Manufacturing Takes Flight

Manufacturing Takes Flight Manufacturing Takes Flight Manufacturing Takes Flight.mb-2 margin-bottom 12pxWalk across the spotlessly clean and well-lit floors of Pratt Whitneys 1 1000000-square-foot manufacturing plant in North Berwick, Maine, and youll pass by dozens of closed-door CNC machines, each the size of a large refrigerator. The machines quietly whir and hum as they turn, mill and grind finished parts for the companys Geared Turbofan jet engines. Robotic arms easily lift and stack heavy gears. Shop-floor workers who once did the dirty work and heavy lifting barely touch the parts. Instead, they operate the machines, usually with a push of a button, monitor their health and progress, and oversee the automated processes. Welcome to the New Age of Manufacturing.Manufacturing specialists rely on integrated software systems to monitor the health and performance of CNC machines. Image Pratt WhitneyFive years ago, none of the machines were here. Today, they are essential to Pratt Whitneys Industry 4.0 initiative, a $200 million capital investment program over the past five years to improve overall productivity and meet increased demand for its commercial and military jet engines. This shift marks a major transformation from the labor-intensive manual processes that once defined manufacturing to those that are now digitized and automated. The changes here helped PW improve key metricsproduction volume, quality assurance, labor reduction, cycle time, to name a fewby up to 65 percent, depending on the team and the part theyre working on. In this new world, companies not only have to update the schrifts of machines and systems they use to remain competitive, but they also have to change the way they recruit, hire, and train the engineers and technicians who work on them.PWs North Berwick Aero Systems Plant, with its ongoing implementation of new machines and processes, and an aggressive hiring strategy that has attracted a new type of engineer, is a microcosm o f those changes. To better understand them and how they impact the future of engineering and manufacturing, just spend a few minutes with robotics specialist Jeff Lemke and his deburring machine.Recommended for You A Special Report on ManufacturingNew Machines, New Employees, New FutureA contractor with IT placement firm RGBSI, Lemke was brought in last February to program the robotic deburrer. A few months ago, he stood in the workstation, or cell, with Mac McCluskey, a manufacturing engineer technician who has worked at PW for 38 years and now oversees the operation of the machine. Lemke is tall, thin and relatively quiet. He looks the part of a programmer. McCluskey, on the other hand, is stocky and barrel-chested. He speaks with the ease and confidence of a 40-year shop-floor veteran. Despite the contrast, the two men work well together, communicate easily, and share a common respect for the different skills each brings to the table.Thats the type of teamwork PW is trying to pro pagate on the shop floor as it partners an influx of new hires, many of them digitally savvy with varying degrees of experience in new technologies and manufacturing processes, with veteran machinists and laborers, who over the years have helped to build the aviation giant into what it is today. As the company strives over the next seven years to fill nearly 20,000 positions expected to open due to retirement or created through Industry 4.0 initiatives, PWs future relies on these two sides working together as they learn and implement new manufacturing technologies. Examples of that, and the transition they illustrate, are on display at many of the cells spread across the shop floor.Take the robotic deburring cell. Before PW acquired the machine, a team of six highly skilled laborers manually deburred turbine casings. They used their eyes and sense of touch to identify a raised or unnecessarily sharp edge, an unwanted piece of material, or other imperfection left on the part after it was manufactured. Each piece took six hours to manually grind and polish. The team finished about 30 a month. Ergonomics, lacerations, and consistency were always an issue. Today, the only time a technician like McCluskey touches the turbine casing is to load and remove it from the machine.Meanwhile, Lemke adjusts the machine for accuracy and consistency, and programs its visual guidance system to precisely identify the orientation, position, and shape of the part being deburred. He also tweaks the formula of the liquid abrasive the machine uses to autonomously grind and remove the burrs. Each part takes about two hours to deburr. The machine never suffers from sore muscles or cut skin. Quality consistency has improved by up to 90 percent.PW employs three robotics specialists in the North Berwick plant. Veteran employees like McCluskey, those who have successfully transitioned into Industry 4.0 practices, understand how important the new machines, processes, and job titles are to t he future of PW and the areas economy.We need mora engineers like Jeff, McCluskey said. When they bring in mora robots, theyll need mora programmers. Theres no question that both are coming. Employees and pundits in other industries might worry about automation eliminating workers. leid McCluskey. He sees them as creating new opportunities.A huge misnomer of robots is that they eliminate jobs, he said. An entry-level deburrer will be able to learn robotics and go onto different, more important jobs in the shop. Its not replacing workers, but enhancing entry-level employees.Lemke, who represents the new type of engineer that PW is looking for, makes that happen. These new engineers are comfortable working across disciplines. They embrace technology and are willing to learn about new ones. They can quickly analyze data and use it to make real-time decisions. They can solve problems by thinking on their feet instead of slogging through a manual. By tweaking and optimizing the robotic d eburrer, for example, Lemke improved its performance by a factor of two, said Mike Newsky, a 33-year PW veteran. As associate director of manufacturing and industrial engineering, he oversees 140 people at the North Berwick plant. Equipment suppliers are always trying to hire him because he does such a good job, Newsky said. He does stuff they cant.Lemke also does the stuff that PW needs as it transitions into the future. Hes adjusted the program so that any operator can walk up to it, push a button and operate the machine, Newsky said. He makes sure the process can be groe nachfrage by anyone who walks up to the machine.Newsky said he needs more people like that in North Berwick. In fact, all of PW does.Looking for a New Type of EngineerLast spring, PW president Bob Leduc said as much while speaking to the media at United Technologies Digital, a modern office with an open layout that overlooks the East River in Brooklyns hip DUMBO neighborhood. Its where United Technologies, PWs pa rent company, develops digital technologies, including analytics, diagnostic, and predictive software and other enterprise applications. The environment was an apt setting for Leducs announcement, one of many company executives make to not only let the world know PW is hiring but that this new, clean, digitized, and automated environment is much different than how most people think of yesterdays manufacturing. PW has already hired more than 7,000 employees over the last several years for jobs in its plants, including those in Maine and Connecticut. About 2,000 of those were engineers. Today, many have learned skills and work in roles not traditionally associated with the core discipline they studied in school.About 10 years ago, PWs biggest need was mechanical engineers and their foundation in aerodynamic, thermal, and structural engineering, Leduc said. While those traditional skills are still needed, PW is looking for and willing to train a new breed of engineer. They might come i n with some digital or advanced manufacturing knowledge, but the most attractive candidates have demonstrated a big desire to learn new technologies and processes, communicate those with others, and willingly accept new responsibilities and roles.Katie Wenner is one of them. She graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2017 with a degree in mechanical engineering and now works in PWs Manufacturing Engineering Development Program, one of six undergraduate leadership programs PW offers promising young engineers, technicians, and other workers. She was teamed with veteran Bob Francoeur on a five-axis CNC machine used for turning, milling, and deburring parts. Machines like this reduce cycle times by 60 percent and labor by 75 percent. Conventional machining processes used to deliver about 20 parts each per month. Each new machine now finishes between 40 and 60.Many of those efficiencies can also be attributed to the ProLink statistical process control software that PWs engineers and technicians like Wenner use to monitor in real-time the performance and health of the machines. The statistics constantly scroll across multiple monitors in the cells. The software automatically creates spreadsheets, databases, and other reports that engineers use to optimize overall production. All of that used to be done with pen and paper, a process that took up tons of time and was susceptible to error.It helps in all the automation that were doing, said Dale Doucette, a process certification technician, who was working in a cell near Wenners that finished heat shields for turbine casings. There are fewer mistakes and higher output, he said. Since integrating the software, production of the parts increased 50 percent, Doucette said.Wenner spends her days learning the process of developing finely tuned parts and then sharing and communicating those processes with other workers. The job requires soft skillslike communications and the ability to gain the trust of a variety of people working at different levels that are increasingly important to the company. You have to properly communicate this information to the machine operators, said Wenner, who plans to work at PWs engine production and assembly center in Middletown, Conn., sometime this year. No one here can work in a vacuum. Not one part knows the entire operation.That might be true, but PW offers its promising engineers, technicians, and operators the opportunity to work across many of the companys divisions and, eventually, up the ladder. With Industry 4.0 we cant train our engineers fast enough, Newsky said, adding that one of the most difficult aspects of these new roles is staying current with all of the latest technologies. Its continuous learning and continuous training, he said. Its about engaging your people to feel comfortable making decisions, taking on risks, and learning from mistakes.Not Your Fathers Idea of ManufacturingTo find those new engineers and techniciansa search made more di fficult by the tight labor marketPW has expanded its multi-prong hiring initiative, including a big push to increase its involvement and tighten its relationships with the areas vocational technical schools, community colleges, and universities. PW looks for schools with courses focused on advanced manufacturing and Industrial Internet of Things concepts, such as additive manufacturing, robotics, AI, networking, and data analytics.For an idea of where PW is looking for its talent, walk off the shop floor and head to a small conference room at the end of a hallway that houses the human resources offices. A map of the United States hangs on the wall. A heavy cluster of colored pins sprout from Maine and New Hampshire. Smaller clusters sprout from the other New England states. About 32 blue pins mark the areas technical high schools and about 45 red pins identify community colleges. Two green pins stick out from the crowd, marking the University of Maine and the University of New Hamps hire, two schools with strong engineering programs. This is just the beginning, Lorraine Marcotte, PWs communications director said, regarding PWs new strategy. Weve done a lot of recruiting, but not this type of targeting.As part of its partnering, recruiting, and zurckhalten efforts, the company offers internships, co-op jobs, scholarships, program gifts, education reimbursement, collaboration on senior projects, and other incentives. Despite the high security concerns of a company that works so closely with the military, PW is hosting more open-house events to let area educators, guidance counsellors, and students see what the new type of manufacturing is all about. PW execs and engineers sit on the schools advisory boards and, among other things, share with each other the types of courses they might add or trends they should explore to better prepare their students for Industry 4.0 careers.PW has always had a strong reputation in the area as a good employer. So good, in fact, th at born-and-bred Mainers who have earned a reputation for shunning outsiders make a major exception for people from Connecticut because PWs main headquarters are in East Hartford. The areas other major manufacturers, such as Bath Iron Works and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, as well as a handful of important tech companies in and around Portland, Maine, also have good reps. But PW, locals said, takes the extra step in nurturing local partnerships and treating its employees well.I think PW has done really well at reaching out. They are one of the companies that comes back and really drives the relationship, said Brad Kinsey, department chair and professor of mechanical engineering at the University of New Hampshire, who was quick to note that PW made several substantial gifts and scholarships related to the departments new John Olson Advanced Manufacturing Center. Not all companies are willing to sign up to that level that they have signed up for.The Need for AutomationWhen Dana Hump hrey became dean of engineering at the University of Maine in Orono 12 years ago, the first manufacturer he visited was PW. Despite a handful of important manufacturers that are much closer to his campus, Humphrey visits PW the most. Given the close relationship between the school and the company, he takes pride in seeing first-hand PWs Industry 4.0 transformation and knowing that so many of his graduates, on both the manufacturing and design sides, have played integral roles in that transition. Its also gratifying, he said, to see how accepting, embracing, and leveraging major changes in industry, no matter how disruptive, benefits a community, a state, and a nation.Automation allows American manufacturing to be more cost competitive, he said. Look at companies like Pratt Whitney. Theyre creating more opportunities for employees, not less. The more cost competitive you are, the more products you can create and the more work you generate. Its an upward spiral. Adult workers need th e opportunity to be trained in these skills, and you need new entrees, like high school graduates, integrated into this type of work. These are great jobs.Jeff OHeir is ASME.orgs senior content manager and producer of ASME TechCast, a new podcast brought to you by the editors of ASME.org and Mechanical Engineering magazine.Also read Special Report on Manufacturing For Further Discussion

Gibson Dunn Lawyers On Choosing Transactional Law

Gibson Dunn Lawyers On Choosing Transactional LawGibson Dunn Lawyers On Choosing Transactional LawGibson, Dunn Crutcher associate Saee Muzumdar caught up with corporate partners Barbara Becker, who heads the firms MA group, and Rashida La Lande, NY hiring partner, for a discussion about why they chose to be corporate lawyers and some of the benefits of transactional work.From Left,Saee Muzumdar,Barbara Becker, andRashida La Lande.Saee Law school is relatively litigation (or at least case law) focused- what drew you to transactional work?Barbara I had tried litigation as a summer associate- I thought I wanted to be a first amendment litigator I worked on a fabulous high profile case, but even though the assignment was interesting, the nature of the work felt too much to me like a continuation of school and I was ready for something different. I tried corporate work and it was a natural fit. I very much enjoy working in teams, and collaborating with colleagues both at Gibson Dunn and the client, to achieve our clients goals.Saee Ive found that transactional work experience can produce a wide range of future work opportunities outside a law firm. Can you talk a little bit about some of the careers former colleagues of yours have gone on to? What kind of roles have you been able to help corporate associates obtain?Barbara The skills you learn as a corporate lawyer, including analysis of complex legal issues (and relating such issues to particular clients and deals), information synthesis, people management and communication to a geschftliches miteinander audience, allow lawyers to transfer easily into lots of jobs outside a law firm. Over the years, colleagues of ours have gotten fabulous jobs as in-house lawyers at corporations and investment banks, and many have transitioned to the business side of transactions at PE/hedge funds or head of strategy/business development at companies.Rashida I couldnt agree more. MA in particular gives you the opportunity to focus on and understand not only the legal aspects of a transaction, but also the financial aspects. You come to learn the key drivers of growth and risk for your clients and different types of businesses, which skills are invaluable for a broad scope of non-law firm jobs.At Gibson Dunn, because our system permits associates to remain unassigned for the first two years of practice, and because thereafter we have a free market system, associates tend to get a broad perspective of transactional work and issues relevant to corporations, which makes them highly sought after for in-house corporate positions.Some recent examples that come to mind include a senior associate who transitioned with the firms assistance to becoming the general counsel for a boutique investment bank, a former associate who has gone on to become the general counsel of a small energy company, a mid-level associate who recently left for a VP job at a hedge fund, and another mid-level associate that the firm assisted in placing at a senior legal position at a multinational media conglomerate.Saee Obviously none of those kinds of external opportunities appealed to you What are some of the fruchtwein interesting deals you have worked on? What factors led you to stay at Gibson Dunn to make partner?Barbara The intellectual challenge as well as the ability to work with smart people (who I really like) is what keeps me at the firm. We get to work on a companys most strategic and challenging transactions and collaborate with clients, both the in-house lawyers and the business teams, to come up with creative solutions to complex problems. I especially like working on cross-border deals where different cultures and legal regimes come into play. For example, organs acquisition of Cadbury was a particularly interesting transaction both from a business perspective and also because of the complications associated with coordinating different legal regimes to achieve our clients objective.In addition, I enjoy he lping to build a practice, which involves client development but also developing a team within the firm that includes our youngest lawyers as well as experts in different areas across all of our offices.Finally, I think one aspect that law students may overlook is that we give our lawyers the flexibility to manage their careers and their own schedules. Although we are all responsive to clients and the requirements of the being a partner at a large law firm, I have a tremendous amount of flexibility in creating my schedule and managing competing demands for my time.Saee Thats a very good point, I know each of you has 4 children- without sounding overly clich, how are you able to have it all?Barbara The firm is an incredibly supportive place, not just for women and mothers but for all of our lawyers and staff. As I said before, the benefit of working at a law firm is the flexibility to generally manage your schedule and beyond that, the firm has provided me with opportunities to conti nue to build a successful practice while maintaining a high-quality family life.Saee What type of person do you think would enjoy transactional work? You have both been the hiring partner for GDCs NY office, what characteristics make recruits stand out in interview?Rashida The nature of transactional, and particularly MA, work tends to draw people who enjoy math more than your stereotypical lawyer because you are so integrally involved in the business/financial aspects of the deal. In my experience, the most successful MA lawyers are the ones who understand the big picture and enjoy putting deals together. This requires broader thinking and the ability to see the forest through the trees without getting bogged down in details. You often hear the analogy of the MA lawyer as the quarterback- the job requires you to synthesize information from various experts around the firm, apply it to the clients business and the deal at hand, and come up with workable (and legal) solutions to deal- issues.In addition to looking for candidates that are smart and enthusiastic, I look for people that have common sense and a good way with clients/people. We of course want people who have done their homework about the firm and are excellent communicators. I tend to think law students that are proactive, thoughtful, entrepreneurial, and enjoy problem-solving make successful lawyers at Gibson Dunn.This is a sponsored blog post from Gibson, Dunn Crutcher. You can view GDCs Vault profile here.Follow Vault Law on TwitterVaultLawand follow Vault on InstagramVaultCareersandFacebookRead MoreWhat is Corporate Law?Gibson Dunns Vault RankingsPractice Perspectives Vaults Guide to Legal Practice Areas

ASME Training Development Presents New Program in August

ASME Training Development Presents New Program in August ASME Training Development Presents New Program in August ASME Training & Development Presents New Program in August May 12, 2017 ASME Training Development will debut a new MasterClass series on pressure vessels and piping (PVP) during ASME Code Week in Minneapolis, Minn., this August. The new Case Study Series, Pressure Vessel and Piping Failures: Causes, Mitigation and Repair, will be held from Aug. 9-11 at the Doubletree by Hilton Bloomington Minneapolis South. The series, which will consist of seven case study workshops, is designed to provide engineers, inspectors and regulators with practical guidance for making run-or-repair decisions based on the sound application of ASME/API codes, industry regulations and engineering practice. Each of the two-hour workshops, which will be led by PVP Code experts, will focus on the damage mechanisms, their causes and characteristics, methods of inspection to assess the damage levels, and the techniques and criteria for assessing the components fitness-for service. Participants may register for any number of the workshops or sign up for all seven. The series will kick off on Aug. 9 with PVP Integrity Assessment and Repair Using ASME/API Codes An Overview, which will take place from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The session will provide an introduction to integrity assessment and repairs of fixed equipment across industries including the chemical process industry, the oil and gas pipeline industry, refineries and petrochemicals, nuclear power and fossil power plants. Four case study workshops will be offered the following day: PVP Failure Mode Case Study 1: General Metal Loss Corrosion, from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.; PVP Failure Mode Case Study 2: Local Thin Areas, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; PVP Failure Mode Case Study 3: Pitting Corrosion, from 1:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.; and PVP Failure Mode Case Study 4: Stress Corrosion Cracking, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The series will conclude on Aug. 11 with two additional workshops, PVP Failure Mode Case Study 5: Flow-Induced Vibration in Pipes, from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., and PVP Failure Mode Case Study 6: Waterhammer Damage in Pipes, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The workshops will be conducted by George Antaki and Tony Scribner. Antaki, an ASME Fellow with more than 40 years of experience in mechanical and structural integrity in the power and process industries, is chair of the ASME III Working Group on Piping Design and the ASME B31 Mechanical Design Committee, and member of the joint API-579/ASME FFS-1 Committee and the ASME Post-Construction Code. Scribner is an eminent materials engineering and corrosion control expert with 40 years of experience in failure analysis, materials selection, and equipment design and process modifications for corrosion minimization. For more information on the seven workshops in the PVP Failure Mode Case Study Series, visit http://go.asme.org/PVPfailuremode. To register for one or more of the workshops, visit www.asme.org/products/courses/asme-program-mc1090. For information about ASME PVP MasterClass programs or other MasterClass programs, visit http://go.asme.org/masterclass or contact Jennifer Delda at deldaj@asme.org.

One Reason to NOT Take a Job

One Reason to NOT Take a Job One Reason to NOT Take a Job 2 What was the readers reason to NOT take a job? The job has all the hallmarks of one that might not last. Our reader, Tom W., a senior energy engineer from Oregon, isnt speaking off the cuff- he actually has some experience in this area. Heres what Tom had to say. On taking two jobs that both fizzled quickly: In my case, Ive encountered this situation twice in the last two years. I signed on for two jobs in a row that paid great salaries, but didnt endure. The first job lasted 13 months before the company tanked and I got laid off. I was unemployed and looking for work for five months before taking the second job, which paid in the six figures but required a helluva weekly commute (back and forth 550 miles each way between Portland and the Bay Area). The second job lasted only 11 months, and it’s been followed by a long period of unemployment, currently cresting (hopefully) now at nine months. Why a high salary may not always be a good thing: The lesson learned (for me anyway) is that for every job offer you tendered, you have to add ALL the months of employment together with the subsequent months of unemployment to come up with an equivalent average monthly salary. So, 12 months of employment at $90k per year, followed by six months of unemployment at $0 per month (18 months total) is actually equivalent to an annual salary of only $60k (calculated as   = ($90k / 18 months) x 12]. How to gauge the risks of taking a job that might not last: My point being that you can’t know in advance whether a job will last, but you can gauge the risks and estimate accordingly what your true salary is likely to be. Of course, foregoing a job offer assumes you have other alternatives in the hopper. Either way, you have to assess carefully the pros of taking a job against the cons of giving it a miss. Our big thanks to Tom for sharing his story and advice with us and our job seekers! Readers, whats your one reason to not take a job? Let us know in the comments below!

Jobscan Case Study Baylor University Hankamer School of Business

Jobscan Case Study Baylor University Hankamer School of Business Jobscan Case Study Baylor University Hankamer School of Business Using Jobscan to bridge the gap between the career and curriculum 81% employed or grad school 90 days after graduation at the undergraduate level95% employed 90 days after graduation at the graduate level100% usage by their students in career focused classes30% or more recruiter calls after using Jobscan “Jobscan is one of the highest rated career resources used by our students. Students easily grasp the capabilities and are quick to utilize it in every job and internship application they submit. Students see quick improvement in their application success and the process improves the students understanding of properly and professionally fitting their resumes to each opportunity.” Assistant Dean, Baylor University Career Center, Ken Buckley About Baylor The Baylor University Career Center takes a no-nonsense approach to career development. Each coming to Baylor from the private sector, Kenneth Buckley, Assistant Dean; Michael Estepp, Director; and Jeffrey Stubbs, Director, seek out innovative solutions to complex career challenges that face college students today. Jobscan was immediately recognized as a “game-changer” for enhancing students’ career development and overall placement success. In 2016, Baylor University became Jobscan’s first university customer. Through Jobscan’s resume optimization tool, students learn about practical job search strategies like how to navigate applicant tracking systems and tailor their resume to each job. Taking Career Development Into the Classroom In order to get the most out of Jobscan (and the other tools at their disposal), the career team at Baylor developed two degree-required courses at the graduate and undergraduate level that introduced business students to the concepts of overall career development. Sophomore and Junior business students enroll each semester in BUS 2101 Career Assessment and Discovery and BUS 3101 Strategy and Success courses. In these courses, students cover career discovery, resume development and personal branding, effective internship and job search, interviewing, negotiations, and understanding how to make a positive impact on the job. In the resume development process the students are given an assignment requiring them to tailor their newly developed resume to three different jobs utilizing Jobscan. The students must get a 60% or higher resume match rate from Jobscan in order to pass the assignment. To make grading simple, students upload screenshots of their before and after match reports to Canvas, Baylor’s LMS. Most students have an initial match rate of 20%. The resume development process is significantly enhanced by the students efforts to rethink their accomplishments and experiences to show a stronger fit to the opportunity. In the graduate level courses, MBAs utilize Jobscan a little differently. Estepp has a group of 3-4 students look at a job description and decide who would be the best fit for the role. Then, the students scan the top candidate’s resume against the job description. Typically, they won’t score more than a 30% match on their first scan. “It’s eye opening to the students and surprising, but it only makes them realize there is much more to be done when it comes to tailoring their resumes,” said Estepp. The Results “We’re seeing easily 30% or more increase in calls from recruiters when our students use Jobscan to tailor their resumes,” reported Stubbs. Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business has a 100% knowledge rate for their First Destination survey. In 2018, Hankamer reported 81% of their undergraduates were employed or going to grad school within 90 days of graduation. In 2018, they also saw a 95% employment rate for their MBA program within 90 days of graduation. “We’re very proud of our success,” said Estepp. “We know that career tools like Jobscan can provide significant influence on a student’s career success. In addition this specialized career resource provides a force multiplier for our professional career staff.” More Resources To learn more about Baylor’s career success strategies and integrating on campus, we highly recommend checking out their book College to the Career You Love, 4th edition from Kendall Hunt Publishing, a textbook featuring their best practices. Amanda Ostrove brings Jobscan’s resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn optimization tools to universities to help their students beat the resume black hole. You can contact her at [emailprotected] or learn more about Jobscans tools for universities here.

Its Time to Say Goodbye to Work Stress and Live

It’s Time to Say Goodbye to Work Stress and Live It’s Time to Say Goodbye to Work Stress and Live It’s Time to Say Goodbye to Work Stress and Live By Jenny C. Evans, author of THE RESILIENCY rEVOLUTION: Your Stress Solution For Life 60 Seconds at a Time(Wise Ink Creative Publishing) Its quite likely this year held some challenging moments for you professionally, personally or both. Its also possible the tools you used to cope actually made things worse, not better. Perhaps you found yourself staying up late or waking up early to get work done. In an attempt to create time in a hectic schedule, you might have skipped meals or workouts. There were long stretches of time where you had to sit motionless and maintain concentration in a meeting, at your desk, on an airplane or in a car. Its time to say goodbye to workplace stressfor good.The key to dealing with your stress successfully, having better energy, and becoming more productivewill hinge on looking at stress in a new and different way. Its not something thats just in your headits in your body. Stress is a physical event that radically changes your chemistry and physiology. Understanding these changes helps prevent and mitigate its negative side effects. Here are some of our typical responses to stress, why they make things worse, and what to do instead. 1. You sacrifice sleep to get things done. Its tempting to trade sleep for extra hours of productivity, but lack of sleep arouses the area of our brains responsible for the fight or flight response. It also inhibits portions of the brain relating to restoring balance and calm. (McEwen, B. 2002) Sleep deprivation also increases hunger and body fat levels, specifically around the bodys mid-section. Not only can this abdominal fat be psychologically stressful, it also increases our risk of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and even premature death. (Epstien, L. 2008.) And unfortunately these disease states make our stress even worse. Resiliency Remedy: Keep to a regular sleep cycle and aim to get between 7-9 hours each night. We can get by on less, but sleep is one of the best tools we have for the body to recover from stress. 2. You skip meals because youre too busy to eat. When we skip meals or go too long without eating, blood glucose (a form of sugar the body uses for energy from many of the foods we eat) drops. When theres not enough glucose, the body thinks a famine is occurring, the stress response is stimulated and the body secretes cortisol. Cortisol puts us into food seeking mode to get much needed energy into the body, and makes us eat large amounts of high-fat, high-sugar foods. It stores much of this extra energy in the fat cells around our abdominal regions for the next glucose emergency. Resiliency Remedy: Keeping blood glucose levels in the ideal range stops the stress response from being stimulated. Minimize stress by eating about every 3 hours. Alternate between moderate sized meals (breakfast is a must) and small snacks high in fiber, healthy fats and/or lean protein. 3. You skip your workout because you dont have time. When the demands of our lives increase, we look for things to cut to reduce our levels of stress. Exercise is often the first to go. Unfortunately this is one of the worst coping strategies we can make. Stress hormones are specifically designed to fuel a short burst of intense physical activity fighting and/or fleeing. When we get this type of activity, it burns them off and releases a new class of hormones that restore balance and neutralize the negative consequences of stress. When we dont get this type of exercise, were stuck stewing in our stress hormones. Resiliency Remedy: The good news is just 30-60 seconds of intense exercise produces the hormones that restore balance. (Brooks, S. et al 1988, Schwarz, L. et al 1990, Schwarz, L. et al 1992) Sprint up a flight of stairs, or do a few jumping jacks or burpees. Shorts bursts hit the physiological reset button on stress and make a big difference when accumulated throughout the day. They also train the body to recover from stress more quickly and efficiently. 4. You sit for long periods of time. Sitting is the new smoking. It increases risk of death, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose and body fat. (Stamatakis, E., et al, 2011) Think a workout negates it? It doesnt. Sitting for most of the day cancels out the effects of an exercise session. (Matthews, CE. et al, 2012) Also, tension builds the longer we sit while energy and metabolism slow. Resiliency Remedy: Several times during the day take a minute or two to move your body. Set your laptop on a cardboard box to stand and type, do some stretching to release muscular tension and stress, on the phone = on your feet, or conduct walking meetings when in small groups. Full citations are available on request. Author Bio: Jenny C. Evans is the author ofTHE RESILIENCY rEVOLUTION: Your Stress Solution For Life 60 Seconds at a Time(Wise Ink Creative Publishing). She is also founder and CEO of PowerHouse Performance, where she works with thousands of C-suite executives, leaders, and employees worldwide to help them improve their resilience, performance and productivity, while enhancing their health.

Military Medical Enlistment Standards for Dental Issues

Military Medical Enlistment Standards for Dental Issues Military Medical Enlistment Standards for Dental Issues When you go to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station)  or your  DoDMERB (The Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board) to get medically screened for service as an enlisted member of an officer in the military, you will be fully examined from head to toe.  Your vision, hearing, blood pressure, blood work, and even your teeth and much more will be fully screened to see if you have any medically related issue that prevents you from being able to fulfill your time of service. Disqualifying Issues in a Dental Exam The disqualifying medical  conditions of the mouth and jaw are listed below. The International Classification of Disease (ICD) codes are listed in parentheses following each standard.  The causes for rejection for appointment, enlistment, and induction (without an approved waiver) are an authenticated history of the following issues. If you had any disease in the mouth area that now prohibits you from chewing or swallowing will be disqualifying.   Jaw Diseases or Tissues Preventing Normal Function Current diseases of the jaws or associated tissues that prevent normal functioning are disqualifying. Those diseases include, but are not limited to temporomandibular disorders (524.6) and/or myofascial pain that has not been corrected. Congenital or Injury That Prohibits From Chewing Normally If you had any congenital or another injury that now prohibits you from chewing normally and cannot be surgically repaired, that will be disqualifying. You will have to get the surgery before you enter the service this apply for a waiver to enter the service, but as long as the chewing issue is corrected and is a procedure that you can request a waiver, then the chances of entering service are increased. Severe Malocclusion Current severe malocclusion (524), which interferes with normal mastication or requires early and protracted treatment, or a relationship between the mandible and maxilla that prevents satisfactory future prosthodontic replacement is disqualifying. Disease or Injury That Caused Removal of Adult Teeth If you had any disease or injury  that caused the removal of adult teeth and now prohibits you from chewing normal food will be disqualifying. If dental implants are used to correct the missing teeth, the procedure to correct will be reviewed by the military medical profession to make certain there are no potential complications in future use. If the procedure is approved and no issues reported then a waiver may be submitted.  Approval for that waiver will be pending a medical review board. Insufficient Natural Healthy Teeth Current insufficient natural healthy teeth (521) or lack of a serviceable prosthesis that prevents adequate incision and mastication of a normal diet and/or includes complex (multiple fixtures) dental implant systems with associated complications are disqualifying. Cavities  in the teeth that have been filled or will be filled will not be disqualifying. However, you cannot be sworn in unless all cavities or other dental repairs are treated. Individuals undergoing endodontic care are acceptable for entry in the Delayed Entry Program only if a civilian or military provider provides documentation that active endodontic treatment will be completed prior to being sworn into active duty. Orthodontic Appliances If you have braces on  your teeth and still undergoing treatment from an orthodontist, you will not be allowed to join the military.  If you have braces, you can still join the Delayed Entry Program but until the removal of the braces/orthodontic fixtures, you cannot be sworn into the military. Current orthodontic appliances for continued treatment (V53.4) are disqualifying. Retainer appliances are permissible, provided all active orthodontic treatment has been satisfactorily completed. Individuals undergoing orthodontic care are acceptable for enlistment in the Delayed Entry Program only if a civilian or military orthodontist provides documentation that active orthodontic treatment will be completed prior to being sworn into active duty. Derived from Department of Defense (DOD) Directive 6130.3, Physical Standards for Appointment, Enlistment, and Induction, and DOD Instruction 6130.4, Criteria and Procedure Requirements for Physical Standards for Appointment, Enlistment, or Induction in the Armed Forces.