Autumn Years Winter 2023/24

Jared Warsoff Independent Audio Engineer Gray Moon Productions www.graymoonproductions.com I worked on the electrical team as part of the Pi-oneers from 2009 to 2013. I currently work in the pro audio equipment industry along with doing freelance audio engineering work. My time on the team really helped me real ize that I could combine my passion for technology with my other passion for music, hence ending up in the world of audio engineering. My mentors on the team, Jack included, not only taught me valuable technical skills (learning how to solder turned out to be vital to my career path!), but also how to function within an organization working towards a singular goal and utilizing everyone’s strong suits.

quired coordination between all of the different divisions (mechanical, elec trical, programming, carpentry, etc.). Despite how challenging that could be, there’s nothing quite like watching a room of students and mentors erupt into cheers when the robot worked for the first time, and there was no better way to learn these life skills than applying them. It was truly a behemoth of a team-build ing and troubleshooting exercise, but it was also some of the most fun I’ve had in my life. I still go back to help out when I can because I know how much of an influ ence my mentors had on me as a student. Plus, I made so many lifelong friends with not just my fellow team members but with mentors as well.

The years with the Pi-oneers were quite the rollercoaster of an experience but in the best sort of way. Before build season kicked off, we spent a lot of time learning and honing our skills within our assigned roles, as well as helping train newer team members. That on its own was a challenge, learning how to explain complicated concepts. Howev er, the reward of watching the concepts finally “click” for them was so worth it for me, to the point that I still love doing education outreach. In build season, the challenge was a combination of intense problem solving and endurance. We would work well into the night and spend a good chunk of our weekends for six straight weeks to build a machine that had to perform multiple functions reliably, and that re

58

AUTUMN YEARS I WINTER 2023/24