Free Time, Schmee Time

The next week is the only week this summer I'll have two classes and my internship all together. My orientation with NASA on Monday is an all-day affair, so I will be attempting to sandwich in time to study for the three tests I have this week. Of course there is also a bunch of regular classwork to finish. Summer semesters are great for getting things done rapidly, but I think I prefer a marathon to a sprint. Thankfully, there will only be another three weeks after this week with Statistics and the internship, and then I'll be left with nothing but NASA through August. Sonya and I can't wait for the Miami Druekes to arrive, for the visit was well-planned around the Independence Day break. Somehow I'd like to get them a little tour of Langley. There has been 97 years worth of Aerospace research and innovation coming out of there, and I really want a chance to show it of to the family. We will also be visited by a small segment of the Michigan Drueke Clan in the form of Aunt Mary Kay and Carl. I love being the summer-vacation destination.

Well, that was quick.

Here's the big news. I have been offered and accepted a summer internship with NASA. I'm participating in LARSS (Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars) and will be working on a joint project with the EPA. I'd love to say that I earned this based on merit alone, but I must give credit to my lovely wife. A professor Sonya works with at William & Mary is married to an engineer with the EPA, and he pulled some strings to make this thing happen. I have to hope that he would not have done so had I not shown significant promise. Needless to say, I am ecstatic! They're working around my school schedule since my summer classes overlap the first couple weeks of LARSS. Also noteworthy, this is my first paid engineering gig. It should cover tuition and books for the fall, and it also counts as a credit toward graduation. Yehaaaa!

...why I have been posting infrequently.

I finally have all my grades for this semester, and I'm pretty pleased. I earned four As and one B. My GPA is now sitting at 3.710, and I'm pretty happy with it. I feel I must say that the two Bs I've earned at VCU have come from the same dang professor. I'd blame him, but I'm not 20. It must be some learning style conflict. Still, I'm pretty happy. Now that I have a little free time, I'm sure I will get some work done at the house. I'll post at Sonya's blog with photos. I'm waiting on confirmation about my truly exciting news, so stayed tuned for my next update!!!

"Almost there... Almost there..."

Pardon my Star Wars quote, but it captures the sentiment. I've got a final in Mechanics of Deformables today at 1:00 and then two more finals next week. On Monday I turned in the group project for Engineering Computation and Visualization, took the Circuits final and completed the Thermodynamics final. Now is the time when being a little O.C.D. becomes a liability instead of a blessing. I check my grades about twenty times a day. I realize this is not healthy and may cause an ulcer, but I don't like surprises when it comes to grades. Every semester I make spreadsheets that keep me abreast of my progress and inform me exactly what I need to achieve certain goals (straight As), but a couple classes are really too close to call. I had a 94 average going into the Thermo final, but that one dang test is 40% of the grade! Circuits, I'm ashamed to say, has left me in potential C territory. I really only needed a 70 on the final to guarantee a B, but that class has proven extremely challenging. It's a class that - taken alone - would be an easy A, but my Mechanical Engineering classes take a necessary priority.
All that is left after today is Engineering Visualization & Computation and Multivariate Calculus. I'm not too stressed about either of those classes. The last two weeks of school were devoted exclusively to the aforementioned group project and studying for the Circuits and Thermo finals, so my brain shut down to Deformables and Calc. III. This means I need to teach myself about four classes worth of Multivariate Calculus in order to get the grade I need on the final. Happily, I only need a 70 on the final for an A in the class. We had our third test in Deformables on Thursday, but I really only needed about an hour to study for that one. I got a 94.
So if you are keeping up at home, I have two finals next week followed by two weeks off. Then the six-week summer semester begins followed by two months off!! This fall I begin my junior year in earnest.

Fall Junior Year Cometh

Summer 2009 Courses


STAT 541 Applied Statistics for Engineers and Scientists Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: MATH 200-201 or equivalent, and a working knowledge of computers. An introduction to applied statistics intended primarily for students in mathematical sciences, engineering and the Commonwealth Graduate Engineering Program. The fundamental ideas of the collection and display of information, descriptive statistics and exploratory data analysis, elementary probability theory, frequency distributions and sampling are covered. Other topics include tests of hypotheses and confidence intervals for one and two sample problems; ANOVA; principles of one-factor experimental designs including randomized complete black designs, fixed and random effects and multiple comparisons; correlation and linear regression analysis; control charts; contingency tables and goodness-of-fit. Students may receive degree credit for only one of STAT 541, STAT 543 or BIOS 553.

MGMT 319 Organizational Behavior Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: Junior standing. Introduction to the determinants and consequences of human behavior and task performance in an organizational setting. Topics include motivation, job design, group development, organizational design, communication, leadership and change.



Fall 2009 Courses


EGRM 300 Mechanical Systems Design Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: EGRM 201, EGRM 202 and MATH 301, or permission of the instructor. Basic principles of applied mechanics and materials employed for the design of machine elements and mechanical systems; state of stress, deformation and failure criterion is applied to bearings, brakes, clutches, belt drives, gears, chains, springs, gear trains, power screws and transmissions.

EGRM 311 Solid Mechanics Lab Semester course; 4.5 laboratory hours. 1.5 credits. Prerequisites: EGRM 201, 202 and junior standing or permission of the instructor. Corequisites: EGRM 300 and 309. Experiments will be conducted on fundamental principles of solid mechanics, materials and dynamics. Topics covered include testing of materials for tensile, compression, bending and torsional loads, vibrations and material microstructure.

EGRM 321 Numerical Methods Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: MATH 301 and EGRM 215, or permission of instructor. A study of numerical algorithms used in error analysis, computing roots of equations, solving linear algebraic equations, curve fitting, numerical differentiation and integration, numerical methods for ordinary differential equations and a brief introduction to numerical methods for partial differential equations. The course content is tailored for mechanical engineering applications.

EGRM 420 CAE Design Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: EGRM 201, 215 and junior standing in the School of Engineering or permission of the instructor. Review of geometric modeling, engineering visualization tools applicable to engineering design. Develop visual thinking and communication skills with assistance of computer modeling tools. Emphasis placed on creative design, application of physical laws, and hands-on virtual or physical projects. Topics include review of kinematics/dynamics of commonly used planar mechanisms and programming techniques for motion simulation. Interdisciplinary projects will be assigned to assess students' design knowledge.

ENGR 301 Fluid Mechanics Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: PHYS 207, MATH 301 and EGRM 204 or permission of instructor. Basic and applied fluid mechanics; fluid properties; application of Bernoulli and Navier-Stokes equations; macroscopic mass, momentum and energy balances; dimensional analysis; laminar and turbulent flow; boundary layer theory; friction factors in pipes and packed beds; drag coefficients; compressible flow; flow measurements; numerical simulation; applications to the operation and design of turbo machinery.

PHIL 201 Critical Thinking about Moral Problems. Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: UNIV 111 or equivalent. This course focuses on the development of sound critical thinking skills and their application to a range of topics in moral philosophy, including questions about the nature of morality, whether we have reason to be moral, and also to topics in applied ethics like the morality of abortion, animal rights, world hunger, pornography, capital punishment, sexual behavior, environmental ethics, and reverse discrimination. (Only one of PHIL 201/212/213/214 may be taken for credit.)

Dana, Dana, Dana...

As long as I've been alive, my mom has not gone a week without bringing up Dana Hall, so I tend to roll my eyes and tune out whenever she does. Dana Hall is the prestigious, all-girl boarding school she attended. Now, I have my own Dana story.
My wife Sonya works at the College of William & Mary with a professor named Ed Felton who, for some reason, has always shown interest in me and my goings-on. On Friday, I finally met Dr. Felton, and he seems like a nice guy. He even invited us out to dinner. I'm not sure when we'll make that happen, but it might be nice. Who knows?
We had dinner than night with my mom, so I told her about our encounter with Dr. Felton, and she turned white. She is prone towards reactions like that to pretty mundane events, but I asked what was wrong, anyway. She asked,"is he from Boston?" Sonya said, "well, he went to Harvard." Mom said, "Does he have a son named Thad, or Thadford?" Sonya said, "Yes, he does have a son named Thad." By this time, Sonya and I are speculating that maybe mom dated this guy or something - even though Sonya knew he was much older, and happily married, and a pastor.
Mom began to tell us that Ed Felton was the name of her "house-father" at Dana Hall in 1968. She remembers playing with baby-Thad. This is truly nuts! She has some story about Mrs. Felton and bacon, and 'townies', and baseball bats. Is there a more elitist/obnoxious term than 'townie'? Again, I tuned that whole part out because I had probably heard it, or I was still fixated on the truly unique part of this tale.
Sonya has yet to see Dr. Felton to tell him about all this, but I'm sure he will be as shocked as we. I finally have a reason to feel a connection to Dana Hall that is my own, and that is pretty cool.

Thermo is cooler than it is scary.

The problems that we see in the thermodynamics class ,just like physics, are all based on a couple of laws (equations). Everything we do for homework is based on manipulations of those few equations. We just got into the second law of thermodynamics which, to me, is like the first law of cynicism. Not really, but it does give an equation that defines the absolute most efficiency that is possible. How depressing. Truthfully, even that is practically unattainable. This guy Carnot was the first person to put this idea together, and so now we know we'll never have the perfect engine. Bummer. In the lamest of layman's terms, if the hottest you can get is the melting temperature of the material out of which you build your engine, and the coldest you can get is just a few degrees below 273 Kelvin, then you'll never get 100% out of your engine. Oh yeah, you'd also have to eliminate friction and a host of other impossible things. On the other hand, this all implies you have some moving parts. What if you had no moving parts...