Be Inspiring.

For about a year now, I've wanted to get involved with mentorship programs, especially those involving at-risk or foster youth.  But I haven't had the push.  Well, I saw a speaker today, and it gave me the motivation to finally get some information.  (I will advertise him a little later today.)

I'm hoping to use some of my background to inspire some kids :-)

If you would like to be a Big Sister, click HERE.

Raise your expectations of others.  You'll raise your expectations of yourself.

How cool is that? Rapid Prototyping

I previously mentioned that was able to design and rapid prototype my Malroy part. What is rapid prototyping?

• It is a technology with places material layer-by-layer to make very intricate parts.
• Many of these parts cannot be manufactured using your everyday mill, lathe because the parts are too small or too intricate. 
• It is revolutionary, especially since computers. You can design your own trinkets, jewelry, or use something very specific for a hobby/project.
• Eg. The Malroy was a way to fit pins and clips together precisely.  I could have created a jig to put the part in, but the pieces are so small that this is hard to do. So my mentor told me to design something using Autodesk Inventor.  I did it in about 2 hours, and I had the part in my hands the next day.

Here's a video to show the cool stuff you can make!

Yay!!!

We've officially at 500 hits! We're hoping to expand this in the coming weeks, so be sure to keep visiting! :-)

How It's Made- an Engineer's Dream show

My all time favorite part of watching Mister Rogers' Neighborhood as a kid were the clips where they would go through how things were made. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when the show How It's Made came out on the Discovery Channel.

Here is their website!

And just a few clips that I found to be good study breaks ;)
Football Helmets
Flight Simulators
Sports playlist (from Bowling Ball to Bicycle Frame to...whips??)

Enjoy,
Ana

MORE Studying Tips!

I noticed Serena posted some Study Habits, but I thought as Finals approach, another reminder might be nice! If you have some study tips, spread the wealth and comment!

Don't know how to start studying? Seven tips:

1. Breath. Drink water. (note: this does not read "do whippits. drink rockstar")
2. Minimize distractions. Turn off the internet, hide your phone, hide yo' kids, hide yo' wife.
3. Re-write your notes (especially science/math/physics classes)
4. Reading Textbooks -- read the intro, read the summary in the back of the chapter, then read the chapter and take notes. Highlight main points, paraphrase paragraphs, etc.
5. Do/re-do homework problems. Take practice tests if they're posted. Do extra problems in the book.
6. Go to office hours with questions.
7. Doodle on your paper. (a.k.a. take breaks! exercise! ENDORPHINS!)


Resources: (May be too late for Finals, but remember this for next quarter!)
1. Office Hours
Best people to ask for help on homework are the people assigning the homework. Look at your notes/homework before going. Write questions if you have them, or listen to other people's questions.
*** if you don't like going to office hours, talk to someone who does. Bonus points if he/she is cute!***

2. Tutoring
i. Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers drop- in tutoring fo' FREE in math, chem, writing.
http://lsc.ucdavis.edu/tutoring.html; also the staff have office hours + old exams/homeworks from previous classes! list of staff: http://lsc.ucdavis.edu/directory.html#math
ii. Tau Beta Pi offers FREE tutoring in lower division Engineering and math classes. Tuesdays, 6-8pm Kemper 1127.

3. Workshops
i. basically extra review sessions. highly recommended for Chem, OChem, Math, Physics. I liked going to these because it allocated a time for me to study, so I couldn't procrastinate. And they gave handouts/info that I didn't hear in lecture, but that I was expected to know on the tests.

4. F is for FRIENDS who do stuff together...
i. like HOMEWORK! Yaaaaaaaaaaaay!
There's a 99% chance that someone in SWE has taken your class. So if you're struggling, ask around and someone will probably be able to help you, maybe give you old exams or something! :)


Happy Monday, and good luck with Finals!!
Ana Ebrahimi
Biomedical Engineer-in-training

Freak out: GRE Scores

I took the GRE in early September.  I spent about 25 hours studying for the GRE, basically practicing all tests in my book :-)

The day came where I took the dreaded test, and I got my scores about 1 month ago.  However, I've been wondering if my scores are high enough. Should I take the test again? Will I get into the school of my dreams? I've been really nervous about my scores for about a month, never bothering to do some online research.


So today, I looked on some message boards. Words of caution: Message board advice needs to be taken with a grain of salt. However, I compared my scores with the old scoring rubric (via percentage tile rankings), and I found out that I did above average (even for my dream school). 


Moral: If you're worried about something, DO SOME RESEARCH (and do it now!). You'll realize what you need to do, instead of worrying about factors you can't control.

Frankenstein

For the past year or so, I've been reading some classics that I never cared about in high school. I didn't like reading until I got to college.  Last summer, I read Frankenstein, and I thought it was so wonderful! Here's why I thought it was awesome:

Frankenstein was written during the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment is one of the best eras for us scientists and engineers, because this is when the scientific method started to evolve.  There wasn't as large of a reliance on God, and some people started to take a Deist approach on the universe.  Without a large part of the research during the Scientific Revolution, many of us would not have the iPhone that we have today.


Professor Frankenstein wanted to be the creator, not the observer.  He attempted to replicate life, and ended up making something so ugly, nobody wanted anything to do with it.

It discusses the morality behind science. Should we attempt to better human life? Or should we just let it be? There are implications to our research, even though they may not be intended.  Look at the movie I am Legend. Such a fantastic, modern day approach this.

Frankenstein goes beyond your classic horror movie. It really delves into the relationship between life and science and is a warning for us.  There is philosophy behind science, whether or not you want to believe it.