Dad's electronics shop always held a fascination for Kara Putnam.
It was no surprise Putnam turned from pulling apart equipment to work in the
new world of technology as a laser technician.
"I worked in my dad's shop on weekends and loved to take things part,"
says Putnam, who now works in the growing field of laser optics. "Then I took
a computer programming course in high school and that was it."
Putnam assists the doctor at the eye clinic where she works. The rest of
the time she's working with the laser, making sure it's clean and
operational. She calibrates the equipment and maintains it, which means a
bit of troubleshooting.
"I'm always learning," she says. "Working in the technology field,
things are changing very rapidly. And I like working with my hands and doing
maintenance." But that's where the challenge also lies.
"Whenever new technology is coming up, you still have to keep up with it.
The education is constant. But that's great for me, and great for a lot
of people in this field who like lifelong learning."
But there's a peculiar downside to working in the electronics field
that Putnam never anticipated; she's turned into the jack of all trades
around the office. "Being the technical one there, I've had to be the
electrician, the plumber. Anything that goes wrong, they come to me for. I've
even fixed coffee makers."
In a typical day, Putnam turns the laser on and changes all the gases,
which create the wavelengths of the laser. Then she has to test the laser
to make sure it's cutting properly. She tests the laser out on a piece
of plastic. While the laser is computer programmed and automatically cuts
to a certain depth, it's up to Putnam to make sure that depth is accurate.
"The laser thinks it's cutting to a certain depth, but we have to
set the parameters and check them," she says.
Unlike some laser technicians, Putnam has the advantage of working with
patients. That means that sometimes she's the one who soothes any tensions
before they head into surgery.
"Usually they're a little concerned about the size of the machine
[the size of a small car]. I calm them, tell them a few jokes, take a picture
of their eye, and make them feel a little more comfortable. But you have to
assess how the patient is feeling. Sometimes jokes work, other times, no."
Tracy Kubo works in another area of laser technology -- he puts lasers
through final testing in a manufacturing company and then works with other
technicians once the lasers are in the field.
"In the Silicon Valley, there's a big boom for laser technicians with
optics backgrounds," says Kubo. "When I started in college, I was really excited
about the field. It's growing. But the main problem is price: lasers
can be used for just about everything, but until prices drop they won't
be mass-produced."
Kubo loves the work he does. The constant need for education keeps him
going. Originally he thought about going into journalism, but Kubo's
father convinced him to take a few courses in the engineering department.
"I started to find that I had a lot of interest in optics and physics,
and got really interested in the laser industry," he says. That was many
years ago. Since then, like many laser specialists in the Silicon Valley,
Kubo has worked his way up by moving from company to company.
Now his company is focusing on more robust lasers -- ones that aren't
quite as sensitive and therefore will stand up longer to the grueling work
in the marketplace. Putnam knows just what it's like when a laser temporarily
goes on the fritz. She recalls the words of one of her teachers in school
who warned students against worshipping the laser.
"He used to say that electronics was a bit like voodoo magic -- if something
didn't work, you'd just have to hop up on the lab bench and back
down again and that would do it," she laughs. "And it's true. Sometimes
that's all there is to it."