Job title: Apparatus Shop Manager
How long have you been at Dartmouth? Eight years.
What path brought you here?
I’ve been working with these machines for 34 years, ever since my senior year at Vermont Technical College. I started with Vermont Wireform Inc. as a toolmaker and was there for 13 years. After that I had my own machine shop from 1993 to 2006 and then I came here.
Have things changed during your time here?
When I came here, there was just one CNC (Computer Numeric Control) machine. We now have three machines that we can program directly from the computer.
What’s at the heart of your role at Dartmouth?
My assistant, Chris Grant, and I fabricate devices to support the research needs of the faculty and students across the entire campus, including Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Often people will come to us with just an idea and we will sit down and design something for them.
What’s your favorite part of working here?
It’s great doing what we do, working on research projects. We are always doing something new, something that nobody has done before. It’s always interesting and something to look forward to every day when I get up. I teach a shop class for students three times a year, and we have had faculty members who also take the course, just to get a better idea what it is going to take to build what they need.
What else do you like about the job?
We keep humidity down so things don’t rust. (Laughs) It’s good for the machines and good for the employees.
Photos by Eli Burakian ’00
