Last Day of Work (for the summer)

Today marks my last day of summer.

That's crazy, you say. Summer isn't over. And Georgia Tech doesn't start until August 23rd.

Both counts are true. However, today is my last day of work for the summer. Today, I pack up my Pro/E manuals, shove my work in a file cabinet where it won't be disturbed for the following year, and turn in my flash drive. Today I turn in my badge and say goodbye to the wonderful land of government budget confusion, phenomenal rocketry, and middle aged men (we really need to bring down the average age at my work place, and we need more girls).

For the next three weeks I will be at home with my family, and then its back to the grindstone. I will make every effort to maintain my blogging schedule while at home. When the school year comes around, we will reassess schedules. As a brief stroll though this blog's history will show you, I don't do a very good job of maintaining my blog during the school year. I pretty much don't do a good job of doing anything but schoolwork over the school year. Even my writing falls to the wayside.

Now I'm going to go pack up my cube and begin the dreaded check-out process. I wish you all good luck with your weekends.

Oh, and I'm going to Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure tomorrow. I'll make sure to give you guys a full report next week!

Engineering Spotlight: Alisha H., CEE

Name: Alisha H.
Major: Civil Engineering*
Title: E.I.T.**, Bachelor's of Civil Engineering
Company: Georgia Tech...Currently looking for a job...hire me! (Update: Alisha actually has a job now in Nashville, TN)

Why did you want to become an engineer, and more specifically, your particular type of engineer?
I've always been in love with logical concrete solutions. I loved looking at how things were put together and how they stayed that way. Engineering runs in my family. My Dad is a Civil, my Grandpa and Uncle built/designed their own small planes, and my brother has always worked within automotive (including diesel engines). However, I got my love of order and organization from my Mom who is a teacher. I chose Civil because it was the best fit; I was the kid always playing with my brother's Legos and building my own Barbie accessories (tree house, playground, etc.).

What do you do? (At your job or in your research?)
Currently, I am on the job hunt as a recent graduate. My primary interests are in Site Design and Transportation Design. I've also had a couple years experience with a small geotechnical firm in which I designed retaining walls.

Contrary to popular belief you cannot set a building anywhere on a site and expect it to be fine; this is where a Site Designer comes in. A Site Designer takes a site and an idea on location for a building and figures out how to mesh the two by looking at how to move the dirt, where to drain the water, where to run power/water/everything lines, and how to do it with minimal environmental impact.

Do you know road surfaces and traffic signals get designed? Guess what: that's the Transportation Engineer's job. There is so much more involved in roadways than anyone can imagine, so much data is collected and used to run tests.

Finally retaining walls: bet you've hardly ever noticed the walls that hold the road up or hold the hill back so there can be a flatter surface below. These walls are not made up of simple blocks stacked in patterns; no, there is much more behind the surface. There are many types of walls: Cast-in-Place, Modular Block, Baskets, Soil-Nail, Earth Anchor and tons of variations within those. I truly is amazing feat to hold a 40 ft. tall hill with a shopping center on top up and away from a small creek bed with a quiet neighborhood on the other side.

What do you do outside of engineering?
I ride and take care of my horse (sometimes I'm acting Barn Manager at my stable and am in charge of 50+ horses). I design and make most of my own jewelry. I also love to read, spend time outdoors, and create.

Anything else you would like us to know about you or your work?
I truly enjoy and love Civil Engineering. It is a timeless job that we will always need people doing. It can be challenging and a whole lot of fun!


* Technically I'm in the last freshman class that was listed as Civil and Environmental Engineering, before Environmental Engineering got it's own major
** E.I.T. = Engineering-in-Training. This means I passed an 8 hour long exam covering everything I ever learned in college including some stuff I didn't actually learn in college. Passing this test also means that after 5 years of work experience within my degree, I can sit for my Professional Engineering License, P.E.

A Toad

As a writer, every time I buy a book, I'm aware that I'm buying someone's baby, someone's lifework. If I get halfway through it and realize the book isn't my cup of tea, I still finish the book until the end, because someone's heart, blood, and soul went into making these words. I can appreciate it.

I don't feel bound to finish the series the book was in, but I always make sure I finish the book. With one exception.

Jennifer Murdley's Toad

I read--or rather attempted to read--Jennifer Murdley's Toad when I was in the second or third grade. I had read a few other Bruce Coville books and thought surely this one would be awesome, just like Goblins in the Castle, which I had absolutely loved. However, a few chapters into Jennifer Murdley's Toad, and I wanted to throw the book across the room. Now, years later, all I can remember was that it was about a talking toad, and that I hated it. So even though I had not finished the book, I put it away. I stored it in my shelf of books, never to be read or looked at if I could help it again. Even now, looking at the cover, I feel a strange revulsion. It's been nearly fifteen years since I read this book, and the cover makes me shiver.

It took me at least a year to read another Bruce Coville book, but my friends kept recommending Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher and the title was so catchy. I figured Mr. Coville wouldn't let me down twice in a row, and he didn't. I really enjoyed Jeremy's adventure raising a dragon.

Now, whenever I read a book that really makes me want to put it down, I think "this book is a toad."

So why am I talking about this when I should be posting reviews of the books I read this week? Well, I haven't completely read any books all week. I'm currently stuck in the middle of an MG book, and all I can think is "this book is a toad."

The book is actually well written. The characters are well developed. The plot seems to be moving along, introducing interesting elements at just the right intervals. Unfortunately the book is about two topics I hate: pirates and Nazis.

When I was in fourth grade I read Treasure Island and it went on my list of books that I've "read" but didn't retain. It basically means I read every single word but never really strung them into sentences. I just couldn't get into it. My list of books like this only contains three: Treasure Island, The Forbidden Door, and Heart of Darkness. Yeah, that's a pretty wide variety there. Those books pretty much have nothing in common. But anyway, reading Treasure Island basically biased me against boy adventure pirate books.

When I was in eighth grade, every book we read in English was about WWII. Now, don't get me wrong. Reading The Dairy of Anne Frank was enlightening, informative, and moving. But did we then have to proceed to read every book ever written for middle graders about the war? I understand studying our past so we don't repeat it, but by the end of the year, I swore off books about Nazis.

So why did I pick up this book (I won't give you the name -don't want you to be biased against it) if it was about two things I hated? Well, it's been a long time since I've read either a pirate book or a Nazi book, so I thought maybe I had grown out of my hatred. Apparently I was wrong. But the real reason why I bought the book was that it promised time travel. The back of the book mentioned time travel devices and the title even mentioned time travel. I LOVE time travel. Movie or novel, I don't care. Time travel is just cool.

Unfortunately, time travel didn't actually come into the novel until pg. 100, and even more unfortunately, the time travel is sort of what introduces the pirates. Ugh.

Even though I keep thinking this book is a toad, I'm still reading it. I won't let myself put it down, because this is some author's baby. I want to finish it, in respect for the author. So that's why you have no book reviews today. I'm stuck in a toad, and I won't let myself read anything else until I've finished it.

Oh, and for all I know Jennifer Murdley's Toad might be the greatest book ever. Please don't hate me, because you liked it and I didn't. It was a really long time ago. But I can't make myself reread it--even now--to discover if it has any merit. The cover just sort of gives me the creeps.

And yes, the picture on this post is the version of the cover of the book I read.

It's just creepy.

Nerd Mecca aka ComicCon

I am a nerd. There is no denying it, and I'm actually quite proud of it. A man once said to me, "I don't think your a nerd." To which I promptly responded, "Don't insult me."

I have only been to 2 SF/F conventions, or rather the same one twice, Dragon*Con. I have loved it every time I have gone and plan to go again this year. Cons are so much fun. It's hard to explain to someone who has never been and who isn't a nerd the level of awesomeness. We might be nerds, geeks, and dorks, but by golly we're proud of it.

So last week was ComicCon, which is pretty much the con to end all cons. Granted, ComicCon has gone pretty mainstream of late, much to nerds across the nation's dismay, but it still has more than enough nerd attractions for the likes of me. One of my life goal's is to one day be invited to ComicCon as a guest. That would be the height of awesomeness.

Usually I can ignore the fact that ComicCon is happening, and therefore, don't feel very jealous. This year, however, a couple of my acquaintances via Facebook were in attendance and continually updating their statuses.

As I read updates about meeting David Weber, Brandon Sanderson, Brent Weeks, and Patrick Rothfuss, envy filled me. Nerd Mecca was happening and I wasn't there!

It also didn't help that cnn.com kept posting articles about ComicCon, too.

Well, I wasn't there, and there isn't much point to this post, outside of jealousy. Granted this is an engineering Tuesday so it should have some sort of engineering application.

Yes, I am a nerd, but not all engineers are. Most of the guys in my office would scoff at the idea of ComicCon, and they pretty much think its ridiculous that I attend Dragon*Con, even if they do watch Doctor Who and Eureka. I was skeptical of conventions, too, until I attended Dragon*Con for the first time.

And yes, attending has brought me to a new level of nerd, but hey, I don't care. I'm a nerd. I embrace it.

So did you go to ComicCon? Do you attend any other cons, like Dragon*Con? Is anyone else out there as jealous as I am of the people who did attend ComicCon?

Not knowing which WIP to work on

I recently finished my fifth revision on WIP #1, my MG Fantasy WIP. I determined to turn my attention to my YA paranormal (not vampires or werewolves!) WIP. It's still being written, so I decided I was going to finish it.

But then I had a burst of inspiration. That burst brought me a YA high fantasy story. However, I was determined to write my YA paranormal, so I recorded my idea - the basic plot, the characters, the query - and then put it away. I saved the idea for another time.

So then I turned back to my YA paranormal, until I received another burst of inspiration, this time for an MG science fiction story. This one I couldn't just put away, it was screaming at me. So I wrote the first two chapters.

This week on several blogs I read about YA books with male protagonists, and that made me want to work on a YA science fiction book I had saved away for a rainy day. I managed to stomp down on that feeling, leaving the work where it is - on my shelf.

With that desire gone, I turned back to my YA paranormal, until I read a couple of blogs that talked about the great desire editors have for good MG. This made me want to work on the MG science fiction story I had previously written the first two chapters in.

So now I'm in limbo, wanting to work on my MG science fiction, but knowing I should finish the YA paranormal first.

Am I the only one who is WIP ADD? Is there anyone else out there who sometimes finds it hard to focus on one story, especially after finishing up a major project?

Spin Stabilization

So yesterday, I posted a little description of what I do, in our first Engineering Spotlight. I know it can be hard to imagine how spinning wheels can basically reorient or stabilize a spacecraft. It was hard to imagine when I first learned about it. But what my prof did then, and what I'm doing for you now, is showed a video that made it a little easier to grasp.

So watch this video!

Cool, isn't it?

This spinning technique is why many satellites are "spin stabilized". This means the satellite is essentially always rotating. Like the CDs in the video, this rotation makes it harder for the satellite to be disturbed. An astronaut can poke it, and the effect will be minimized.

This is all part of Attitude Determination and Control!

Any questions?

Engineering Spotlight: Mandy P., AE

Name: Mandy P.
Major: Aerospace Engineering
Title: Graduate Research Assistant
Company: Georgia Tech

Why did you want to become an engineer, and more specifically, your particular type of engineer?
From a young age I coveted Geordi La Forge’s job on the Enterprise. I wanted to be the one making space travel possible. Sure the captain gets the glory, but it’s the engineer who makes it happen. Since aerospace engineering is the type of engineering that focuses on space travel, I knew this was the appropriate fit for me.

What do you do? (At your job or in your research)
I am a graduate research assistant at Georgia Tech. I work on a design team that’s designing a small 50 kg satellite that will go to space and take thermal images. My job in particular is the lead designer of the “Attitude Determination and Control” Subsystem (ADCS). And no, that doesn’t mean I’m the team’s morale officer.

ADCS is the system that allows a satellite, or even spaceship, to maneuver in space. The system basically uses instruments to look about, determine where the satellite is, and then uses components to adjust the position. In TV and movies, this is usually done with a propulsion system, and propulsion is a type of attitude control. However, in the real world, propulsion is expensive and heavy. Small satellites usually don’t have the mass budget or cost budget for propulsion. So instead, we use things like reaction wheels, CMGs, and torque rods.

So to give you a specific example of ADCS, in our satellite we determine our position using a star tracker. This device looks at the stars. From the stars it’s seeing and the angle its seeing the stars at, it’s able to determine where the satellite must be facing. This information is then sent to our computer which compares this position to where we actually want to be. If the position is not where we want to be, it sends a command to our reaction wheels. Reaction wheels are basically spinning wheels within the satellite, which spin faster or slower based on commands. This change in their speed changes the orientation of the satellite (weird, huh? – it all has to do with conservation of angular momentum – more on that in a later post). The satellite then changes position, and the star tracker starts the process again by checking the stars. Basically, the position of the satellite can be changed continuously.

What do you do outside of engineering?
I like to read SF/F, write SF/F novels, and write this blog. I’m also quite the TV addict. Basically, I’m your standard nerd, but that’s not true of all engineers, as you will see in some of their engineering spotlights.

Anything else you would like us to know about you or your work?
My work is really cool. Satellites rock. ADCS is hard. Yeah, that’s all I’ve got.