“Hey, what’s an ornithopter?”
“I don’t know. Just google it.”
Now look up “ornithopter” without using a search engine. Hard isn’t it? That’s why we’re thankful for search engines like Google, and Google’s thankful to its engineers.
Engineers like Andrew McGlinchey, product manager at Google, who:
“Causes Googley things to happen in Southeast Asia. I am the bridge between the software engineering teams and the users, as well as the other parts of Google (like marketing, business development, and marketing). I figure out what the products should be and work with the engineering team to make that happen.”
This is Andrew’s second appearance on our blog (read his five things to know about engineering). This time it’s all about him and his views on engineering.
Before we let him loose, if you’re “right now in a university dorm room, or a garage or somewhere, creating the next amazing innovation that we’ll all be using five years from now” drop Andrew a line ‘cause he would love to be in your shoes.
What’s engineering to you?
“Engineering is about making things. It’s different from, say, film-making or sculpture, because an engineer makes things to fulfil some specific purpose, and that usually means getting the details right.”
How did you get started?
“I was interested in lots of things: languages, math, public speaking, arts. But one thing touched just about every domain – computers and computer science. You can make computers process text or recognize speech; you can make programs to help others create beautiful visual experiences. So I went into software engineering and got involved in creative and practical projects that covered many different areas of interest.”
What’s the best part?
“Working with teams to make something fun and useful. And seeing somebody actually using what I made. Like some of the projects I've worked on over the years: Google Transit and Google Traffic for Singapore; Windows Vista (during my time at Microsoft), a website to connect students learning Brazilian with global partners; and a voice mail system for Nortel.”
What’s your dream invention?
“Reliable real-time translation. I’d love to point my phone’s camera at text and get a translation of what it sees. I’d love to speak into a device and have it repeat what I’ve said but translated into another language”
Your advice for aspiring Googlites?
“Take any opportunity to learn as many skills as possible: technical skills, design, speaking, communicating. You may discover things you are good at in the working world that you may never had exposure to in school. You can turn almost any opportunity into something great if you have an open mind and a willingness to try.”
Betcha thought we forgot about ornithopter, yeah? Click over to the Google search results.
Got a question for Andrew? Drop us an email and we’ll get back to you ASAP!
About Just Who Is series…
Every month, we talk to a Creator of Tomorrow to find out what makes them tick and tock, why they became engineers, and how they got to where they are now.
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