Workforce Development Using MTConnect

Manufacturing industry relies heavily on the skilled workforce to drive innovation, productivity and remain globally competitive. The rise of the high-tech manufacturing is changing the environment drastically; there is a need to attract young skilled personnel to take over the existing aging manufacturing workforce. Employment in high-tech manufacturing is expected to grow by 23.8 % over next 10 years . The aerospace and defense industry has already a backlog of production that extends to 2030, requiring continuous requirement of new workforce. Unfortunately, the sector has failed to attract the young and bright student to choose manufacturing as their career path. Manufacturing has a perception of old, smoky work places with repetitive jobs, lack of technology and no advancement prospects. According to a recent skills gap report, more than 83 % of U.S. manufacturers report an overall shortage of qualified employees. There is urgent need to revamp traditional teaching meth¬ods used in manufacturing education to ensure a robust supply of essential human capital required for a thriving domestic manufacturing industry.

Reference: Workforce Development Using MTConnect, 2014 MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference.

Book Review: And the Mountains Echoed

The third novel by Khaled Hosseini “And the Mountains Echoed” is a family saga following the lives of multiple characters across decades in several countries including Afghanistan, Greece, USA and France (plus some events in India). The book is more of a collection of several character’s short life stories all tied together around a single family. The book goes back and forth with several characters narration which might be a bit confusing sometimes. Personally, I enjoyed The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns more than And the Mountains Echoed. The novel starts with a fast pace but after 175 pages or so loses the momentum until finally picks up in the last chapter. Also there is no clear note or the “Ahh” moment at the end – the story kind of drifts and finally ends with no compelling message. Overall, its an average book compared to the first two novels by the author. The author has tried to include all the family relationships including brother-sister (Abdullah-Pari Sr.), mother-daughter (Nila- Pari Sr.), brother-brother (Timur-Idris), friends (Thalia-Markus) and daughter-father (Pari Jr. –Abdullah) with moderate success. I enjoyed the previous novels with the story revolving around two brothers in The Kite Runner and two women a generation apart in the A Thousand Splendid Suns. Overall not a bad read, but certainly does not match the level of earlier novels. 

Favorite quotes: 

…there was comfort to be found in the permanence of mathematical truths, in the lack of arbitrariness and the absence of ambiguity.

…an avalanche buries you and you’re lying there underneath all that snow, you can’t tell which way is up or down. You want to dig yourself out but pick the wrong way, and you dig yourself to your own demise…

"… people mostly have it backward. They think they live by what they want. But really what guides them is what they're afraid of. What they don't want.”

“Beauty is an enormous, unmerited gift given randomly, stupidly.”

Book Review: The Kite Runner

I read A Thousand Splendid Suns (second novel) before The Kite Runner (first novel). A Thousand Splendid Suns has a female protagonist who depict a story of two women separated by a generation, brought together by war, fate and family. The Kite Runner on the other hand has a male protagonist who depicts the story of two brothers and the way their life is shaped by family, culture, war and customs. The book is very well written, you can pretty much “live" the characters - though the ending could have been shorter and apt. The book ends with not necessary a happy note but certainly with full of hope. The book describes the protagonist life in the California bay area; as I lived there for some period of time; it was interesting (for me) to see how the author portrays the region. Overall, it’s a good read.

Favorite quotes:

“There is a way to be good again.”

“For you, a thousand times over.”

“If America taught me anything, it’s that quitting is right up there with pissing in the Girl Scouts’ lemonade jar.”

“Quiet is peace. Tranquility. Quiet is turning down the Volume knob on life. Silence is pushing the Off button. Shutting it down. All of it.”

“Children aren't coloring books. You don't get to fill them with your favorite colors.”

“A man who has no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer.”

“They only let you be this happy if they're preparing to take something from you.”

"it always hurts more to have and lose than to not have in the first place."

"A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything"

"I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded; not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night."

"Time can be a greedy thing-sometimes it steals the details for itself."

"People say that eyes are windows to the soul."

“lifting him (a young boy, protagonist’s nephew) from the certainty of turmoil (Afghanistan) and dropping him in a turmoil of uncertainty (United States)”

Book Review: A Thousand Splendid Suns

A Thousand Splendid Suns, though a fiction, describes the political and social climate in Afghanistan from 1960’s to 2000’s. The wars due to Russian invasion, Mujaheddin faction fights, Taliban and then northern alliance has left the country in doldrums. The book is a pretty easy read – The story line is full of twists, turns and suspense. The book uses many Afghan words – you will need to get used to them.  

One thing is certain after you read the book, you will be grateful that you live in a country where there is freedom to live. You will be thankful that you have your friends, family and social acceptance in the society. 

Favorite quotes:

“It falls on the sober to pay for the sins of the drunk.”

“Regret... when it comes to you, I have oceans of it.”

"Tell your secrets to the wind but don't blame it for telling the trees.”