Okay so I feel like I my response isn't exactly what the question is asking but I feel like I kind of related it. And then I'd also like to shorten it but I'm not really sure. So if you can offer some advice, that would be excellent and thank you so much for taking the time to help me.
Prompt: "Scientific research is a human endeavor. The choices of topics that we research are based on our biases, our beliefs, and what we bring: our cultures and our families. The kinds of problems that people put their talents to solving depends on their values." - Dr. Clifton Poodry
How has your own background influenced the types of problems you want to solve?
My Response:
I discovered my interest in engineering when I was a freshman and enrolled in the program's Introduction to Engineering Design (IED) class. From there, my interest developed during my junior year when I learned about each of the distinct engineering disciplines in my PLTW: Principles of Engineering (POE) class. In fact, it was in that class that I learned about the core principle of engineering itself: The solution of real-life societal problems through the application of mathematical and scientific knowledge. This principle constantly rang in my head for the remainder of that school year and has impacted my life by serving as the foundation of my desire to obtain a career in engineering and formulating my background as an engineering student.
The summer before my freshman year, I chose my IED course as an elective because I thought it would be fun and easy. While it did turn out to be a very fun class, it was anything but easy. Take my first semester project for example. I was to create a cube out of 5 interlocking pieces constructed from wooden blocks, each with an approximate volume of 1 cubic inch, using the engineering design process we had been recently introduced to. Like most of my fellow classmates, I wasn't sure where to begin. Unlike most of my fellow classmates, I remembered that I had written down each of the steps of the design process in my notes from the week before. From there, I was able to get started, and after a week of struggling, I managed to finish. When I handed the completed packet to my teacher at the end of the period, he looked at me shocked and asked me to sit down while he looked it over. After observing his many, and I do mean many, facial expressions shift from a "questioning" glare, to an "interested gaze", to an "impressed" smirk and back, he motioned for me to come forward. He told me that he couldn't believe after struggling so much in the beginning that I was able to produce such a quality product. I then proceeded to blush because I had felt like I hadn't done much besides put time and effort into my work. That's even what I told him. And then he said, "That's what makes a real engineer. You see, being an engineer isn't just having the brains to solve a problem; it's having the conviction to put all of your effort into solving a problem and being proud of the work you do. I think you'll make a fine engineer one day." And that's how it all started; that's when I knew that I wanted to be an engineer.
Unfortunately, I then had to take a year off from engineering due to a scheduling conflict. Anticlimactic, I know, but the following year I was able to resume and take the second engineering course at my school, Principles of Engineering. This class was definitely more difficult compared to the first engineering class I took because it had a completely different focus. Where IED focused on the design process, hypothetical solutions, and success as an individual engineer; POE focused on teamwork, constructing real solutions to real problems, and some of the major concepts of the more well-known engineering disciplines (such as Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, and Civil). This resulted in the assignment of many, many more projects, and, as a consequence, much more fun. Tragic, I know. Moving on, being one of the most type-A people in existence (according to my friends and family), I'm a total perfectionist and a little difficult to work with, or at least I was at first. You see, I have always been able to work with others if they were willing to put in their fair share of work. However, I had a very difficult time working with those who weren't as willing to cooperate. That's where our group projects came in. For example, during the second semester of POE I was in a group instructed to design and build a machine that could sort marbles of wood, glass, colored glass, steel, and aluminum from each other and put them in different bins. As a group, we were quickly able to figure out the goals of our project, we just needed to figure out how to fulfill our goals. We decided to split up the work, with me and my friend Sean dealing with actually designing and constructing our device, while the other two members of our group focused on programming the device to perform its function and formatting the write-up we needed for the project. While Sean and I wasted no time in getting to work on the "sorting machine", I couldn't help but notice that the other two were constantly goofing off and not remaining on task. Now if this occurred two years ago, I would've gone to our teacher and reported them, but this was after I had developed some team leadership skills through my BSA troop, so I was able to tell them all the things they needed to accomplish by the end of the week if they wanted to get a good grade on the project and miraculously, they listened to me and we ended up getting a good grade on the project. On the last day of school my junior year, I went to talk to my POE teacher and out of curiosity asked him why we had so many group projects when we could've probably done them on our own. He responded by telling me that a good engineer has to know how to communicate effectively and that means being able to work as a team because real-life problems are solved through group efforts.
Thus, my background as an engineering student in the Project Lead the Way program has influenced the types of problems I want to solve by showing me the importance of constantly working diligently and working with others.
Prompt: "Scientific research is a human endeavor. The choices of topics that we research are based on our biases, our beliefs, and what we bring: our cultures and our families. The kinds of problems that people put their talents to solving depends on their values." - Dr. Clifton Poodry
How has your own background influenced the types of problems you want to solve?
My Response:
I discovered my interest in engineering when I was a freshman and enrolled in the program's Introduction to Engineering Design (IED) class. From there, my interest developed during my junior year when I learned about each of the distinct engineering disciplines in my PLTW: Principles of Engineering (POE) class. In fact, it was in that class that I learned about the core principle of engineering itself: The solution of real-life societal problems through the application of mathematical and scientific knowledge. This principle constantly rang in my head for the remainder of that school year and has impacted my life by serving as the foundation of my desire to obtain a career in engineering and formulating my background as an engineering student.
The summer before my freshman year, I chose my IED course as an elective because I thought it would be fun and easy. While it did turn out to be a very fun class, it was anything but easy. Take my first semester project for example. I was to create a cube out of 5 interlocking pieces constructed from wooden blocks, each with an approximate volume of 1 cubic inch, using the engineering design process we had been recently introduced to. Like most of my fellow classmates, I wasn't sure where to begin. Unlike most of my fellow classmates, I remembered that I had written down each of the steps of the design process in my notes from the week before. From there, I was able to get started, and after a week of struggling, I managed to finish. When I handed the completed packet to my teacher at the end of the period, he looked at me shocked and asked me to sit down while he looked it over. After observing his many, and I do mean many, facial expressions shift from a "questioning" glare, to an "interested gaze", to an "impressed" smirk and back, he motioned for me to come forward. He told me that he couldn't believe after struggling so much in the beginning that I was able to produce such a quality product. I then proceeded to blush because I had felt like I hadn't done much besides put time and effort into my work. That's even what I told him. And then he said, "That's what makes a real engineer. You see, being an engineer isn't just having the brains to solve a problem; it's having the conviction to put all of your effort into solving a problem and being proud of the work you do. I think you'll make a fine engineer one day." And that's how it all started; that's when I knew that I wanted to be an engineer.
Unfortunately, I then had to take a year off from engineering due to a scheduling conflict. Anticlimactic, I know, but the following year I was able to resume and take the second engineering course at my school, Principles of Engineering. This class was definitely more difficult compared to the first engineering class I took because it had a completely different focus. Where IED focused on the design process, hypothetical solutions, and success as an individual engineer; POE focused on teamwork, constructing real solutions to real problems, and some of the major concepts of the more well-known engineering disciplines (such as Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, and Civil). This resulted in the assignment of many, many more projects, and, as a consequence, much more fun. Tragic, I know. Moving on, being one of the most type-A people in existence (according to my friends and family), I'm a total perfectionist and a little difficult to work with, or at least I was at first. You see, I have always been able to work with others if they were willing to put in their fair share of work. However, I had a very difficult time working with those who weren't as willing to cooperate. That's where our group projects came in. For example, during the second semester of POE I was in a group instructed to design and build a machine that could sort marbles of wood, glass, colored glass, steel, and aluminum from each other and put them in different bins. As a group, we were quickly able to figure out the goals of our project, we just needed to figure out how to fulfill our goals. We decided to split up the work, with me and my friend Sean dealing with actually designing and constructing our device, while the other two members of our group focused on programming the device to perform its function and formatting the write-up we needed for the project. While Sean and I wasted no time in getting to work on the "sorting machine", I couldn't help but notice that the other two were constantly goofing off and not remaining on task. Now if this occurred two years ago, I would've gone to our teacher and reported them, but this was after I had developed some team leadership skills through my BSA troop, so I was able to tell them all the things they needed to accomplish by the end of the week if they wanted to get a good grade on the project and miraculously, they listened to me and we ended up getting a good grade on the project. On the last day of school my junior year, I went to talk to my POE teacher and out of curiosity asked him why we had so many group projects when we could've probably done them on our own. He responded by telling me that a good engineer has to know how to communicate effectively and that means being able to work as a team because real-life problems are solved through group efforts.
Thus, my background as an engineering student in the Project Lead the Way program has influenced the types of problems I want to solve by showing me the importance of constantly working diligently and working with others.
