HAPI Themes

Ah, we meet again, liberal arts…. One might think that an engineering education would be completely devoid of such subjects as humanities and the arts. After all, we’re too busy building things and solving equations to worry about those, right? If you’ve been paying attention to this class in the slightest, then you know that this is untrue. Even from the study of “the missing basics” on the first day, we have learned about shattering stereotypes of engineers and about making ourselves multidimensional and well-rounded. These HAPI themes, despite their strange name, seem to be just another example of the university allowing us students to expand our horizons in an attempt to produce more worldly graduates. And I like this idea. As I’m sure most people will agree, we are not simply one-dimensional students of the hard sciences. We have other interests as well. We may prefer solving integrals to analyzing artwork, but that doesn’t mean we don’t like using the other half of our brain every now and then.

Personally, a theme that I would pick would be something related to economics. I have always found the subject intriguing and I enjoyed both Macroeconomics AP and Microeconomics AP when I took them in high school. I’m not really sure why I like it so much, but I guess I enjoy the idea of applying mathematical concepts and graphs while simultaneously being able to think abstractly about concepts that exist in the real world and are a product of basic human behavior. Moreover, the study of economics would aid immensely in the furthering of an engineer’s education. The business side of engineering intrigues me greatly, and any understanding of business combined with technological know-how usually equals a successful engineer. After all, it is very important to engineer an attractive product, but the ability to market the product and understand the business behind everything is just as important in producing a successful business model. Economics and business understanding could also lead to more startups and more entrepreneurial innovation. Overall, this HAPI theme would help me greatly in my quest to become a successful engineer.

Ethics

I read the article about “custom essay writers” and I have to say that I enjoyed it very much. The article itself was very well written (as it should be I guess, considering that’s how he makes his living) and I thought the subject matter was very interesting because it revealed a dark side of college that many of us seem to turn a blind eye to. Cheating almost seems to be somewhat of a taboo in that no one likes to acknowledge its existence, yet many if not all students are aware of its prevalence. Then again, when many of us think of cheating, we generally think of writing notes on the inside of our arm or sneaking a glance at the quiz one desk over. This article simply proves the impressive magnitude of cheating on all levels of academia. I think that many believe the prevalence of cheating decreases as one advances in one’s education. After all, a graduate student would have no reason to cheat. And he would know at that point that cheating is sophomoric and flat out wrong. However, this article proves that such sentiments are not the case. Instead, the article shows that cheaters simply turn to more drastic and unethical methods as they become older. The writer of the article complains about the state of colleges and the attention they place on grades as opposed to actual learning. However, the use of custom essay writers to cut corners is not the answer to deal with a flawed system; this is merely taking the easy way out. Education may be an imperfect art, but the decision to cheat one’s way through to a degree is hardly the way to respond. It is unethical and it leaves one as bad of a writer as ever. In the end, nothing is gained through unethical actions.

Creative Ideas

One interesting idea is the creation of a commercial spacecraft that would be able to transport the general public quickly and cheaply to space or the moon and back again.

Another idea is to create a laser keyboard that utilizes a laser to track finger movements and turn them into keystrokes.

The iefx system

The iefx system begins with inputs. In this case, I chose the inputs to be students and faculty, because they are the foundation of the entire operation. These inputs then undergo certain processes. Students and faculty both collaborate in lab and lecture work under the watch of TAs and LAs and in iTeam work under the watch of the iHead. They are also aided by different advisors that are involved in iefx and help out along the way. The outputs of these efforts include lab projects such as the steam car and the arduino project, a new understanding of engineering knowledge such as missing basics, and the iTeam projects we do with our iTeam. The last components of the system, the feedback, include the quality of the projects and the class grade. These examples of feedback inform the students and the faculty how effective the iefx program is, and informs them how much engineering learning actually took place throughout the course of the semester.

Labels

The process of naming and labeling ideas and objects is another missing basic of utmost importance. The process of engineering is all about clarity, about communication, and about conveying ideas effectively. Labeling different parts of a whole allow us to more clearly communicate about that part, resulting in more cohesive teamwork overall for everyone involved. And as engineers, we are often forced to work with terms whose names we have never heard before.

In my General Engineering 101 class, we use a program called Inventor to construct different parts. Inventor itself is a name, or a specialized label for an object. Inventor is also full of a number of different labels for things that you didn’t even know had a label to describe. A good example is a chamfer, or what can be described by Wikipedia as “a beveled edge connecting two surfaces.” In short, it is as if you chopped off a corner at an angle. A similar feature is known as a fillet (pronounced fill-it, not like a fish fillet). A fillet is basically rounding off an edge in order to make it look nicer, reduce stress, etc. Another common feature is known as an extrusion. When you need to make a two-dimensional sketch into a three-dimensional shape, you extrude the 2D sketch by essentially pulling it up and adding another dimension. For example, if you extruded a circle, you would be left with a cylinder. Now, the makers of Inventor did not come up with the word chamfer, fillet, or extrude, but at the same time, these aren’t exactly commonplace words you would expect to hear in everyday conversation. Inventor uses these words in order to label different processes with one-word terms. That way, if you know you need to round off an edge, you know you need to hit the fillet button. Plus, fillet fits on an icon a lot better than “round off edges.”

In class and in the PowerPoint, we learned that labels help make processes easier. Indeed, that is exactly the case with Inventor functions; one-word terms are much easier than trying to describe what needs to be done with words. Moreover, these words are memorable enough that they stick in your mind when you’re trying to model your part. Overall, as we learned in the PowerPoint, labels are an important step for further inquiry, and it is important to learn labels as well as learn to label effectively.

The Importance of Communication

Writing a reflection on the merits of writing… hmmm….

Communication skills arx oftxn takxn for grantxd, xspxcially by xnginxxrs. Communication is dxfinxd as convxying mxssagxs, and wx havx bxxn doing that sincx wx wxrx babixs and wx crixd to lxt pxoplx know wx wxrx hungry. As such, wx txnd to vixw communication skills as skills wx havx bxxn honing for yxars, and thus do not nxxd any morx rxfining. Aftxr all, wx’rx xnginxxrs! How hard could it bx?

Actually, it could bx rxally hard. Communication is a dxlicatx art, rxquiring complxtx coordination of all vxrbal and nonvxrbal mxssagxs in ordxr to clxarly convxy information to thx rxcipixnt. Just onx simplx flaw or xrror in thx communication procxss can lxad to disastxr. As xnginxxrs, communication is an xspxcially important componxnt of our livxs and our jobs. Much of xnginxxring work is txam-basxd, and thx only way to convxy information to all txam mxmbxrs is by xffxctivx communication. Thx inability of onx xnginxxr to clxarly and concisxly outlinx his idxas could provx to bx dxtrimxntal to thx rxst of thx txam and thx projxct in gxnxral.

On a pxrsonal lxvxl, communication has nxvxr bxxn my strongxst suit. I am a dxcxnt writxr, albxit a slow onx (which is why thxsx blogs takx a lot longxr than thxy probably should), but I havx always bxxn a subpar vxrbal communicator. I havx attxmptxd to improvx my skills whxnxvxr possiblx, yxt I still loathx spxxchxs, formal prxsxntations, and thx likx. Howxvxr, I know that I will nxxd to improvx thxsx skills as I xntxr thx work world, and collxgx is a grxat placx to do that. Aftxr all, thx succxss or failurx of an xnginxxr can oftxn hingx on his ability to prxsxnt his idxas in front of othxrs and convxy thxm xffxctivxly xnough that thxy arx clxar for xvxryonx to sxx.

Communication is a difficult procxss, and onx that is almost impossiblx to mastxr. It dxpxnds on so many diffxrxnt factors that if just onx of thxsx factors is convxyxd incorrxctly or unclxarly, thxn thx xntirxty of thx mxssagx is lost in translation. Oftxn wx forgxt thxsx nuancxs and just assumx that our communication skills arx good xnough. Howxvxr, it only takxs onx small ovxrsight… onx lxttxr out of placx… to complxtxly garblx thx xntirx mxssagx.

Working the Net

My networking experience actually occurred before we learned about it in class, but it is appropriate so I think I can use it. It will require a bit of background explanation, however. Coming into the University of Illinois, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with my life (I still don't). I decided to apply to the College of Engineering as a general engineering major, but I still maintained interests in other fields, especially one called actuarial science. I decided to try to join the actuarial science club on campus in order to get a basic idea of the kinds of things actuaries do and see if it had more appeal than engineering. On Quad Day, however, representatives from the actuarial science club were nowhere to be found. I looked everywhere but had no luck. Eventually, I looked up the group's website and decided to go ahead and email the president of the club in hopes that he could give me some information about the club.
He replied shortly afterwards with details about the first meeting and invited me to stop on by and give it a try, even though the club is usually open to actuarial science majors specifically. I dropped by the meeting, enjoyed the club and the activities they put on, had a long talk with the president about my situation, and decided to join.

One of the activities the club does is a mentor system involving an upper classman pairing up with an under classman. Usually the pairings are random, but I was told that the president of the club specially requested to be my big buddy because of my unique situation and so that he could provide me with more assistance and guidance than normal. Now I have a key resource at my disposal; he and I have corresponded via email as well as in person. The club organizes multiple events for big buddy/little buddy pairings to attend and get to know each other, so he and I have steadily become closer as they year has progressed. He is also a senior who has held two internships, so he has plenty of connections in addition to those that come with being president of the actuarial science club. When I reflect on how this relationship has progressed, the key that I remember from class is initiative. It took initiative for me to contact the president of the club in the first place and it took initiative to attend the meeting, especially for someone who is not very outgoing. One of the things we talked about in class is the cyclical nature of initiative and networking. As a result of the initiative I took, my networking now gives me an advantage in the future to take further initiative, perhaps as a result of an internship that my buddy helps me to get. Moreover, I am focusing on strengthening my relationship with him instead of establishing a number of weaker relationships that probably will not pan out. With networking, the key is quality over quantity, and I am doing my best to create a quality relationship that will help me in the present and in the future.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/36943218?secret_password=ju0xm6lfn320a06c2di

Missing Basics

The general engineering curriculum at U of I is riddled with math and science and other technical classes such as Engineering Design Analysis. However, the curriculum still affords Illinois general engineers the opportunity to exercise some of the “missing basics”—that is, the skill set not taught in standard engineering classes but still considered an imperative aspect of any successful corporate engineer. A prime example is the opportunity for general engineers to engage in a team-based design project in the class GE 494. This class allows senior engineering students to assume a project for an industry partner, thus giving them invaluable real-world experience. This allows them to learn missing basics not taught in the classroom including communication, teamwork, business skills, and others. As David A. Goldberg says in The Entrepreneurial Engineer, “The average engineer studies many long years, plunges into the real world, and finds that a tough part of the job was left as an exercise to the reader.” GE 494 allows students to taste the vastly different corporate world and assimilate their skills while still going through college.


Three important skills I would like to work on this semester include organization, communication, and the ability to set more short term goals. Organization is an important skill to learn in any career and one that I only adequately practiced throughout high school. My action plan for developing this skill would be to write down everything in my iBook and to plan to take fifteen minutes a week organizing my dorm room. Communication is another invaluable skill used anywhere in life, and it is not explicitly taught in high school. I want to be able to efficiently and effectively communicate my ideas to other team members and coworkers in order to be a functioning member of the team. In order to improve these skills, I will pay particular attention to communication while working in teams for the construction of the steam car, making sure I outline my ideas clearly and effectively. Setting short term goals is a very important skill in terms of planning and in terms of completing tasks efficiently. My plan to improve this skill is to consciously set specific goals when working on individual projects, such as deciding to finish up a paper before a certain time. This will force me to work efficiently and effectively in order to meet my deadline.