Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Engineers of the New Millennium: Dream Jobs 2009

SHOW OPEN / BILLBOARD [00:59]

MUSIC UP FULL

BANERJEE TAPE: When I was 12 , when I saw my first computer I said “oh my
God this is what I want to do” and from the age of 12 to 22 I begged my parents for a computer.

ANCHOR: I’m Susan Hassler. Today we profile engineers in jobs all over the world challenging and exciting jobs that harness the imagination..

BANERJEE TAPE: I’m in India trying to make it happen here, and until we have the means or the ability to have the understanding to make a King Kong, I’ll stick it out. Because if I’m part of the process then I’ve done my job.”

ANCHOR: This is “Engineers of the New Millennium: dream jobs,” a co-production of IEEE Spectrum Magazine and the Directorate for Engineering of the National Science Foundation.

MUSIC UP FULL

ANCHOR: We meet a Bollywood special effects creator, a robotics engineer, a video games designer, and others who bring passion and creativity to their work.

GONELEVU TAPE: The happiest, most uh I would say satisfying thing about my job is that the thing that I do actually impacts people’s lives, makes a difference in people’s lives, it improves their livelihoods.

ANCHOR: Exceptional careers around the world. Stay with us.

MUSIC UP AND OUT

ANCHOR: First, this news.
Intro to Program and first story: Keya Banerjee, Bollywood special effects designer.
[runtime: 07:26]
ANCHOR: Keya Banerjee grew up amid India’s vibrant Bollywood industry, where her father was a star. But her first love was a much smaller screen.
Keya Banerjee: When I was 12, when I saw my first computer I said
“oh my God this is what I want to do” and from the age of 12 to 22
I begged my parents for a computer.
ANCHOR: Banerjee finally got her computer, and ended up studying graphic design at Harvard and UCLA before returning to India to work in the film industry. Now she’s a successful visual effects supervisor.
Keya Banerjee: Tata Elxsi is one of the biggest visual effects houses in India. We do a lot of the largest films you see here in Bollywood.
ANCHOR: Glenn Zorpette traveled to Mumbai, India, to learn more about Banerjee and her career.

Intro to Vox of Childrens’ comments
[runtime: 00:40]
ANCHOR: Work is so central to our lives that we often ask children: What do you want to be when you grow up? Throughout this program you’ll hear from students of the Stevens Cooperative School in Hoboken, New Jersey.
TAPE: “I think designer of special effects for movies would be really cool because you get to experience learning all the new technology and how to make the movies look as cool and as interesting and as realistic as possible.”
“I want to be an inventor and create new technologies that would help the world.”
“I like the idea of making more environmentally friendly packaging.”

Intro to Seiko Watchmaker
[runtime: 04:55]
ANCHOR: Speaking of trim packaging, consider the wristwatch. It's portable, it's functional, it helps you negotiate your busy day. As long as it's working, you probably never even think about the sophisticated engineering that goes into this seemingly simple device. But Kunio Koike does. He's an electrical engineer who designs high-end time-keeping mechanisms for Seiko watches. Jean Kumagai visited him in Japan to learn about his work.

End Segment A
ANCHOR: Coming up, green power in Fiji, rescue robotics and more. This is “Engineers of the New Millennium: Dream Jobs.” Stay tuned.

19:00 to 20:00 music [for station I.D.]

Segment B
I.D. and Intro to Fiji Hydropower
[runtime: 6:28]
ANCHOR: This is “Engineers of the New Millennium: dream jobs,” a co-production of IEEE Spectrum Magazine and the Directorate for Engineering of the National Science Foundation. I’m Susan Hassler.
Following up on her childhood fascination with hydro electric production, Arieta Gonelevu has found her dream job close to home, in Suva, the capital of Fiji. She leads an engineering team that exploits green technologies to bring power to some of the South Pacific’s most remote islands. Laurie Howell has our story.

Intro to Vox of Childrens’ comments
[runtime: 00:35]
ANCHOR: And now, more career ambitions from the Stevens Cooperative School.
TAPE: “Well, robotics is really cool. I’m not sure I’d be any good at that. But robots are just so cool, how they like manipulate like they can construct all these different parts to make a substitute of a human mind.”
“I am really interested in the subject of robotics, because it’s pretty amazing that these things are operating by themselves.”

Intro to Rescue Robots
[runtime: 07:53]
ANCHOR: In 2001, when the September 11th terrorist attacks caused the twin towers of the World Trade Center to come crashing down, rescue professionals from many parts of the country raced to New York City to help search for victims. Among them was Robin Murphy, a robotics expert whose efforts after 9/11 marked the birth of a new and still rapidly evolving field: rescue robotics. David Schneider visited Murphy in her lab to learn more about her and the potentially life-saving techniques she’s pioneering.

Intro to Motorcycle Engineer
[runtime: 04:05]
TAPE [Kenyon Kluge]: When I was a kid I always wanted to be an astronaut, I guess a lot of kids do. Then I wanted to become a pilot and then hopefully, a shuttle pilot.
ANCHOR: Those were his early dreams. But when he got older, Kenyon Kluge loved designing electronic chips and devices. And he loved racing motorcycles. Kluge never expected to find a job where he could combine his passions. But he did. We visited Kluge at the Zero Motorcycles facility near Santa Cruz, California. Francesco Ferorelli has our story.

End of Segment B
ANCHOR: Coming up, an online video games designer, and more. This is Engineers of the New Millennium: Dream Jobs. Stay tuned.

19:00 to 20:00 music [for station I.D.]

SEGMENT C
I.D. and Intro to Vox of Childrens’ comments
[runtime: 00:46]
ANCHOR: This is Engineers of the New Millennium, a co-production of IEEE Spectrum Magazine and the Directorate for Engineering of the National Science Foundation. I’m Susan Hassler. Many of us dream about finding challenge and excitement in a fascinating field.
TAPE: “My dream job would be a graphic designer. I play video games and I’ve just always thought about, how do they do this? How do they make those things, and I would be really interested in learning how to do that thing.
“I really like online games – that’s one of my favorite types of games – so maybe I could invent a game for someone that someone really liked. That’d be really cool.”

Intro to Video Games Designer
[runtime: 05:41]
ANCHOR: Have you ever wondered who creates online multi-player computer games? Who invents these interactive sensations. We traveled to Iceland to meet a computer game designer. Willie D. Jones tells us about the engineer of the world’s most popular science-fiction online game.

Intro to Stewart Craine, Lamp Inventor
[runtime: 06:24]
ANCHOR: When we hear of engineers and scientists making great discoveries or winning awards, we don’t often reflect on the dedication of these determined people. One man who’s single-minded about realizing his dream is Stewart Craine, founder of a company called Barefoot Power. Craine sells cheap, ultra-efficient lamps to villagers in Africa and the South Pacific who don’t have electricity. Sandra Upson caught up with Craine in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.

Intro to Toys Inventor
[runtime: 04:23]
ANCHOR: You don’t have to be a genius to land your dream job; you just have to be persistent and keep your eyes on the prize. Take, for example, a self-proclaimed former B-student, Shannon Bruzelius, who’s now living his dream at Wild Planet Toys in San Francisco. Tekla Perry has our story.

Vox of Childrens’ comments
[runtime: 01:49]

Program Close, credits
ANCHOR: You’ve been listening to “Engineers of the New Millennium: dream jobs,” a co-production of IEEE Spectrum Magazine and the Directorate for Engineering of the National Science Foundation.
For transcripts of this program, and expanded stories, check out the IEEE Spectrum website: www.spectrum.ieee.org. You'll find many other engineering features at this website for the National Science Foundation: www.nsf.gov.
Our thanks to Erico Guizzo, and to the staff and students of Stevens Cooperative School in Hoboken, New Jersey. Our executive producer is Sharon Basco. Our technical producer is Dennis Foley. I’m Susan Hassler.

[program ends at 59:00]

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