I began my career at 16 years old, this was between my freshman and sophomore year in high school. My dad hired me at the machine shop that he was working at the time. He was the shop forman. I started at the very bottom. Cleaning and sweeping. Slowly he taught me to de-burr parts and cut material for the other guys. From there I learned to build parts. By the time I left I was running a Bullard VTL. If I remember correctly, it had a 36” swing. I worked at Pacific Packaging from 1978-1984.I graduated from El Monte high school in 1981. My plan was to go to Point Loma collage in San Diego CA. I was going to get my degree in business administration. I was also going to play college basketball. I was scheduled for a tryout in San Diego at the collage. The week before the tryout I was practicing the high jump for my high school CIF track meet, and I injured my knee and was not able to make my tryout. I was heartbroken. This changed my entire life plan. Now when I look back, I know that I would not have been happy with a business degree. I was meant to have a micrometer in my hand and to build things. I then enrolled at Rio Hondo college and studied machine tool technology for the next 2 years.On March 12, 1984, I began working at Assembly Automation. My duties have been.• Journey man machinist.• Shop forman.• CNC set up and program.• Project manager.• Production manager.• Engineering.• Engineering manager.• Sales.I currently continue to manage the engineering department as well as oversee production and sales. On March 12, 2024, I celebrated my 40th anniversary at Assembly Automation. I am so proud to add this accomplishment to my list. By the way, the knee healed just fine, and I still love to play basketball!!