A Man with a Plan

Hello everyone!

Thank you for visiting my blog today. This past month has been quite a busy one with all of the recent school events and projects. However, that hasn't stopped me from going to my mentorship this past January. Although my busy schedule didn't allow me to attend my mentorship as often as I'd hoped, I am still content with what I was able to accomplish during the three times I visited.

During my mentorship this month, I continued working on my First Floor Plan project on the Autodesk AutoCAD program. At first, I found the project quite confusing and cumbersome because I had never tried to recreate a floor plan of this scale before. But with time, persistence, --- and a bit of assistance from the drafters at BERG --- I got the hang of it as well.

The trickiest part for me was finding a way to keep my work organised. It's not enough to just begin drawing all the lines you see. The more lines there are, the more difficult it is to spot your mistakes, especially if you take long breaks from your work after a drafting session --- much like I do after my mentorship.

There are many ways to mitigate this problem. One of the easiest ways to keep your large drafting projects (LDP) organised is to create a layer for a specific type of object. For example, I could create a layer for windows, a layer for furniture, a layer for doors, etc. Furthermore, I could also name those layers, then assign an arbitrary color to a specific layer, thereby "color coating" the objects in said layer. This means that if I assign the color white to the TOILET layer, then whatever objects I draw in that layer will be white. An important thing to note is that you can assign the same color to multiple layers, but it kind of defeats the purpose of keeping your LDP organised.

Lesson 2 Reflection

Label: Presentation

Due Date: The day after your lesson presentation by 8:00 A.M.

Content:

1.What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?

There were two aspects of my presentation that I was quite proud of. The first aspect was the way I explained various concepts in my presentation, such as microgrids and the electrical grid. I think that I explained those concepts concisely and in a professional manner. I asked a few people about my presentation after I finished and they agreed. 

The second aspect of my presentation that I am most proud of was my conclusion. I received a loud applause from my audience after I finished my presentation and some people approached me afterward to give me kudos on my ending. If that is any indication that I had a strong conclusion, then I don't know what is.

2. a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

       AE       P          AP       CR       NC

     b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.

After reading and assessing all the major components of the contract --- Professionalism, Organisation and Creativity, and Justification of answer --- I believe that I deserve at least a P on my presentation. I believe that I proficiently completed all aspects of the task. The only two things that I feel

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?

There were many aspects of my presentation that worked, but there were certain things that worked better than others. One of the things that worked best during my Lesson 2 was my hook activity. I think that it really allowed me to connect with my audience.

4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?

One thing that surprisingly didn't work for for some people in my class --- including my teacher --- was the color of the font I used for my presentation. I was told that it messed with eyes of some audience members and that my text was tough to see at times because of the contrast. 

Another thing that didn't work for me was my introduction to the presentation. I felt that my hook activity was strong, but my transition from the hook activity to my actual presentation --- my pre-introduction, in essence --- could have been handled better. There was an awkward pause where I forgot a word in my head. I know i recovered afterward by remembering, but there was no doubt to the audience that I had forgotten.

Another thing that didn't work for me was the way in which I cited my sources in my PowerPoint presentation. I forgot I needed to add my sources, so I placed the MLA of each source used under their corresponding slide near the completion of my presentation. It was messy; in some slides, the picture obscured the words; and they hardly helped me in remembering to cite my sources orally during the presentation.

As trite as this may sound, if i had the opportunity to go back and time to do something differently with my project I would've rehearsed more in my down time --- with friends and family. In the end, you can have a nice looking presentation, a professional appearance, and all of your supplies ready, but if you don't know what to say or how to say it, then you're taking a huge gamble with your grade.

5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?

Blog 12: Mentorship 10 hours check

Content:

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?

BERG Power Engineers

2.   Who is your contact?

Allen Barreno 
Company Phone Number: (626) 917- 6665

3.   How many total hours have you done (total hours should be reflected in your mentorship log located on the right hand side of your blog like your WB)? 

19 Hours 30 Minutes

4.   Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.

For the ten hours of service at my mentorship, I initiated and completed a CADD project, where I recreated a 2-D image of Tony Stark's Arc Reactor from Iron Man 2. During these thirteen hours of service, I learned and practiced various drafting techniques for creating complex designs and images using Microstation. With the help of the fellow drafters at BPE, I discovered new ways to design and draft my drawings to complete them in a more efficient manner. 

5.   Email your house teacher the name of your contact and their phone number confirming who they should call to verify it.

Done.

*You need 50 hours plus the original 10 in the summer by May.   The original 10 from the summer do not count toward the 50.  By the end of the year, you will have 60 hours counting that original 10.

Blog 11: Holiday Project Update

Content:

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?

Over winter break, I went to my mentorship for a few hours to talk with my mentor about my EQ as well as possible answers for it. He also gave me valuable insight into possible directions for my research and other outlets as well. Additionally, I worked on my independent component for several hours. I started on another drafting project: My First Floor Plan, where I draft out the floor plan of the mentorship building based on schematics that were given to me by my mentor. 

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why?  What was the source of what you learned?

The most important thing I learned from my mentorship is that operating efficiency of the electrical grid and economics have an intimate connection that must be kept at a balance in order for utilities to be more energy efficient in the future.

3.  If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers for your EQ, who would you talk to and why?

First and foremost, I would talk with my mentor because he is a very qualified electrical engineer with years of experience working on and optimizing substations, so he could probably give me some valuable information on operating efficiency for the electrical grid. I would also talk to my mentor's brother because even though he is still an electrical engineering student at Cal Poly, he is currently studying microgrids for his senior project (which could potentially be one of my main answers for my EQ).