Thursday, April 27, 2006

Posted 2 years, 2 weeks, 3 days, 7 hours, 45 minutes ago

Well, spring break was great.  I got a lot of time with my friends, and beyond that, I got a lot of rest, which is much needed these days.  Today, I completed two of my independant study courses at ICC - Jig and Fixture Design and Industrial Systems Schematics.  That is really nice.  Monday, I met with the engineering manager at the facility where I am doing my internship this summer.  That was really interesting and I believe that it will be a wonderful experience in which I will learn a lot.
Tonight, we will be doing more in depth study into Solid Works in our parametric modeling class.  This will be highly important because this is the program that I will be using in my internships this summer.
My project is doing quite well.  I will be presenting it to my professor in a week.  For the most part, I just have a few final touch ups to do on it and I believe I will come out with a high score.  As this semester begins to come to a close, I am getting prepared for the summer semester.  I am really looking forward to it.

Charles

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Posted 2 years, 3 weeks, 4 days, 6 hours, 45 minutes ago

A lot of exciting things have been happening with me this week.  Last Thursday, I was chosen to be the interim president of the student chapter of the Society of Plastics Engineers at Western.  This student chapter has not officially begun.  We are still in the process of getting established.  Hopefully, by the middle of August we will be ready to elect an official president, secretary, and treasurer.  From what I hear, being a part of professional organizations such as this really opens door for career advancement.  I really look forward to what becomes of this experience.
Besides this, I have all of the sudden achieved amazing success on my robot.  Although my robot does not have the highest level of intelligence that I had planned from the start, at least it is functioning to a point.  I am really excited about it.  Engineering is a career faced with many problems, but when you reach a level of success...what encouragement you feel from all your efforts.  Now, I am beginning to put together a video for this project.  I think that this will add “the cherry on the sundae”.  Besides this, I have been working vigorously to get ahead on my subjects before the semester closes in on me.  Toward the end of the week, I will take a little break and spend some quality time with my family.  As always, that will be really nice.

Charles

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Posted 2 years, 1 month, 1 day, 4 hours, 47 minutes ago

Well, this week has been similar to last week in terms of a busy schedule.  My meeting at Western with the two engineers concerning my robot went really well.  I got there around 2:45 and did not leave until about 5:30.  We worked on programming the microcontroller.  Also, they advised me to redirect my intersts and goals on this project.  Due to the fact that the material and information is very broad and detailed, not to mention that the robotics book that I was using contains much errata, I will not be able to fully complete my initial ambitions.  But thats OK.  I have worked many long hours on this project and the wealth of understanding that I have about these related topics, I would not have aquired had I not run into so many obstacles.  So what can I say: “Welcome to the world of engineering”.  Despite the difficulties, I have achieved a measure of success on several of the projects with the robot and that alone is rewarding given that I started this project knowing hardly anything about electricity and electronics.
Next week is Spring Break for Isothermal Community College.  That is what is nice about being enrolled at two colleges simultaneously, you get two spring breaks.  However, I may not get a whole lot of rest and relaxation anyway.  It will be my week to get caught up and ahead before the end of the semester - so that"s good.  I have my Western class tonight and I think we will be start working with Solid Works - sounds interesting doesn’t it.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Posted 2 years, 1 month, 1 week, 1 day, 4 hours, 7 minutes ago

Well, it has been a very busy week.  As always, the last month of a semester can be quite hectic.  My Pro/ENGINEER course is getting very interesting.  This week, we worked on performing patterns.  Presently, I am in the middle of drawing a turbo charger.  It seems that there are no limits to what can be designed in this program.  Here in the next week or so, we will be exploring another solid modeling program—Solid Works.  Our professor wants us to be familiar with a variety of programs so we can be more adaptable to industry.
The robot project is still in the midst of being completed.  I am scheduled to meet with an electronics application engineer at Western tomorrow around 3:00 PM to program the microcontroller that I am using.  Hopefully, we will be able to finalize the construction and programming of this robot.  After that, I need to complete my report, PowerPoint presentation, and video.
In the midst of finalizing this semester, I am already preparing for summer classes.  However, this summer, I think, will be an easier ride.  I am taking only two classes, and one of them will involve an internship, which is what I am really looking forward to.  The other class is only one night a week.  This is a Safety Systems class offered at AB-Tech in Asheville on Thursday nights.  Hopefully, my next blog will provide a report of the successful completion of my robot.

Charles