My name is John Duncan. I am a Bona fide, certified, licensed and practicing multi-skill trades person (squared). I have completed two nationally recognized four-year, highly technical, apprenticeships with two different employers.
The first apprenticeship I successfully completed and received my journeyman's card was as an Industrial Electrician while working for a local manufacturer. While the job did include skill acquisitions to bend conduit and pull wire properly and efficiently (power distribution) such basic skill acquisition was a small portion of my experience. I spent far more time troubleshooting and repairing electrical and electronic issues with various complex systems including but not limited to; Computer Numerical Controlled machines, Programmable Logic Controllers, Relay-Logic Controlled machines, and Robots. Troubleshooting is a form of problem solving and is a systematic search for the source of the problem and is applied to an existing system that has stopped working.
In addition to gaining knowledge and skill to troubleshoot complex electrical and electronic systems, I gained a great deal of experience modernizing (innovation) equipment and systems and/or designing and developing control logic for these systems utilizing relay ladder logic (RLL) or by integrating a Programmable Logic Controller. Today I teach PLC fundamentals for my first alma mater - Ivy Tech Community College.
The second apprenticeship I successfully completed and received my state license and NAEC certification is that of Certified Elevator Technician. I continue to round out my mechanical skills and my troubleshooting skills as well. A deeper and better understanding of DC control, motors and generators, the magnetic field, RC timer circuits, soft start units, and Y/Delta starting systems were gained in addition to the education gained on mechanics, mill wright work, hydraulics, construction, and modernization work.
So, through skilled labor, work, study, and practice, I have continued to improve my Knowledge, Skill, and Aptitude.
I have completed multiple employer offered training programs and give a short list here for review:
-Basic Operations Course (B.O.C.) for assistant managers at the most famous fast food restaurant chain
-Computer Numerical Control fundamentals
-Introduction to Statistical Process Control
-Teamwork in the Workplace
-Fanuc controls for CNCs
-MAZAK electrical maintenance
-Variable Frequency Drives
-Safety Leadership, Designated Trained Individual training, High Voltage Safety, Fall Prevention
-26 week E.A.G.L.E.S. training
-Train-the-trainer
-MSSC CPT training
-ASD training certificate program and Consulting certificate program
-Quaified Elevator Inspector certification program
I have left out or forgot many others and the training has spanned multiple employers over decades of time.
These occupational learning experiences have allowed me to not only provide for my family, but to grow personally as well. Other occupational learning experiences over my 20+ years of learning a living have further impacted my belief that, for those of us who must earn a living, academic pursuits are best gained as a support for our worldly applicable pursuits and in many ways, serve us best when they are gained concurrently.
My formal education has occurred at a part-time pace, concurrently, over the entire span of my occupational life to-date. I have earned a technical certificate in Industrial Maintenance, an Associate of Applied Science degree in Industrial Technology, my Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Career and Technical Education and most recently my Master's of Science in Education. There has never been a time when I have been employed less than full-time plus.
The habit of concurrency is ingrained now and finds me not only taking classes, but facilitating them as well while employed full time plus. I continue to expand my class portfolio ever wider.
My educational journey has not, since the compulsory education years, been a traditional one. I have not followed the "optimal trajectory" and if we accepted the view of those who continue to force such square pegs through their ideal round holes, I would be deemed a complete and utter failure. And yet, I have made steady and continuous improvement for the entirety of my occupational and educational life span, to the point I find myself in the company of the top ten percent of academic achievers, those who hold a graduate degree or higher. Further, I have utilized every bit of my formal education, unlike so many who follow the optimal path and end up complaining that their time was wasted.
My story is the personification of life-long learning and continuous personal improvement. My story shows that we should never give up or close off the path to those who want to improve, simply because they, for whatever reason, are unable to travel at the optimal pace and trajectory. We started out with absolutely nothing and having a non-linear path found our way off the beaten path and beyond to a place now where we are able to assist others onto and along their own journey.
This is why I felt compelled to produce this website that inspires, encourages, and advocates for the non-traditional learner (The Neglected Majority). I was able to not only find the gate, but to pass through on my own terms, it isn't easy to get to but there is a way. It is the Way of the PolyJack.
The first apprenticeship I successfully completed and received my journeyman's card was as an Industrial Electrician while working for a local manufacturer. While the job did include skill acquisitions to bend conduit and pull wire properly and efficiently (power distribution) such basic skill acquisition was a small portion of my experience. I spent far more time troubleshooting and repairing electrical and electronic issues with various complex systems including but not limited to; Computer Numerical Controlled machines, Programmable Logic Controllers, Relay-Logic Controlled machines, and Robots. Troubleshooting is a form of problem solving and is a systematic search for the source of the problem and is applied to an existing system that has stopped working.
In addition to gaining knowledge and skill to troubleshoot complex electrical and electronic systems, I gained a great deal of experience modernizing (innovation) equipment and systems and/or designing and developing control logic for these systems utilizing relay ladder logic (RLL) or by integrating a Programmable Logic Controller. Today I teach PLC fundamentals for my first alma mater - Ivy Tech Community College.
The second apprenticeship I successfully completed and received my state license and NAEC certification is that of Certified Elevator Technician. I continue to round out my mechanical skills and my troubleshooting skills as well. A deeper and better understanding of DC control, motors and generators, the magnetic field, RC timer circuits, soft start units, and Y/Delta starting systems were gained in addition to the education gained on mechanics, mill wright work, hydraulics, construction, and modernization work.
So, through skilled labor, work, study, and practice, I have continued to improve my Knowledge, Skill, and Aptitude.
I have completed multiple employer offered training programs and give a short list here for review:
-Basic Operations Course (B.O.C.) for assistant managers at the most famous fast food restaurant chain
-Computer Numerical Control fundamentals
-Introduction to Statistical Process Control
-Teamwork in the Workplace
-Fanuc controls for CNCs
-MAZAK electrical maintenance
-Variable Frequency Drives
-Safety Leadership, Designated Trained Individual training, High Voltage Safety, Fall Prevention
-26 week E.A.G.L.E.S. training
-Train-the-trainer
-MSSC CPT training
-ASD training certificate program and Consulting certificate program
-Quaified Elevator Inspector certification program
I have left out or forgot many others and the training has spanned multiple employers over decades of time.
These occupational learning experiences have allowed me to not only provide for my family, but to grow personally as well. Other occupational learning experiences over my 20+ years of learning a living have further impacted my belief that, for those of us who must earn a living, academic pursuits are best gained as a support for our worldly applicable pursuits and in many ways, serve us best when they are gained concurrently.
My formal education has occurred at a part-time pace, concurrently, over the entire span of my occupational life to-date. I have earned a technical certificate in Industrial Maintenance, an Associate of Applied Science degree in Industrial Technology, my Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Career and Technical Education and most recently my Master's of Science in Education. There has never been a time when I have been employed less than full-time plus.
The habit of concurrency is ingrained now and finds me not only taking classes, but facilitating them as well while employed full time plus. I continue to expand my class portfolio ever wider.
My educational journey has not, since the compulsory education years, been a traditional one. I have not followed the "optimal trajectory" and if we accepted the view of those who continue to force such square pegs through their ideal round holes, I would be deemed a complete and utter failure. And yet, I have made steady and continuous improvement for the entirety of my occupational and educational life span, to the point I find myself in the company of the top ten percent of academic achievers, those who hold a graduate degree or higher. Further, I have utilized every bit of my formal education, unlike so many who follow the optimal path and end up complaining that their time was wasted.
My story is the personification of life-long learning and continuous personal improvement. My story shows that we should never give up or close off the path to those who want to improve, simply because they, for whatever reason, are unable to travel at the optimal pace and trajectory. We started out with absolutely nothing and having a non-linear path found our way off the beaten path and beyond to a place now where we are able to assist others onto and along their own journey.
This is why I felt compelled to produce this website that inspires, encourages, and advocates for the non-traditional learner (The Neglected Majority). I was able to not only find the gate, but to pass through on my own terms, it isn't easy to get to but there is a way. It is the Way of the PolyJack.