Here I am, typing away on a computer on a nice Sunday evening, when I know I should be studing because I have 3 tests next week in chem, calculus, and physics. I can always study later tonight. Or maybe tomorrow night. Or even Tuesday, after all, my first exams are on Wednesday. Hurray, Procrastination!!!!*
*Neither this author, nor any of the other EVS bloggers offically endorse or condone procrastination. Procrastination leads to you shooting yourself in the foot, in the form of pulling all-nighters to finish homework or cram for exams. I'm thankful that I havn't had to stay up past 12:30 to finish anything this year.
College is tough, no questioning that. My course load this semester is Chem 104 and 105, Physics 211, Math 231, and GE 101 (a engineering drawing and modeling class), and I have managed to maintain decent grades (at least a B).
Here how everything pans out:
Calculus: seems relatively straightforward.
Physics: Again, straighforward to me.
Chemistry: I have had it to the last straw with these organic compounds! Naming them, easy. Remembering exactly how each compound reacts with what to form what, that's where I'm having issues.
At least they all have practice exams I can do.
On civil engineering:
Civil engineering here isn't that bad for the first year. Pretty much all you take are the basic math and science courses: Chem 1, Chem 2, the Calculus sequence, Physics 211, and GE 101 (as described above). One advantage is that isn't really a technical class (unlike our friends at ECE.) There is, however, CEE 198 that you take first semester. It's nothing really (0 credit hours), just a bunch of professors in the department talking about the profession in general, and the many specialties students can choose, beginning junior year. The availible specialties are Construction Management, Environmental Engineering, Structual Engineering, Transportation Engineering, Geotechnical (soil) Engineering, and Hydrosystems (water).
UPDATE: According to the department, CEE 198 is being overhauled, effective this fall. It will be 1 credit hour. In case any incoming students read this.
These are my reflections and observations so far.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
BioE!
As a senior in high school, I applied to numerous schools with Bioengineering (or Biomedical engineering, same thing) as my major. I really didn't understand what that meant...and I'm still not even completely sure about everything that is encapsulated within it! (I do, however, know that I love it and everyone else in my major.)
Because of my past experiences, I always aspired to become a doctor. I chose bioengineering over majoring in just plan biology because I've always really enjoyed math classes and I knew that as a bio major I probably wouldn't get to take many of those..Beyond that, I've always wanted to be an engineer, a creator of things. I remember when I was younger I would spend hours working on puzzles, now majoring in bioengineering I am working towards solving real like puzzles, ones that could potentially impact thousands of lives.
The BioE department at UIUC is still relatively new, I believe the first class graduated in 2008, and because of that the curriculum is still being finalized but last semester I took a few standard engineering classes (calc 3 and gen chem +lab) and then two more bioe specific classes bioe120 and mcb150. Both were absolutely great classes! Bioe120 is an intro class to bioengineering, you hear professors talking about their research, tour labs, design a bioengineering project, and learn about different tracks within bioengineering that you'd like to go into. Plus it's just a really great time to socialize and meet the other Bioes in your year. That becomes pretty important since the major is one of the smallest on campus, there are only 37 freshman bioengineers in my year. MCB150 is the intro biology class that pretty much everyone who is majoring in a biology related field has to take. (I think there were about 600 people in my lecture when I took it, I heard there are around 1000 taking it right now!!)
What has really surprised me is how much bioengineering relates to other fields. I've always felt that Bioe is kind of the odd man out in terms of the engineering school just because biology is so much different from most engineering sciences. That's not necessarily true. I have a few Bioe friends who'd like to major in computer science, but guess what? There's a Bioe track that relates to that! The Computation Systems Biology track is rich in CS and math classes. A few of my other Bioe friends kind of want to switch into mechanical engineering..well we also have a track for that: Biomechanics which is designing things such as prosthetics, pretty neat stuff! Personally, I'm probably going to choose the Cell and Tissue Engineering Track. Don't worry about not knowing the different tracks though, you'll get a very intimate introduction to each of them during Bioe120. You actually declare your track at the end of your sophomore year so you have time to mull it over.
I should probably make a note about how bioengineering doesn't accept transfer students. If you didn't get into the department before arriving on campus, you're not going to, sorry. So even if I decided I didn't like bioengineering and transferred into another major, then decided that I wanted to be a Bioe again, I couldn't even get back in. However, because of the varied tracks within bioengineering, that type of situation doesn't happen because chances are that one of the tracks fits your interest. Even if it doesn't, you can always do a self-defined track, but that's a whole other story, haha.
Oh! it just occurred to me that I should probably tell you what I'm taking this semester: MCB 252 (they're actually taking this off the curriculum, so the rest of the bioes in my grade are actually taking another class instead..), CS 101 (standard CS course that pretty much all engineers have to take unless you're a CS or ECE major), Phys 211 (probably my favorite class, even though I absolutely despised physics in high school), Chem 104/105 (gen chem II and lab), and Dance 100 (woo! for fun gen eds).
Alright, I'll stop babbling. Please let me know if I can clarify anything for you and I'll try my best to help!
Because of my past experiences, I always aspired to become a doctor. I chose bioengineering over majoring in just plan biology because I've always really enjoyed math classes and I knew that as a bio major I probably wouldn't get to take many of those..Beyond that, I've always wanted to be an engineer, a creator of things. I remember when I was younger I would spend hours working on puzzles, now majoring in bioengineering I am working towards solving real like puzzles, ones that could potentially impact thousands of lives.
The BioE department at UIUC is still relatively new, I believe the first class graduated in 2008, and because of that the curriculum is still being finalized but last semester I took a few standard engineering classes (calc 3 and gen chem +lab) and then two more bioe specific classes bioe120 and mcb150. Both were absolutely great classes! Bioe120 is an intro class to bioengineering, you hear professors talking about their research, tour labs, design a bioengineering project, and learn about different tracks within bioengineering that you'd like to go into. Plus it's just a really great time to socialize and meet the other Bioes in your year. That becomes pretty important since the major is one of the smallest on campus, there are only 37 freshman bioengineers in my year. MCB150 is the intro biology class that pretty much everyone who is majoring in a biology related field has to take. (I think there were about 600 people in my lecture when I took it, I heard there are around 1000 taking it right now!!)
What has really surprised me is how much bioengineering relates to other fields. I've always felt that Bioe is kind of the odd man out in terms of the engineering school just because biology is so much different from most engineering sciences. That's not necessarily true. I have a few Bioe friends who'd like to major in computer science, but guess what? There's a Bioe track that relates to that! The Computation Systems Biology track is rich in CS and math classes. A few of my other Bioe friends kind of want to switch into mechanical engineering..well we also have a track for that: Biomechanics which is designing things such as prosthetics, pretty neat stuff! Personally, I'm probably going to choose the Cell and Tissue Engineering Track. Don't worry about not knowing the different tracks though, you'll get a very intimate introduction to each of them during Bioe120. You actually declare your track at the end of your sophomore year so you have time to mull it over.
I should probably make a note about how bioengineering doesn't accept transfer students. If you didn't get into the department before arriving on campus, you're not going to, sorry. So even if I decided I didn't like bioengineering and transferred into another major, then decided that I wanted to be a Bioe again, I couldn't even get back in. However, because of the varied tracks within bioengineering, that type of situation doesn't happen because chances are that one of the tracks fits your interest. Even if it doesn't, you can always do a self-defined track, but that's a whole other story, haha.
Oh! it just occurred to me that I should probably tell you what I'm taking this semester: MCB 252 (they're actually taking this off the curriculum, so the rest of the bioes in my grade are actually taking another class instead..), CS 101 (standard CS course that pretty much all engineers have to take unless you're a CS or ECE major), Phys 211 (probably my favorite class, even though I absolutely despised physics in high school), Chem 104/105 (gen chem II and lab), and Dance 100 (woo! for fun gen eds).
Alright, I'll stop babbling. Please let me know if I can clarify anything for you and I'll try my best to help!
My Major and Real Life
When I applied to U of I's Electrical Engineering department, I honestly didn't really know what I was getting myself into. All I knew was that when I grew up, I wanted to be a professor doing R&D in the more theoretical materials side of nanotechnology, and according to the post-doc I worked for at Portland State University, the way to obtain a job in said field is to get a PhD in electrical engineering. That said, if taking ECE 110 (the introductory course to electrical and computer engineering) has taught me anything, it has been that electrical engineering is an incredibly broad field. That really isn't a bad thing, but I've approached the end of my freshman year knowing very little more about nanotechnology that when I started.
Granted, I didn't expect to learn a lot about nanotechnolgy in my freshman year. Judging from what I know about the field, it seems that the foundation for understanding nanotechnology isn't really laid until sophomore year when I'll be taking Physics 213 (Thermodynamics) and Physics 214 (Modern Physics). Even then, I probably will only have a minimal understanding of the field and will need to take further Quantum Mechanics and Materials Science courses before I start to actually get anywhere.
That brings me to my next point, which is that if you read a paper from Nanoletters (an academic journal dedicated to nanotechnology), you'll find that nanotechnology is more than anything a hybrid of Electrical Engineering and Material Science. Since I'm in the not in the Material Science & Engineering (MatSE) department, I had no idea how I was going to end up taking courses in the department until one of my professors started talking about the requirements for James Scholars, a campus honors program.
For James Scholars, juniors and seniors are expected to complete either a separate minor, another major, or a capstone project. The capstone project was of special interest to me, because apparently the idea is that you can outline a list of courses to take such that you specialize in a specific field, which in my case, would be nanotechnology. In fact, you can even count research in the specific field towards your capstone project, something which I'm really pumped about. I doubt that it's impossible to do what I need to do without the guiding hand of the capstone project, but it does give me an organized way to complete all this. At the very least, it has got me thinking about my four year plan and planning out what courses I want to take, rather than my previous strategy of just semi-randomly picking out courses.
Maybe I'm still talking out my butt about all this, but I feel better than ever about how my schooling will play itself out. Even though my courses right now are just building up the to real deal, at least I know that in four years, I'll be able to read Nanoletters and have a basic understanding of what's going on.
Granted, I didn't expect to learn a lot about nanotechnolgy in my freshman year. Judging from what I know about the field, it seems that the foundation for understanding nanotechnology isn't really laid until sophomore year when I'll be taking Physics 213 (Thermodynamics) and Physics 214 (Modern Physics). Even then, I probably will only have a minimal understanding of the field and will need to take further Quantum Mechanics and Materials Science courses before I start to actually get anywhere.
That brings me to my next point, which is that if you read a paper from Nanoletters (an academic journal dedicated to nanotechnology), you'll find that nanotechnology is more than anything a hybrid of Electrical Engineering and Material Science. Since I'm in the not in the Material Science & Engineering (MatSE) department, I had no idea how I was going to end up taking courses in the department until one of my professors started talking about the requirements for James Scholars, a campus honors program.
For James Scholars, juniors and seniors are expected to complete either a separate minor, another major, or a capstone project. The capstone project was of special interest to me, because apparently the idea is that you can outline a list of courses to take such that you specialize in a specific field, which in my case, would be nanotechnology. In fact, you can even count research in the specific field towards your capstone project, something which I'm really pumped about. I doubt that it's impossible to do what I need to do without the guiding hand of the capstone project, but it does give me an organized way to complete all this. At the very least, it has got me thinking about my four year plan and planning out what courses I want to take, rather than my previous strategy of just semi-randomly picking out courses.
Maybe I'm still talking out my butt about all this, but I feel better than ever about how my schooling will play itself out. Even though my courses right now are just building up the to real deal, at least I know that in four years, I'll be able to read Nanoletters and have a basic understanding of what's going on.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Okay, let's start talking for real!
Sorry for the hiatus on the blog (for anyone following at this time), but I (along with everyone else apparently) was hoping we'd get through everyone's introduction before starting the REAL TALK. We have discussed what we ought to talk about next. Even though we are free to talk about whatever we want, some structural similarities would be helpful so that you get to know each of us from similar angles. So now, I will (hopefully) initiate our next series of posts.
I am an Electrical Engineer, which means my focus of study is in the working properties of electricity, what sorts of basic circuit devices can manipulate it and how, how it powers machines, etc. Unlike several other majors within the field of engineering, the curriculum at U of I for ECE majors throws one into the real stuff within the first two semesters!
ECE 110 is the introductory course to electrical engineering. You learn the basics of voltage, resistance, current, power, basic devices in circuits, binary/hexadecimal arithmetic, logic circuits, data and signal sampling, and encryption. On top of this, you write a research paper related to a particular field in electrical engineering and create the logic circuitry for a robot vehicle that must run along a line and distinguish different colors to know how to turn. It is difficult, but fun as well (if you chose the right major). If you don't find it fun, you will have to start considering a different major right away. ECE 190, which I am taking right now, involves a lot of binary/hexadecimal operations, logic, and computing systems and languages. If I didn't enjoy logic and problem solving with it so much, I would definitely have given up by now.
I chose Electrical Engineering because out of all the big and interesting problems to solve in the world, I am most attracted to the problem of global warming and sustainability humanity faces. The largest source of this problem is our manner of obtaining energy. Oil and coal is used to provide the majority of electricity and fuel for the massive numbers of vehicles in the United States. These fossil fuels are exhaustible, which may eventually lead to a significant energy crisis in future generations. Even without regards to the U.S.'s dependence on international oil and the uncomfortable position, it is because of this usage that the U.S. was the second highest emitter of CO2 via the burning of fossil fuels in 2006. The U.S. is, however, only a single example. the U.S. alongside the other 9 of the top 10 emitting countries accounts for about 2/3 of the worlds CO2 emissions. One approach to solving this problem is the introduction of new methods of obtaining fuel and electricity that involve only minimal emission of CO2 and are taken from sources that are renewable. Sources such as these would fulfill our environmental responsibility and need for sustainability. This is the solution that I study to one day work towards. I have taken in interest in power and energy systems, which involves energy conversion and incorporation into power grids, some of which span entire countries. I aim to make an impact in these research areas to propel the field and bring the world closer to realizing a new age of energy.
...Sounds kinda big for a freshman, doesn't it? Well, hopefully you can tell by the way I presented myself that I mean business here. Being of service to the world is the only career I could possibly imagine for myself; I would not enjoy any other lifestyle simply because I know what I am capable of and doing anything less than this would not be responsible. With the power of intelligence comes the responsibility of using it to think and imagine something better for the world. It is my self-given purpose that I decided on before even applying to college. More on stuff like that later. For now, I'm done. See ya!
I am an Electrical Engineer, which means my focus of study is in the working properties of electricity, what sorts of basic circuit devices can manipulate it and how, how it powers machines, etc. Unlike several other majors within the field of engineering, the curriculum at U of I for ECE majors throws one into the real stuff within the first two semesters!
ECE 110 is the introductory course to electrical engineering. You learn the basics of voltage, resistance, current, power, basic devices in circuits, binary/hexadecimal arithmetic, logic circuits, data and signal sampling, and encryption. On top of this, you write a research paper related to a particular field in electrical engineering and create the logic circuitry for a robot vehicle that must run along a line and distinguish different colors to know how to turn. It is difficult, but fun as well (if you chose the right major). If you don't find it fun, you will have to start considering a different major right away. ECE 190, which I am taking right now, involves a lot of binary/hexadecimal operations, logic, and computing systems and languages. If I didn't enjoy logic and problem solving with it so much, I would definitely have given up by now.
I chose Electrical Engineering because out of all the big and interesting problems to solve in the world, I am most attracted to the problem of global warming and sustainability humanity faces. The largest source of this problem is our manner of obtaining energy. Oil and coal is used to provide the majority of electricity and fuel for the massive numbers of vehicles in the United States. These fossil fuels are exhaustible, which may eventually lead to a significant energy crisis in future generations. Even without regards to the U.S.'s dependence on international oil and the uncomfortable position, it is because of this usage that the U.S. was the second highest emitter of CO2 via the burning of fossil fuels in 2006. The U.S. is, however, only a single example. the U.S. alongside the other 9 of the top 10 emitting countries accounts for about 2/3 of the worlds CO2 emissions. One approach to solving this problem is the introduction of new methods of obtaining fuel and electricity that involve only minimal emission of CO2 and are taken from sources that are renewable. Sources such as these would fulfill our environmental responsibility and need for sustainability. This is the solution that I study to one day work towards. I have taken in interest in power and energy systems, which involves energy conversion and incorporation into power grids, some of which span entire countries. I aim to make an impact in these research areas to propel the field and bring the world closer to realizing a new age of energy.
...Sounds kinda big for a freshman, doesn't it? Well, hopefully you can tell by the way I presented myself that I mean business here. Being of service to the world is the only career I could possibly imagine for myself; I would not enjoy any other lifestyle simply because I know what I am capable of and doing anything less than this would not be responsible. With the power of intelligence comes the responsibility of using it to think and imagine something better for the world. It is my self-given purpose that I decided on before even applying to college. More on stuff like that later. For now, I'm done. See ya!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Juliette & Joshua, sitting on the bus, B-L-O-G-G-I-N-G ... okay, that was one too many letters!
We were on the bus home for Spring Break. Check it out!
Suburban Express is high quality. You get to sit in sporty cushioned seats and get internet.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Hey my name is Alejandro and I am studying General Engineering here at Illinois. I was born in Venezuela, but I have lived most of my life in Boulder, Colorado. I love to play sports more specifically soccer, which I played in high school. I also love to go skiing in the Rockies, something I was sad to leave when I moved to the flat prairie that is Illinois, but I still get my ski days in during breaks. It is a big difference coming from out-of-state considering that a lot of the kids who go to the U of I are from the Chicago area, but there are so many different kids that its practically impossible to not get along with anyone.
So far I really have enjoyed my time at Illinois. I have gotten to meet a lot of new people and done a lot of cool things. I went out sailing with the sailing club a few times, went on a ski trip with the ski club, learned the sport of handball, went to some good parties and I still got decent grades.
College is a big transition, but this first year has been great and I just wonder what the next three years have in store for me.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Well hi
Hi my name is David Perez and I am yet another member of EVS. I am from Des Plaines, IL (NW suburb of Chicago) and though technically I am still a General Engineering major I will be an Aerospace Engineering major at the start of the next school year and I am already taking classes for the Aerospace major. Fun fact is that I am actually a year ahead of where I should be thanks to my parents (not my decision, I was like 6) and maybe I was not quite ready for college but college doesn't wait for you to be ready so well here I am. Its sad to think I will turn 21 my Senior year., but what can you do.
At UIUC there are so many different experiences to be had and it will probably take all your time here to do just a few of them. I haven't done as much on campus as maybe some of my peers but some of the things I have done include pledging a fraternity (didn't initiate, wasn't my thing), sold churros on the quad, attended "unofficial" meetings of poker club (real money was involved), played endless hours of COD (Call of Duty) and hackysack in a dorm, study my ass off for more tests than I can count, ultimate Frisbee, paintball, parties (won't talk about those) etc you get the picture.
I am not really involved in any clubs or organizations yet though I am a member of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and I would like to get involved with Engineers Without Borders at some point.
Sometimes I remember how easy my high school classes were compared to the ones here but well, thats why engineers make the big bucks. Well thats it for now but if there are any questions at all, as we will might try to stay away from some sensitive topics in the future, feel free to email me anything at perez34@illinois.edu
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