About the Electrical Scholar

Ross Finch is a journeyman electrician employed by Denver-based electrical contractor Encore Electric.  He is a graduate of Red Rocks Community College, holding AAS Commercial Electrician and AAS Maintenance Electrician degrees, and has completed the electrical apprenticeship training program at the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Independent Electrical Contractors.  He presently assist-teaches in the electrical program at RRCC.

He has found his vocational passion in the electrical trade and is working towards a goal of earning his Journeyman license by the end of 2011.  He is particularly interested in the following areas of the electrical trade (in no particular order):  education, electrical code, electrical installations, industrial/motor controls including PLC programming, and troubleshooting & repair.  His personal and formal educational goals focus on gaining knowledge in the above listed areas.

This website is a way for Ross to share his experiences and to track his progress through his journey as an electrician.  He hopes others will find the information useful and that he will be able to connect with like-minded individuals.

If you have any questions or comments please contact Ross Finch.

Vocational Me

Skills Base

My college degree and work-gained skills base:

  • Electrical code (NFPA 70)
  • Commercial electrical installation
  • Fire alarm installation, including solid understanding of Notifier brand modules
  • Programmable logic controllers, including the TECO SG2/AB Pico, AB SLC 5, and the AB ControlLogix (very basic, enough to read through a project)
  • Industrial controls, including motors, basic AC drives (AB PowerFlex 40 & 70), sensors, relays, starters, etc.
  • Industrial instrumentation concerning level, flow, temperature, and pressure, concerning both measure and control.
  • DC & AC fundamentals
  • Basic leadership

Here is the list of skills I will obtain in the future:

  • Pneumatics:  I have a basic understanding from industrial controls, but I desire a more complete knowledge.
  • Hydraulics
  • Basic HVAC/R
  • Basic welding
  • More in depth PID controller knowledge
  • More leadership

The Kinds of Work that I Enjoy

From experiences in past employs, I know that I enjoy doing the following things for work:

  • Travelling locally doing short-duration on-site jobs (a few hours to a couple of months), namely service-style work.
  • Troubleshooting, finding, and repairing problems.  Problems are puzzles, often with multiple solutions, and it is just plain fun to solve them, fix them, and make a system work properly.
  • Working on complex systems which are often multiple systems that are interconnected.
  • I like to use all tools to complete a job, such as hand tools, meters, and computers.  Working with all available tools makes for proper and profitable installations.  I find a good mix of manual and mental labor to be quite satisfying.
  • Anything that challenges me, especially things that require me to make plans and learn new knowledge.
  • My idea of the perfect job: I receive a need for controls from a customer.  I design the circuit and the PLC program (if needed).  I then plan and complete the installation.  When not doing that, I would troubleshoot and repair control problems and recommend improvements when appropriate.

Vision, Mission, & Goals

  • Vision: To be a professional electrician who installs and repairs complex systems.  To be a teacher, mentor, and coach to others concerning the electrical trade.  To be a leader who serves his team and helps motivate them to find their place in a project and to successfully complete it.  To always be constantly learning.  To become an industry expert.
  • Mission:
    • As an electrician: To professionally install and repair electrical systems which meet or exceed the customer’s expectations while ensuring a safe installation.
    • As a teacher, mentor, and coach:
      • As a teacher: To give others the knowledge they need and desire; to challenge their minds to help them to learn for themselves.
      • As a mentor: To help others to realize their potential, their desires, and to help them plan their future.
      • As a coach: To help others to become electrically self-sufficient and to motivate them to push themselves to do better continually as an electrician.
    • As a leader: To take care of the needs of my team by serving them and inspiring them to do their best to complete a project properly.
    • As a student: To learn what needs to be learned for any of the above areas that I may constantly become better at what I do.
  • Goals, long-term:
    • Earn my ISA CST Associate by August 31, 2012.
    • Earn my ISA CCST Level I by August 31, 2013.
    • Earn my master electrician license before December 31, 2013 (as soon as I have the hours).
    • Become an instructor at RRCC for 2013-2014 school year.
    • Become an instructor at IEC for 2013-2014 school year.
  • Goals, short & mid-term:
    • Coming Soon, re-evaluating
  • Goals, completed:
    • Earn my journeyman electrician license before December 31, 2011: completed on December 2, 2011.
    • Finish in first place at the 2011 national wire-off competition by October 14, 2011: finished in second place.
    • Finish in first place at the wire-off competition of the Rocky Mountain IEC chapter (spring 2011).
    • Earn my AAS Construction Electrician degrees from RRCC by the end of the fall 2011 semester (spring 2011).
    • Earn my AAS Maintenance (Industrial) Electrician degrees from RRCC by the end of the fall 2011 semester (spring 2011).
    • Complete the spring 2011 semester at RRCC & IEC with a 4.0 GPA: RRCC 4.0, IEC 3.89.
    • Complete the fall 2010 semester at RRCC & IEC with a 4.0 GPA:  RRCC 4.0,  IEC 3.93.
    • Complete the spring 2010 semester at RRCC & IEC with a 4.0 GPA:  succeeded completely.

Education

  • Red Rocks Community College – Electrical Degrees & Certificates
    • AAS Degree:  Construction Electrician with honors
    • AAS Degree:  Maintenance Electrician with honors
    • Advanced Instrumentation and Controls Technician Certificate
  • Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) – Rocky Mountain Chapter
    • Electrical Apprenticeship Training Program – Complete
  • Other
    • GPRO Fundamentals of Green Building & Electrical Systems Certification (GPRO:EL)
    • OSHA 10 Hour
    • International Association of Electrical Inspectors
      • Soares Grounding – 2008 NEC, 1-day class:  May 2009
    • 2009 Rockwell Automation Fair classes

Electrical Work History

Current

  • Red Rocks Community College, Lakewood, CO – part-time:  Educator.  January 2009 to present.
    • Assistant Instructor: August 2011 to present.
    • Lab Assistant/Tutor: January 2009 – July 2011.
  • Encore Electric, Englewood, CO – full-time:  Industrial electrician.  January 2009 to present.
    • MillerCoors, Golden CO:
      • Installing controls and lighting for a new bag house, grain cleaner, and load-out structure at the barley silos. October 2011 to present.
      • Installing controls on packaging conveyor systems.  September 2011 – October 2011.
    • University of Colorado Hospital, Aurora, CO:  Construction of a new building, ground-up.  Contributed to site preparation, temporary power, temporary parking lot, and underground.  March 2011 to August 2011.
    • JILA, Boulder, CO:  Addition to the JILA building.  Worked on one-line.  March 2011 (2 weeks).
    • The Children’s Hospital, Aurora, CO:  Remodel of a portion of the NICU, including an operating room and recovery rooms.  Doing a bit of everything.  December 2010 – February 2011.
    • Parker Adventist Hospital, Parker, CO:  Expansion of hospital by the addition of the south bed wing.  Wall rough, door security rough-in lead, and home run piping.  June 2010 – November 2010.
    • University of Denver, Denver, CO:  Construction of Ruffatto Hall.  Member of the fire alarm installation team, handling the more technical aspects of the installation, such as relay connections for dampers, elevator, HVAC, magnetic door holders, etc.  April 2010 – May 2010.
    • Fraiser Meadows Retirement Community, Boulder, CO:  Construction of an addition to the central building and a remodel of the central building.
      • Phase II:  I was the sole member of the fire alarm team and maintained temporary coverage in resident-accessible areas while replacing the old system with the new system in that area.  November 2009 – March 2010.
      • Phase I:  I was on the fire alarm team replacing an outdated system which was in a state of constant repair.  Also installed notification devices in all units (mostly occupied) in the central building.  March 2009 – October 2009.
    • Prefabrication department at Encore’s shop.  Jan 2009 – February 2009.

    The Past Ten Years

    • Cougar Electric, Northglenn, CO – full-time:  Residential and commercial service electrician.  May 2008 – December 2008.

    Non-Electrical Work History

    • Finch Enterprises, Northglenn, CO – part-time, self-employed:  Diversified conglomeration of my small business interests which included:  web hosting and web services on my servers, wooden loft-bed manufacturing, small programing jobs, etc.  March 2007 – December 2009.
    • Finch Street Financial, Northglenn, CO – part-time, self-employed:  Financial counselor.  February 2004 – December 2006.
    • Integrated Systems Installers, Denver, CO – full-time:  DSL & low voltage installation technician.  August 2000 – July 2001.
    • Further history is available upon request.  It includes computer technician, software localization specialist and team leader, and consumer electronics repair technician amongst other things.

    Achievement & Hobbies

    Achievements

    • Scouting
      • Wood Badge advanced leadership training completion: June 2008 – Nov 2009
      • Scoutmaster:  Jan 2005 – Dec 2008
      • Eagle Scout
    • Educational
      • IEC 2011 National Apprentice of the Year: Second place competing while still a third-year apprentice
      • IEC 2011 Rocky Mountain Chapter Apprentice of the Year:  First place competing while still a third-year apprentice
      • IEC year four Top Student Award in my class
      • Maintained a 4.0 GPA while graduating simultaneously with two degrees at Red Rocks Community College while concurrently attending IEC
      • Inducted into Phi Theta Kappa – the international honor society of two-year colleges
      • IEC year three Top Student Award in my class
      • Tested-out of the first two years of IEC to start in the third year while I was a first year apprentice
    • Vocational
      • Suggested a formal training for people who administer apprentice evaluations for Encore Electric.  This was created and introduced into the Encore University online curriculum.
      • Suggested changing the line on the Encore Electric required tool list which states “continuity/voltage tester” to add “CAT III 600V minimum” for a minimum safety level.  Suggestion was approved and is to be implemented.

    Hobbies

    Some of these hobbies have been on hold to allow time for my electrical degrees.

    • Electrical & Electronic
      • This website
      • Build a motor control learning center with a PLC, starter, motor, controls, pneumatics, switches, etc. as a teaching aid.  Started.
      • Teach basic electronics to my children with a kit.  Presently enjoying Snap Circuits
      • Build a small robot with my children.
    • Music Composition
      • Has been almost 20 years since I wrote anything.   I used to be quite prolific and I am looking to write something new.
      • Rebuild a mini studio with a few instruments just to play around.

About the Author

Ross Finch is a journeyman electrician with Denver-based electrical contractor Encore Electric. He is a graduate of Red Rocks Community College, holding AAS Commercial Electrician and AAS Maintenance Electrician degrees, and has completed the electrical apprenticeship training program at the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Independent Electrical Contractors. He presently assist-teaches in the electrical program at RRCC. See more information on the About page.