How I ended up working on circuits, motors, conveyors, PLCs, and sensors continues to elude me. But, here I am... tinkering gingerly at a terminal board and praying silently that I connected it to the right voltage before switching it on. *Blip* I gave out a sigh of relief as the motor turned on and the LEDs started flashing.
"So far, so good. No smoke coming out... yet."
For as far as I can remember, I've only immersed myself in software programming... C, C++, Visual C++, VB, Oracle... uhhhh, what am I doing? This isnt a CV! Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I've never imagined myself to be involved in hardware programming. I've always thought about it as all being wires and circuits with just a little of "real" programming thrown in. I got the chance to expose myself to more hardware experience when I accepted the job as Project Engineer. This would mean that aside from designing and implementing the software application on the front-end, I would also be responsible for setting up hardware configurations and actual memory address mapping to control machines and drivers. As it turns out, the prospect of learning something entirely new to me has piqued my interest, curiosity, and enthusiasm... and it's definitely more than just all wires and circuits... it also means fresh blood... because a fatal error in the programming logic and configuration could actually result in injuring somebody ;)
As usual, I'm one of the few girls who work in this field... or rather, I'm the only girl in the project engineering department in our company while all the other girls work in admin. The only other girl I've met so far in this field is from Vietnam who graduated with a degree from England. She's easily one of the smartest girls i've met and pretty, too... magkasinabut jud mi! We met at a Wonderware training and... surprise... we were the only girls there. During one of those lunch breaks in the training, an unavoidable question popped up. She asked me, "Do you find it difficult working in this field? I mean, being in a field where most of your workmates are guys?"
Without hesitation, I said with a small smile, "Yes, it was definitely difficult at first. But you get used to it. Especially if we work on-site and the only nearby toilets are for the guys while we have to walk to the other side just to go to the ladies' toilet."
She just nodded and laughed. We didn't talk much about it then but shifted to other topics more interesting... places to go to and sights to see. We didn't need to talk about it more because we silently acknowledged the undeniable fact that we are in a male-dominated field. The industry of software programming already has more males than females... how much more working in hardware programming.
The field is indeed challenging in more ways than one. Aside from coping with all the hardware and engineering concepts that weren't part of my lessons during college, the few girls in this field also have to cope with the whole situation emotionally. Guys being guys, females get more unwanted attention than we would care to get. It's flattering but it gets tiring and annoying especially since I would really just like to focus on working and not worry about leers and stares whenever I bend or lean over to adjust wiring configurations. I've already given up wearing those girly tops, pants and sandals that I was used to wearing before just so I could blend in more whenever we go to a project site... I even went back to wearing eyeglasses instead of contact lenses on weekdays (but wa man jud ko mabuhat... mutanaw ra man gihapon ang mga lalaki... LOL!).
I really appreciate the few times when some guys give me the freedom to do what I need to do with my job. There are some guys who don't stare or gawk when a serious task is at hand. They actually ask me to go and check on a driver or set the configurations for a motor manually... sigh... some guys just know how to boss me around the right way. With the right guy giving the orders, I find it to be a real turn-on hahaha! joke! ;)
As it turns out, I like proving my capabilities in this male-dominated field. (It's just like the
occasional kicking of a guy's ass in a warcraft normal game or in DOTA... nyahaha!). I do admit that I'm new in a lot of things here. I admit that I still have a lot of things to learn. I admit that I've already made a lot of mistakes and will continue to keep on making them... but hey... proving that I also have what it takes to be here and seeing those looks of approval from experienced people makes it all worth it.
