaron Koehl]

Thanks to everyone for the accolades! It means a lot! :D

Michael,
You must live too close to Blacksburg. Yep, 252 miles from Herndon, that's too close.. ;)

Dave,
I work at William and Mary as a software developer, so it would have been easy to go here. Heck, they allow staff one class per semester for free. Unfortunately, they don't offer my degree. I might consider them for a PhD.. Who knows?

Carl,
I will try not to! That could get messy..

Lee,
That's the intent, but I just have to figure out in what?!

Ed,
Say, didn't you originally sign up to the 'Creek with a virginia.edu email address? ;)

Vaughn,
Indeed, this degree is making the wall behind me wilt. I think the frame is 24" wide! (And about 33" tall). It's practically the Bayeux tapestry. :)
Systems Engineering embodies a methodology for studying, modeling, and analyzing any kind of complex system. We, for instance, analyzed the various aspects of fully integrating container-on-barge shipping with the existing intermodal transportation system. (Lots of considerations here, as a matter of fact, you can take a look at our report here. We only had 4 days to crank this one out: (http://www.sys.virginia.edu/accelerated/%5Creport2.pdf). It seems systems engineers are mostly employed by government, but I'd be interested to see if any systems engineers in industry could chime in.. I'm still developing software for now ;)

Andy,
Part of the executive pay plan is that my salary doubles every two weeks here at the 'Creek. I've been running it for, oh, 138 weeks or so; that's 0^(138) = $0. :D

[Mike Forsman]

Aaron,

Congratuations on your accomplishment. I know that it took alot of hard work and dedication to complete this. This is a very big gloat!

I'm a Systems Engineer in a sub-field known as a Systems Architecture. I too started out as a Software Engineer but I moved into the Systems Engineering field while on the job. You indicated that the Government employees most of the Systems Engineers in reallity, most Systems Engineers are employeed indirectly by the Government through various government contractors. There are many of these contractors. A few really big ones that are international sized, and quite a few smaller ones mostly located in DC, Northern Virgina, and Maryland.

Hope the Future brings you much more success.

[Andy Hoyt]

Andy,
Part of the executive pay plan is that my salary doubles every two weeks here at the 'Creek. I've been running it for, oh, 138 weeks or so; that's 0^(138) = $0. :D

Must make it easy at tax time:eek:

[Ron McNeil]

Congratulations Aaron on a job well done.

[Peter Stahl]

Awsome, congratulations and keep up the good work you do here too!

[Aaron Koehl]

Aaron,

Congratuations on your accomplishment. I know that it took alot of hard work and dedication to complete this. This is a very big gloat!

I'm a Systems Engineer in a sub-field known as a Systems Architecture. I too started out as a Software Engineer but I moved into the Systems Engineering field while on the job. You indicated that the Government employees most of the Systems Engineers in reallity, most Systems Engineers are employeed indirectly by the Government through various government contractors. There are many of these contractors. A few really big ones that are international sized, and quite a few smaller ones mostly located in DC, Northern Virgina, and Maryland.

Hope the Future brings you much more success.
Indeed, Virginia's largest export is now government contracting!

[John Shuk]

Congrats Aaron!

[Don Baer]

Congrats Aaron now that you have some free time lets see some sawdust...:D

[Charles McKinley]

Congrats! May your degree serve you well!

[Jason Roehl]

Part of the executive pay plan is that my salary doubles every two weeks here at the 'Creek. I've been running it for, oh, 138 weeks or so; that's 0^(138) = $0. :D

With the recent gas price trend, I think your salary is doing better than mine, Aaron. (11 mpg work truck with a 35 gallon typical fill-up every 10-14 days, you do the math...)

Congrats on the More of the Same!

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Chin - Chin (But make sure you're Not going to work with machines) and enjoy a libation of your choice.

I hope your efforts provide you with oodles and oodles of greenbacks to pursue thia wonderful avocation......................Woodworking.

Congrats,

Bruce

[Bruce Page]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon14.gifA big congrats to you Aaron! Way to go!!http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon14.gif

Your hard work will pay dividends for the rest of your life!

[Jim Dunn]

Congratulaions Aaron! Is that your older bro. in the pic?

[Aaron Koehl]

Nope, that's me! ;)

[Jim Dunn]

Nice avatar, and again, congrats!!!!