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
- 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
