The things that were
Time at Lawrence Berkeley Lab
As a Technical Writer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, part of the Advanced Light Source Upgrade (ALS-U) team, I managed the documentation for safety systems. I worked closely with the safety systems engineers to ensure the documentation reflected all safety standards.
Although my contract was short, I learned a lot about radiation safety protocols. When I had time to walk around the Laboratory campus, I enjoyed walking in the footsteps of the past. I got to walk around the same lab as Dr. Ernest Lawrence and Dr. Robert Oppenheimer.
Time at Meta
As a Technical Writer at Meta, one would think that he is on a team with other Tech Writers. In reality, he is a one-man show in charge of four teams. His day starts with emails but revolves around staying on top of his Task list and constant communication with Stakeholders from the four teams. He has to handle all the authoring, editing, updating, and interviewing. It’s a good thing that Ray has some journalistic experience from his time at San José State.
Talking to SMEs, SNOEs, and Engineers is something that Ray enjoys. It’s during those interviews that he gets to step away from his desk and explore how things work. During one of those many interviews, he learned how a cluster relays your favorite meme, the cat with its head in a slice of bread, and stores them because we need to be able to view them at lightning speed.
His Stakeholders appreciated his hard work and quick turnaround. They no longer have to wait for the documentation to become obsolete and deprecated. He takes great pride in his work and strives to produce the highest quality documentation.
Ray Barrientes Jr. 