Matthew Armanasco

7.00 AM

My alarm goes off – I press snooze and roll over.

7.15 AM

I wake up. “Damn, my alarm mustn’t have gone off again,” I say to myself, as I climb out of bed and get ready. “I really should start lifting before work,” I say, feeling bad. But all is made well again when I acquire the ego boost of feeling important, donning my Rheinmetall lanyard, and slipping on my boots.

7.45 AM

I am in the car and on my way to work, eating breakfast and drinking my meticulously adjusted espresso as I drive. Pretty good, I’m getting notes of caramel. As I argue with Siri about playing the song, not the album, I let out a sigh of relief knowing I am one of the few driving out of the city, rather than one of the many driving in.

8.20 AM

I pull into the parking lot, scan my way through the fortress-style fence (so cool), and arrive at my desk after the customary greetings. I write up a small to-do list, check my emails and work calendar, and then join in the daily online brief meeting for the electrical engineering team. We each give a brief rundown of what we will be working on for the day, and any housekeeping is handled (announcements, questions, etc). I definitely still have the best webcam background.

9.00 AM

Each of the summer interns is given a long-term project to work on during their time at Rheinmetall, and mine is to develop the Cosite EMC test: a test for measuring the degradation in radio communication strength that a vehicle’s own systems (electronics, engine, turret, etc) cause. As such I have to incorporate a whole host of skills into my day; I need to code the scripts for automatically running the test, adjusting the equipment, and logging the data. I also need to operate the RF test equipment, operate the EMC chamber, operate radios, and draw on my electromagnetics knowledge.

So, after the meeting, I boot up Visual Studio Code and get started on some coding. Bad news: the bug I gave up on yesterday didn’t go away overnight. Good news: after a night’s sleep and a coffee, the solution is staring me right in the face, standing out so obviously I have to question if my screen was even on yesterday. It is that way sometimes. I am chatting with some colleagues over Skype messages while I code, discussing one of two things: weekend plans or Maxwell’s equations. I might also have my Airpods for listening to a podcast or some music.

10.30 AM

After writing a couple of small features, I document my code (lol jk) and commit my changes. My colleague lets me know the delivery guy has hooked us up with some brand new RF equipment, so I head over to the EMC chamber to help set it up.

12.00 PM

Alright, time for lunch. I arrange with some of the other interns to meet at the hottest new spot: the MILVEHCOE canteen. It’s no reservation at Dorsia on a Friday night, but for just $8 bucks I get a great meal.

12.30 PM

The squad and I make the trek back to the engineering office. I go back to my desk to get some more coding done. The desk in standing mode is giving boss energy. I need some assistance from another engineer with one part of my code though, and with their advice I can get the next feature done.

1.30 PM

It’s time for the weekly alignment meeting with the RF/EMC engineers. In this meeting, we will go over what needs to be done/prioritized, what tests are coming up, what designs need completing, and other managerial duties. It’s also a time for me to update the team on my progress and record any of their ideas or requests.

2.30 PM

I now get back into some coding, and one of the electrical engineers wants my advice about a certain antenna’s positioning on the BOXER, so I spend a bit of time chatting with them.

4.00 PM

A senior RF/communications engineer is heading into the lab to work on the radios that are used in the vehicle, so I go in with them to help out, which primarily involves wrangling cables and antennas, and programming the radios. I also take this opportunity, whilst the top secret radios are available and I am supervised by an engineer with sufficient clearance, to test out some of my code on the radios. All goes well. Common W.

4.30 PM

I head back to my desk to finish up for the day by writing some notes for myself, writing down some outstanding tasks, responding to emails, and organising my calendar.

5.00 PM

Time to get going. I normally ring my parents on the drive home before getting into the kitchen and whipping up tonight’s culinary masterpiece.

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