Due Date: Friday 2/6 at
8AM
· LITERAL
I, Matthew
Ibarra, affirm that I completed my independent component which
represents 30 hours of work.
1. Cite your source regarding who
or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.
Since
my Independent Component (IC) consisted solely of drafting projects, my work
was primarily experience-based. Drafting, in essence, is like driving is the
sense that I will only improve my skills with practice. Therefore, it is a bit
difficult to attribute my improvement in drafting to a single source such as an
article or book.
However,
I do not mean --- in the slightest --- to say that I didn't receive help along
the way. It was a collaboration of effort from me and the drafting team at my
mentorship. For example, I did ask for small tips from time to time from Jason
and Yagi, my fellow drafters at BERG. Yagi guided me in the right direction for
initiating my First Floor Plan Project. He briefly explained to me about the
concepts of layers in AutoCAD and assisted me in making sure I was using the
appropriate scale and units for my project. Jason gave me small drafting tips
about copying, rotating, and filleting objects\lines in Microstation. I
also used a list of basic commands for AutoCAD that Yagi
showed me to help me with my drafting.
2.
Update your hours in your Senior Project Hours link. Make
sure it is clearly labeled with hours for individual sessions as well as total
hours.
Done.
3.
Explain what you completed.
For my
IC, I completed a series of computer-aided drafting and design (C.A.D.D.)
projects using computer programs such as Microstation and AutoCAD. Some of
the drafting projects I did over the past few months were a biohazard symbol, a
helmet from a Disney movie, and a floor plan of my mentorship
building. For the most part, the projects I completed were chosen and
designed by me --- meaning that I had full creative control over the
methodology of my projects. The order in which I chose to do these projects was
completely random. It just so happened that each project I did was slightly
harder in difficulty and more time-consuming than the last. The reason I
ended up doing random drafting projects --- as opposed to, say, one of my
mentor's old drafting projects --- was because many of his old projects were
either private or government-affiliated --- Meaning: It is illegal. But in
the end, the source of the drafting work I receive mattered not because what
really counted was the practice.
·
INTERPRETIVE
1. Defend your work and explain its significance to
your project and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work. Provide
evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc.) of the 30 hours
of work.
As
previously explained, I completed a series of C.A.D.D. projects using
computer programs such as Microstation and AutoCAD for my Independent
Component. Although my IC does not directly pertain to my current
EQ, I believe that drafting is an integral building block for a
well-rounded foundation in my topic. It helps develop communication skills, patience, and problem solving skills, which are all crucial to drafting in a team-environment, like the one at my mentorship.
That
being said, one does not become an expert drafter overnight. As my fellow
drafter Jason once told me, you just have to keep on practicing; be able to use
both programs proficiently because that's what the industry is using right now.
And it's true; the program you use and the scale you design in is often
dictated by the client --- whether it be a utility company or a home-user. For
example, my mentor, Allen Barreno, told me that Southern California Edison
requires that their designs be done using Microstation.
Allen
also told me that when he was in high school, his father would put him to do
drafting work on the computer. In the beginning he would get paid "by the
drawing" because his inexperience made him slow, but as he practiced more
and more, he became so experienced that it became too expensive for his dad to
pay him "by the drawing", so he decided to pay him by the hour
instead.
I had a
similar experience to my mentor in the beginning; I was slow, very
inexperienced, yet very eager to learn. Day one: sit, set up, breathe, click,
draft, leave. Repeat.
Line...
Circle... Curve...
Rectangle...
Triangle... Square...
Basics...
Basics... and more basics.
Again
and again until it was time for me to initiate my IC.
By that
time, I had already gained enough knowledge about the basics of
drafting. I was ready to try something challenging... something
daunting... something government-affiliated...
But my
mentor said NO.
Instead,
he gave me two options: jail or Camp Caddlake. I chose Caddlake, of course, but
I didn't exactly know what I was getting myself into. According to my mentor,
the basic schedule would be as follows:
"As
soon as you begin your Independent Component, you are to begin drafting a floor
plan of the mentorship building. A copy of the floor plan will be provided by one
of your fellow draftsmen."
The Mr.
Sir-Barreno of my imagination looked up at me. "When you are not
working on the floor plan, you are to be working on another drafting project of
your choice. It doesn't matter what it is so long as it's appropriate. Any
questions?"
I shook
my head as motivation to keep myself awake.
"Good.
Now get to work", he said.
It
didn't take long for me to realise that the floor plan would take longer than I
originally expected:
Day 1 - Five hours in
Day 3 - Eight hours in
Day 5 - About Twelve and a half hours in
Bathrooms - Deceivingly Simple
Sinks - Half an hour down the drain
This is why hours fly by like bullets across my computer screen.
This is why I draft biohazard symbols and Disney helmets
at my mentorship.
Bamax Helmet Project - About 9 hours
Biohazard Symbol Project - About 7 hours
This is why Friday afternoon smells like Happy Hour with a
hint of techno and Tagalog. This is why I love being a drafter.
·
APPLIED
1. How did the component help you
understand the foundation of your topic better? Please include
specific examples to illustrate this.
My IC
helped me understand the foundation of my topic better by demonstrating how
drafting is a fundamental skill that all engineers must have. More
specifically, it showed me how as technology evolves, the methodology of an
engineer changes as well. Decades ago, engineers would draw their designs on
paper, and make copies of them using the blueprint process. Nowadays, power engineers
draw their designs using computer aided design techniques and transfer them as
a digital file to a computer printer to be printed. At my mentorship, this is
exactly how the designers, drafters, and engineers exchange their work and
ideas. For example, during one of my mentor’s recent projects, he had to
make design changes to an electrical substation on paper and give the paper to
one of his drafters to edit the design via Microstation and had him print out
the edited design. After that, he checked the drafter’s work, and then sent the
design out to his client for approval.
Grading
Criteria
- Updated log in Senior Project Hours
Link
- Evidence of 30 hours of work
- LIA submitted to blog
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