This week’s interview is with John Hygelund.
Jessica Barton: What is your job title?
John Hygelund: Mechanical Engineer
JB: What does your work at LCOGT involve?
JH: I do design, fabrication, and testing of telescopes, instruments, and instrument systems. Also some site management.
JB: Could you tell us a little bit about yourself - your education, interests, past work experiences.
JH: I graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in '07 and my senior project was a robotic telescope mount for LCO. I have been working with LCO ever since. I worked in machine shops and hands-on projects at school and jumped at an opportunity to work for a company designing and building their own telescopes in house from the ground up! Having the ability to walk from a model on my computer to the prototype on the shop floor is an awesome way to work.
JB: What is a typical day at work like?
JH: A typical day might be a morning of 3D modeling and designing in front of the computer, finding a good location to hide an annoying alarm clock, and then spending a few hours of designing and running lab experiments in the afternoon. If I don't stick around for the sun to go down for 'on sky' testing, I'll fit in a mountain bike ride.
JB: What advice would you offer people wanting to go into the type of work you do?
JH: Find something you love doing and dig in, you never know who or what is going to lead you to your next adventure.
JB: Is there anything I didn't ask that you would like readers to know?
JH: I'm a big bike advocate and help promote the 'Bike to Work Challenge' here at LCO and other cycling events around town. The picture I gave you is a recent picture of me at the monthly "Bike Moves" ride. This one had a bubble wrap and duct tape theme.
JB: Thanks John!
