Future Plans (revised March 31, 1997)

In what follows I describe the steps already taken, and the plans in place, to secure permanent employment outside the academic environment within the next year. My activities include both those specifically directed at locating permanent employment opportunities, and those more generally intended to increase my chances of securing the positions I attempt to secure.

I have begun to plan and carry out a comprehensive search for permanent employment in an industrial or educational setting. As a first step, I have requested copies of the last three Annual Reports from all Saskatchewan businesses on the Technology Transfer mailing list of the Institute of Space and Atmospheric Studies at the University of Saskatchewan. This information will help me identify employers where my skills and experience would be useful, and will also enable me to carry out my responsibilities as ISAS Technology Transfer liaison more effectively. My involvement in this latter activity provides an opportunity to raise my profile with these employers.

Using the services of the University of Saskatchewan Employee Assistance Program, I have identified my priorities in searching for permanent employment. I will first conduct a thorough search for opportunities in local industry, defined as broadly as possible. If this is unsuccessful, I will make every effort to secure a permanent position in technical teaching, e.g., at the local technical institute, as a Mathematics or Physics instructor in Associated Studies.

I have registered for a four-week seminar entitled Managing Your Career offered by the Human Resources Department of the University of Saskatchewan. This seminar will help me to develop my career goals and make my search for employment more effective.

Dr. Jeff Johnston, a senior scientist employed by SCI-TEC Instruments, Inc. of Saskatoon, recently presented a seminar on "Finding a scientific career in industry" in the Physics Department at the University of Saskatchewan. The seminar was based on his experience in doing precisely that, following the model outlined in the popular book What Colour Is Your Parachute? I plan to network with him in implementing the strategy he recommended. I also plan to make use of the specific guidance offered in the book To Boldly Go: A Practical Career Guide for Scientists, recently published by the American Geophysical Union.

While leading the development of the NiteOwl proposal for the Small Payload Program, I developed contacts with a number of faculty members in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. I intend to use these contacts, as well as others in the Physics Department and in local industry, in networking toward a permanent position.

I am planning to use discretionary funds returned to me from the overhead on my CSA contract to attend a commercial seminar on Managing Multiple Projects, Objectives, and Deadlines. I see this activity as improving my management abilities, and thereby my chances of retaining an industrial or other position that involves management activities. I also plan to get training in time management, although I have not yet identified a specific training provider.

I will explore other networking opportunities, such as courses in leadership training (offered by the Christophers) and public speaking (e.g., Toastmasters), that will enhance my abilities and broaden my range of contacts.

Following the advice of the visiting committee, I intend to carry out appropriate skill development activities, such as: using MS PowerPoint to develop a personal presentation highlighting my training, experience, and qualities, learning HTML/Web page design in order to promote myself on the World Wide Web, and learning to use Windows 95 and Linux on a new PC while freeing up my current workstation for use by a summer student.

This latter item arises from my planned residual science activities, which include the following: hiring a summer student (using NSERC funds) to help with Polar Camera data reduction and analysis, development of an algorithm to produce OH temperature data, validation of these temperatures, publication of a study of the December 1994 event discussed in my annual review, and continuation of my collaborative work with P. Prikryl (patches) and R.A. Doe (polar arcs).