The Dockter's Visit
By Leah Dockter

Holy smokes!  The world is going so fast.  Only yesterday was the last day of school and now it’s three months later and school has started.  It was an interesting summer for me as I hope it was for everyone.  Right after school I attended a workshop in Tioga  at Hess headquarters in North Dakota.  Presentations were given on all of the careers in the oilfield. Hess deals with 2000 vendors (other companies).  They told us this is routine for all companies in the Bakken.  There are many support services the company needs.  At their headquarters building they have a cafeteria, but the food is provided by ladies from the local restaurant. There are opportunities in all career areas, but truck drivers, roustabouts (people with mechanical skills), laborers, safety technicians, mechanics, electronic technicians, etc.  are most in demand.  When I looked at www.jobsnd.com the other day there were almost 1200 openings under oilfield.  It is an exciting time to be living in North Dakota.

In June I took a class at NDSCS’s Fargo campus covering nanotechnology, biotechnology, and microelectronics.  The class was designed for high school science teachers and it was fascinating to all of us.  These areas represent some of the careers of the future.  If you aren’t familiar with them, don’t feel bad.  Nanotechnology involves research, observation, measurement and manipulation which occurs at the nanometer range; a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter—about 1/80th of a human hair.  Nanotechnicians work in a wide variety of industries including biomedicine/biotech, microelectronics/microfabrication, materials/coatings/polymers, agriculture production, food processing, environmental analysis/bio-remediation and energy (H-fuel cells/solar/wind).

One of the things Dr. Kristie Jean, the instructor, talked about was pants that ran when you couldn’t.  Nanotechnicians are developing monitors for your body which are able to literally control your body’s reactions in a situation.  For instance, if you needed to run to get away from something but your muscles were too tired to go any further, these pants would enable you to keep going.  If you were in a dangerous situation where by breathing hard you may give your location away, the system could slow your breathing down.  It is the science fiction of the past, but it is real and is here in North Dakota today.
Education is the key to the future.  Having a solid base on which to build is most important.  We’re off to a great start here at school.  New faces everywhere, teachers and students alike. It promises to be an exciting year.