In the last post, I discussed the general plan of Factor e Farm for the roll-out of the 50 Global Village Construction Set (GVCS) technologies – by January, 2013. Mark Norton took the initiative to summarize this lengthy post – please read his refactored version. In this post, I will discuss the immediate team needs for the on-site, Factor e Farm team. In the next blog post, I will expand on the needs for the larger on-site team of 8-12 people who are critical to to the completion of the GVCS by January, 2013.
Immediate Team Expansion Needs for Factor e Farm
I mentioned in the last post that it is important for the project that I liberate more of my time for thinking, planning, and interacting with the outside world. For this to happen, two critical roles that I would otherwise be handling at Factor e Farm need to be filled: Fabrication Manager and Construction Project Manager.
Fabrication Manager
The requirements and duties for the Fabrication Manager are:
Technical Requirements
- 10-15 years custom fabrication and precision machine design experience
- Certification in welding and machining
- CAD software expertise in reading and generation of fabrication drawings
- Working knowledge of principles and mechanisms of mechanical devices and hydrauilic fluid power systems
- CNC machining and Computer Assisted Manufacturing experience
- Tool and die production, including heat treating and precision grinding
Leadership Requirements
- Ability to lead diverse teams on and off site in startup conditions
- Creative problem-solving ability
- Independent thinker, teacher and student
Duties
- Vision, plan and setup the systems and processes of the Fabrication Department
- Recruit and manage unskilled and skilled fabricators in production runs
- Prototype new machines – including design, fabrication, and testing
- Maintain productive operations that help to fund further prototyping
- Design and run fabricator training courses on a wide array of fabrication topics
- Produce documentation on workshop techniques in conjunction with our video instructionals team
Construction Project Manager
Technical Requirements
- 10-15 years hands-on and management experience in all aspects of home/office construction
- Working knowledge of passive house building, super-insulation, and passive cooling
- Capacity to make conceptual designs in Sketchup or similar conceptual design software
- Ability to do design details in a professional 2D CAD package such as Qcad or equivalent
- Familiarity with ferrocement tank and roofing construction
- Ability to use a wide range of hand and power tools and equipment, and to maintain them
- Capacity to produce construction plans, bills of materials, and budgets– and to source materials
- Basic site planning capacity including geological samples and use of a transit
- Technical writing ability for documenting build procedures
Leadership
- Ability to lead diverse teams on and off site in startup conditions
- Creative problem-solving ability
- Independent thinker, teacher and student
Duties
- Vision, plan and setup the systems and processes of the Construction Department
- Leading on-site participants in on-demand housing construction
- Designing and building infrastructure improvements for Factor e Farm – as needed and on-demand
- Leading workshops in CEB/Straw/Lumber and other construction techniques
- Designing and leading training workshops in CEB production, lumber production, and hay baling
- Produce documentation on construction techniques in conjunction with our video instructionals team
The descriptions that you see above are extremely demanding, which means that we are looking for world-class leaders. If not all of the requirements are met, we are still interested. The point of this is that we are interested in developing highly-integrated skill sets in people – starting with our team at Factor e Farm as the guinea pigs. While such skill diversity is rare in traditional disciplinary training, our goal is to move beyond this and make highly-integrated skill-sets the norm – not the exception. Our goal in developing such cross-training is to empower any interested individual to reach closer to their innate potential – under the assumption that multidisciplinary cross-fertilization is an absolute creative approach to providing much needed solutions for the modern world.
Let this be a clear statement of our intent.
Well I for one certainly hope OSE finds such well qualified and dedicated volunteers soon. I would however entertain the possibility that the “volunteer filter” may not pan out as hoped for.
This type of work differs dramatically from the computing world of OS development. Very few people can afford fully commit all available time and effort and outright sweat into a project for no type of immediate compensation.
One could argue the results of the open source hardware are compensation, but that compensation is also available to all, so why sweat and possible risk personal financial difficulties?
It seems to me such a filter will capture the highly idealogical, independently well off, and perhaps adventurists. Not saying thats all bad, but am saying its something worth pondering if we want OSE to have broad social acceptance.
Furthermore I think the sooner the venture can be tied into the economy the sooner it can begin to spread virally.
[…] civilization with modern comforts. To this end – we are currently building a team. In the last blog post, I discussed the immediate team needs for Factor e Farm (FeF). In this post, I expand on the FeF […]
[…] have pointed out two posts ago that we are recruiting a Fabrication Manager for Factor e Farm. This is our highest current […]
Dear sir, by looking at branches of this project I found Power Supply expert could be a good opportunity for me to start cooperating with you. I have a MD in Electrical Engineering, specialization in Power Electronics and Automation. I leave in this reply my mail address. Please contact me if really interested in remote engineering cooperation on subject.
Regards.
Dear “open sourcers” (I don’t know exactly to whom I am writting to),
I find the Open Source Ecology a titanic initiative. And that’s a marvelous thing. But cutting down to what I have to say:
My name is André Coelho, I live in Lisbon, Portugal. I specialize in construction techniques, buildings thermal behavior, construction materials, sustainability analysis applied to the built environment, energy related issues in construction, energy and economical flows, budgets, construction drawings (2D) and structural analysis. Originally I graduated in civil engineering, specializing in structural analysis, from the Lisbon Technical Institute. Later on I have finished a pHD in construction materials (concrete with fly ash) and continued research on construction and demolition waste processing, managing and its environmental and economical consequences. At the same time post-graduated in buildings thermal analysis and energy certification.
From this compacted description I may have the necessary knowledge in construction to fit the requirements. However, and of course this is a consequence of today’s “hyper” specialization, I don’t build things myself, which means I lack the “hands-on” expertize, which probably means I could not, not immediately I guess, erect a building on my own, let alone give it a high quality standard. I can, on the other hand, think, conceive, design, calculate, draw, make budgets and choose materials (and supervise construction works).
Another thing: I live in Portugal and, for the moment, I don’t have the possibility of moving. I am still, among other things, responsible for a company named Ecoperfil – Sustainable urban systems, a small company specialized in whatever has to do with sustainability in construction. This means that any contribution I might give would have to be remote. Plus it could not be a full time dedication (not even close to that).
Well, maybe from what I wrote in the last paragraph I will not be of much use to your initiative, as for the moment, but consider the possibility as adding me as a construction consultant who can feed the project with valuable input, as far as construction related issues are concerned.
I am an active member of the Zeitgeist Movement in Portugal.
You may contact me by phone (+351 934189442) or by email, as preferred or relevant.
Best regards,
André Coelho