A Blast From The Past

I took a video wayyy back at the beginning of the semester when we went on iLaunch. Campfire songs!

The Profession of Engineering

My perspective about what engineering is and what it's like at Illinois has changed dramatically throughout my first semester here at college. IFoundry has really broken down the barriers in defining a traditional engineer. The "cold war" engineer analogy fits very well, and after sitting through the lectures and thinking about the missing basics and what iFoundry is pushing I found out how much more there is to being an engineer than simply knowing facts. My belief is that an engineer should, even though traditionally known to simply be the "specialist" in math and science, really cross the boundaries between math/science and business. I feel it is super important for engineers to be good with working in groups. Most importantly being able to talk to the business people, those who are making the decisions, the "higher ups". Lectures on email etiquette and report writing aimed at these skills. It's super important for an engineer to know "the politics of business" and I feel the lecture that discussed the study that looked at what first year graduates in the workplace. There is so much more to engineering than knowing the right formula and all these lectures have really opened my eyes in how I can be successful.

I feel people can be super successful in whatever they field they choose to pursue (medical, law, politics, business, etc) by starting as an engineering. The lecture that discussed how engineering relates to pretty much every aspect of life and every profession was very interesting. You learn a certain skill set that I feel you cannot learn from any other department than engineering. I also believe if you end up moving into the business side of a company, having a technical background will be VERY beneficial and helpful. If you know what you're managing it makes it easier to make decisions and set realistic goals for the people below you.

IFoundry has been an excellent experience and I believe every lecture in the course is very relevant information, I'm very glad I took this course!

Omniclock

The Omniclock! We started kicking around ideas the first meeting we had after the project was assigned about what we could possibly construct. We first came up with the idea of having the piezo playing the Imperial Death March from Star Wars and everything kind of went from there. We decided to have, for our physically moving part, a "clock" hand that counted down from a certain time. We then decided to have the time for the countdown be inputted by the user. In the picture you can see the battery which gives it power, the face of the clock and the clock hand which moves counter clockwise as it counts down. The keypad on the right is what is used to input the time which is displayed on the LED light. As the music plays, the lights above the keypad blink with the music.

This project was fun to make! And it's really cool to see everything working smoothly at the end of a project as well.

The ARC

The best part about going to Illinois, aside from all the great educational opportunities, is the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC). This is by far the most useful, fun, and relaxing resources on campus. They have pools, a sauna, rock climbing, weights, volleyball, basketball, the list goes on and on. I personally love it the most because of the basketball courts. There is ALWAYS a good game going on that I can hop in on. I love basketball and playing is not only a good physical workout, it helps me focus better (after a work out) when I'm studying. I use the weight room a lot, and all the machines and free weights are incredibly nice and well kept. Also, I use the treadmills a lot to run. The ARC also offers a lot of various classes on things such as dance, aerobics...anything really. It's a very clean and friendly environment and I find myself in it as often as I can. I'll typically get caught up in playing two to three hours of basketball games every other day.

The ARC is the best thing about Illinois!! Take advantage of this building. Whatever your passion is there is an outlet for it at the ARC.

iFoundry: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

I feel iFoundry has been an incredibly beneficial experience throughout this semester. To start off, I'll talk about the good things that I feel I've learned from iFoundry (and there are A LOT). First off, I really enjoyed the different lectures we had in class. They were very very interesting and I learned a lot about what iFoundry defined as the missing basics at the beginning of the year. My favorite lecture was the one about how to ask questions. I feel it really has helped me in both academics and in life. I also felt what we touched on in lectures are things that will definitely give me an advantage when going into the workplace, like email etiquette and engineering ethics. Overall the lectures were very very helpful and have made me realize other things that I am interested in, like systems engineering. I hope to take more classes, like some of the newer ones, later on as well. The readings were very interesting, especially The Back of the Napkin. I feel this book is a perfect one to study for a course like this.

The other part of the class, the "lab" portion, was at times stressful and overwhelming but was fun. I enjoyed working in a group and I met a lot of new people, but some of the workload was a bit much especially considering it was only a 1 hour class. There were numerous times our group had to meet outside of class which was very hard with everyones busy schedules.

The other aspect of iFoundry, the iCommunity, was very interesting and I felt was unique, but I can't really comment on it because I was never really able to go to the meetings because I had a class during the weekly times we met. Our iTeam however, TIPS, is probably one of my favorite things I am involved in here on campus. I love the group I chose, Service and Systems Engineering, and I really enjoy the activities we are doing (like the State Farm application process project). TIPS has really engaged me to the more business aspects of engineering, which I have discovered I really like. Also working with students from other departments is very real world like and I enjoy it a lot!

All in all iFoundry has been an overwhelmingly positive experience for me and I hope to continue to stay involved throughout my time here at Illinois!

Engineering: Computer Science

Engineering at the University of Illinois is very prestigious as you already know. It is one of the most premiere universities in the WORLD. By simply being in the college is a feat in itself and something to be proud of. What I've learned is that there is an assumed sense of pride that every engineer has. Excellence and achievement are assumed and working in such an environment, although can be very rigorous and demanding at times, is very rewarding. It is exciting to be in the same room with the brightest students in the nation, all working toward pushing the boundaries of our world. I love it. The major difference I've experienced so far between college and high school are the people. Everyone is extremely willing to help you with any class or any project, all you have to do is ask. Which brings me to my most important point. ASK FOR HELP. The College of Engineering can be VERY intimidating from the outside, but if you don't understand something ASK. ASK QUESTIONS. This ties back to the missing basics in iFoundry: Question Asking. It is VERY important that you ask questions if you are confused about anything.

I am in Computer Science within the College of Engineering and I love it. The classes are hard, but there is SO many opportunities to get involved it's almost overwhelming. The Siebel Center is practically brand new, take advantage of everything it has to offer. I love being able to sit in the many couches throughout the building and work on anything, it has a very inviting atmosphere to it. The video wall is still my favorite part of the building. Computer Science is a very fast growing field of study and CS at Illinois is on the cutting edge of it all. With research going on in so many different fields, getting involved is a matter of sending a professor an email and asking. The lecture hall is so incredibly nice, with the three video screens seen in the picture, the audio setup, big tables, and comfy chairs. If you want to be a computer scientist, Illinois is the place to be!

The Bus System

Right off the bat, let me just say, learn the bus system. I feel the most useful thing to know coming to campus is when the buses run and what buses run where. It's definitely hard and being and engineer it was extremely helpful because about ninety percent of my classes are in buildings north of Green Street and I live in the Six Pack. When I need to study for any exams or tests or do homework I can just hop on a bus and it'll drop me off right next to Grainger library! This is specifically useful for me because for a lot of my engineering projects we all meet at Grainger. Running around between classes outside can be a pain, especially when it gets as cold as it is now. Spare the headache and jump on a bus. Their website is easy to navigate, it takes seriously like fifteenish minutes to learn. I was very surprised at how nice the drivers were and how clean they keep the buses. Only downside is you have to listen to some audio advertisements for various places on campus over the speakers, which, for me, can get annoying if you ride the bus frequently. Another great benefit of the buses is that if you and friends want to go off campus and go to, say, WalMart or go out to eat at Olive Garden, there are buses that take you there. All you have to do is bring your iCard. It's very useful, especially if you're like me and don't have a car on campus. Long story short, take the time to learn the bus system. It will make your life so much easier!

Grainger Library

Grainger Library. The Heart of the Engineering College. Coming to Illinois I didn't realize how important it was for students. As the picture shows, students use Grainger 24/7. It looks like this all the time. The computers in the basement have all the software you would ever need. And the large work space and quiet environment make it the perfect place to study and get stuff done! I thought studying in my dorm was effective, I'd pop in my headphones and start working. However, at Grainger I was able to spread out more, the tables are bigger...there's just more space. I've found that I'm less distracted and I can focus better at Grainger as well. You are surrounded by like minded people who are diligently working which, for me, helped me stay even more focused. The only disadvantage is that the library itself is kind of a hike because I live in the six pack. But it's only a few minutes if you hop on a bus. I've also met with a few other people to work on projects which works out well because Grainger has spots were you can do small group discussion type stuff too. Take advantage of what this library has to offer!