{"id":207,"date":"2011-05-06T10:33:03","date_gmt":"2011-05-06T18:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/thinkmecheng\/"},"modified":"2011-06-21T08:20:15","modified_gmt":"2011-06-21T16:20:15","slug":"energy-awareness","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/thinkmecheng\/profiles\/energy-awareness\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy Awareness"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"background-color: #c9e5ff; width: 95%; font-family: Arial; margin: 0pt auto; padding: 10px; border-style: solid; border-width: 2px; border-color: #575555; border-radius: 10px; -moz-border-radius: 10px;\">\n<strong>Name:<\/strong> Lauren Kulokas<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" style=\"border: 2px solid black;\" title=\"Lauren\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thinkmech.ca\/images\/kulokas.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"255\" height=\"384\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Job Title:<\/strong> Vice President of Operations<\/p>\n<p><strong>Company:<\/strong> Energy Aware Technology Inc.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Industry: <\/strong>Energy<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>What I Do<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I am the Vice President of Operations at Energy Aware, a company I  co-founded with several other UBC students in 2005.  Energy Aware  develops products to promote sustainability, and our first product is an  In-Home Energy Display unit.  The company began as part of a UBC  entrepreneurship course called New Venture Design (APSC 486).  I have  been involved in all aspects of growing the company, from fundraising to  business development.  My role is now mainly focused on the operational  side of the company, such as managing the company&#8217;s manufacturing,  tooling, and supply chain as well as project management for R&amp;D<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>A Day in the Life<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I tend to work a regular business day, but working for a small  company offers us all a lot of flexibility with our work hours and  vacation time.    I interact regularly with my team, both on the  business and engineering side, as well as suppliers for manufacturing  and logistics.  I spend the majority of my day in front of the computer,  but also meet regularly with suppliers, business contacts, and  advisors.<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Why My Job Is Great<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I love that I get to work on something that I feel passionately about  and that I have had a hand in developing from the beginning.  My team  is young, energetic and very innovative, and I love working with them.   Having a lot of variety also keeps things interesting and I am  constantly challenged and learning something new.<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The Downside<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A lot of responsibility comes with running a company, and it can be  stressful at times.  The lack of mentorship can also be challenging.<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Off the Job<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Having a good work \/ life balance is extremely important to me, so I  make sure I always make time for my friends and family.  I love to  travel and spend time outside as much as possible.<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Experiences to Learn From<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">During my Mech undergrad, we had a number of project courses where we  needed to work with a team to develop an idea from concept, through the  design process, and to the prototype stage.  These types of project  helped shape my teamwork, analytic and project management skills.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Best Part<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Working with a great team, meeting new people, and seeing all of the aspects involved in bringing a product to life.<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>My Advice to You<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Engineering in general opens a lot of doors, and mechanical  engineering can lead to a wide range of opportunities.  If you find  something you feel passionately about, pursue it with all your heart,  and don&#8217;t let anyone tell you that you are too young or inexperienced to  make it happen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Name: Lauren Kulokas Job Title: Vice President of Operations Company: Energy Aware Technology Inc. Industry: Energy What I Do I am the Vice President of Operations at Energy Aware, a company I co-founded with several other UBC students in 2005. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/thinkmecheng\/profiles\/energy-awareness\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7137,"featured_media":0,"parent":9,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-207","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/thinkmecheng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/thinkmecheng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/thinkmecheng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/thinkmecheng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7137"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/thinkmecheng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/thinkmecheng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":277,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/thinkmecheng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/207\/revisions\/277"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/thinkmecheng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/thinkmecheng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}