5G Applications: The Warehouse and the RF Engineer

There are many 5G applications: Health care system, Education system, Public Safety system, Manufacturing industry, Transportation systems etc.

I want to start with the Transportation system, specifically self-driving cars, also known as autonomous vehicle (AV); and under this classification Selfdriving Trucks.

To do that I need to share my experience working?in?a warehouse in Toronto, Canada; so please be patient;?I worked there for about 2 years, the main reason was because I couldn't find a job in my career (Telecommunication Engineer, so many times I was rejected that I had to do somenthing); so in the meantime I could do that. That's how it started out for me. I was a Dock worker.

I cleaned the floor, I carried boxes, lift weights,?drove the forklift many times, load and offload trailers, I always kill myself working (just an expression), if I had to clean the floor I leave it shining, if I had to offload or load a trailer I did it faster than anybody else; I used to think "can't believe going to the gym, was going to help me working" but it did.

My supervisor used to tell me "don't kill yourself", 2 times I went to the hospital, because I got injured working, once a co-worker told me "why do you work so hard when they pay you so little"; do you know what I learned?? never had the opportunity to say to them, but "how you work shows who you are".

They didn't know that I was burning my frustration (of not working in my career). Once they put me to do an inventory of the warehouse supplies, I did to them an excel graph of the warehouse supplies, eventually they learned ( through my work quality and mental abilities) that I was an Engineer and they were so happy with my work that I became like the manager of the supplies room on top of the other responsabilities that I had.

One day that I was feeling specially frustrated with my career; can't believe I was going to end it up like this, I knew Engineers in the telecommunication industry?in Bell, Telus, Rogers, Siemens and I was the only one in a warehouse; "he must be a very bad engineer" I heard to my supervisor say once at the beginning when I started out; he just didn't know that I was there listening. That's something that doesn't surpirise me anymore, I don't like it but it's expected, to be misjudge is a normal thing.

Well that day I was at the cage (that's how they call the supply room), I found a manual of the supplies from ULINE they buy everything from ULINE, going through it , there was an articule about 5G (after that never saw it again), I must have read it like 10 times; then I realized I don't have to do anything; technology is coming my way. I decided to do a power point presentation about 5G to the warehouse staff (my 20 years?experience and my engineering background in the telecommunications industry help me to understand all I need it to understand about 5G, it was easy to understand for me actually). You know what the warehouse manager told me before I did the presentation??that 5G was like having your head in a microwave; I nodded negatively my head but I wasn't in the position of arguing with him; I just thought " oh man!! this people have no idea what they are talking about". After I did the presentation to him, he talked with the president of the warehouse.

The most challenging thing that I found doing the presentation to?them, was to talk about 5G to non-professional non telecom people, and make them understand. How do you talk to people without an University degree about Radio Frequency Spectrum and make them understand?.

After that I didn't hear anything for a while then I was at the lunch room and I saw the president of the warehouse; I told him "I need to talk to you can I talk to you?" he agreed; I told him "you need to implement driverless trucks in your warehouse";

-I can't do that, it's too expensive

-very naively I told him?" I am a Professional Engineer I am the only one here that can make it??happen"

-silence..................now I know he didn't know what I was talking about

-then he told me "that never is going to happen, not in my lifetime or in your lifetime"

- and that's it, our conversation just ended after that.

Then after that I contacted PEO, and let them know about the idea they told me that it need?to be review first for the ministry of labour so I contacted them, and I was told exactly what PEO told me.

I knew that the implementation of driverless trucks across Canada, rest in the hands of Professional Engineers, I just needed some kind of validation, now I had what I need it. I informed the ministry of transportation about it, I was told that the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Economics Development support the idea.?I forwarded those e-mails to the warehouse president, he wanted to talk with me.

I had validations from PEO, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Transportation and from MTO response I had the Ministry of Economics Development validation too.

I was doing something at the warehouse, the president passed by, saw me and approched me.

-I told him again you need to implement driverless trucks in your warehouse. I have the Ok from MTO, MED, ML and PEO, I am a P.eng., I can do it, you do your part I"ll do my part.

-If you are a professional engineer, that doesn't mean anything here, you need to study; maybe he thought that I was?refering to the engineering degree that I have from my original country, Venezuela, because he didn't know what PEO was.

-Then he told me; you could have the OK from the Ministry but you don't have the OK from me.

-That's true, I said.

Then I understood 2 things:

1- it was time for me to leave the warehouse (I don't know I just felt it), that was the last time for me at the warehouse, later the virus just made it official; I was no longer at the warehouse.

2-What I wanted to do, I couldn't do it alone, who's going to listen to an alone dock worker ??

Do you know what I realized when writing these lines? it was never about me, it was about doing the best that I could for others, that eventually worked in my favor.

Armando