Hey there everyone! So you probably gathered….I’m back in Los Angeles at USC and am getting all ready for the upcoming academic year + life. Yes that’s right, life is about a lot more than just classes!

So then, you might be asking, what is on your plate, Warren?

I’m going to tell you about my semester’s load in two parts (a) from classes’ perspective and (b) from a extracurricular perspective

 

This Fall, I’m taking quite a few classes, 18 units total. That’s the normal max that you will take during your time here at USC. The courses I am in now, and a brief description are as follows:

 

AME 310- Thermodynamics

  • In this class, we take a look at the factors that affect a fluid (e.g. liquid or gas) as it goes through a process. A process is basically moving from one condition (of pressure, temperature, and density) to another.

CE 309 – Fluid Mechanics

  • In my fluid mechanics class, we are looking at how objects (especially airfoils and structures) respond to motion through the air. As you know, the atmosphere is comprised of a lot of different gasses (with some vapor liquid thrown in there). So then, when we are looking to design an airfoil or structure to go through the atmosphere, we need to know how it will interact with the fluids. This is precisely that class!

AME 410 – Engineering Design Methodology

  • A really interesting class so far, the nature of our class is exactly what the title suggests. We are looking at how the design process works in an engineering context. How do products get designed? What is a design and what is the process of developing a design, all the way from identifying a problem to marketing the final end product (e.g. getting it out the door). I am really feeling a big return on investment with my economics studies in this class – it is really helping me!

AME 341 – Mechoptronics

  • If you were staring at the title of this class and thinking what the heck do you do in that class, well you wouldn’t be the only one. What this class is is actually a three part course. It combines Mechanics + Optics + Electronics. Hence, mechoptronics.  This is a really rewarding (and demanding) course. The core part of the course is actually the laboratory, and the follow-up reports that you write based on your lab experiments. So far, so good.

AME 491 – Engineering Design Projects (AeroDesign Team)

  • One of my favorite courses (and one which I have been involved with for the last 2 years is the USC AeroDesign team. Just to clarify (and highlight a cool point): you can actually get course credit for working on a design team. This is for sure something you can discuss with your academic advisor once you are here, but it certainly does ‘kill two birds with one stone.’

ARLT-101g – Los Angles – The Novel, The Myth, The Legend

  •  This is one of my General Education (GE) classes. I’ll be completely honest with you, and tell you that GE classes typically haven’t been my favorite classes of all time. However, this class is a bit different. It’s about the character of Los Angeles- how it began, how it has grown, and what the future of Los Angeles looks like. We’ve done a lot of studying about the less well known parts of Los Angeles, and even had a scavenger hunt!

 

Sooo then, as you can see, it’s a busy class load for me. Challenging yes, entertaining, most of the time, busy, yes! However, the good news is that it is my last heavy course load of my career at USC. Next semester, and the Fall 2013 semester will be significantly lighter load for me.

As for the extra-curriculars front, I am also staying heavily involved in the things I outlined below:

 

  • USC AeroDesign Team – Operations Manager

          As you all might have already found out, USC is home to so many cool  student organizations. If you have an interest in it, you can either join a club here at USC, or

         even create your very own (and get some $$ from the university to help you set up shop!)

  • USC Center for Excellence in Teaching – Chief of Staff
          My main role as Chief of Staff is to support the Chair of the department in developing and rolling out events tailored to both professors, teaching assistants, and
          students for the purpose of enhancing the undergraduate experience here at USC.  We host work shops such as “How to get in to grad school” , “How to get
          research” , and even Meet and Greet Sessions with GE professorial. I hope that if you come to USC that each of you will apply to be Undergraduate Fellows at the
          Center. To find out more, check out our website, a part of the Office of the Provost.
  • Sigma Gamma Tau – Treasurer

What’s more fun than being an engineer is to be hanging out with lots of other motivated and hardworking engineers. Top that with working with a bit of money, and

I’ve got a dream student org hangout. Sigma Gamma Tau is the national aerospace engineering honorary society. We host industry nights where we have

professionals from industry come in and speak to the society. Also we have had several tours of facilities such as Boeing Satellite Systems. This year, we are

focusing on professional development, and are hosting several professional development seminars from CV reviews to interview techniques.

  • Boeing Campus Ambassador – Intern Focal
          As I am sure you saw in my previous blog posts, and my endless ranting + tweeting, I love working at the Boeing Company. It was such a great time working there
          last summer (please do check out my summer blog about working up in Washington!).  Just as a brief recap, I worked in Aerodynamics Performance Engineering,
          where I helped calculate and present aerodynamic performance data to be used in sales campaigns.
          I was very fortunate to have been asked by my recruiter to be the USC-Boeing Intern focal this year. Basically, that means coordinating everything Boeing related on USC’s campus. It has been a great way to stay involved with Boeing throughout the year, and to continue my professional development as an ongoing process. I am looking forward to returning next year! I have several options surrounding my return to the Company, one of which is returning to the department I was in last year. Whatever it is, I am sure I will love it since I am dreaming, seeing, talking, and living flying!
Well folks, that’s a wrap on my super super excited and jam-packed semester this year. Don’t forget to throw in football games and my social fraternity (Sigma Nu) for toppers. Sleep fits in there somewhere as well. College is a once in a lifetime experience, and I feel as though I am living the dream this semester! Come check in with me in 10 weeks from now….closer to the end of the semester, and I’ll tell you how it’s been- or you could just stay tuned to my blog (as I truly hope you do anyway), and I’ll let you know no problem!
Be safe and well everyone. Stay out of harms way, and by all means, please do come out to visit us on campus here at USC! Any questions for current students? Check out our webpage!
See you all next week!
Warren