...this is the end of the beginning.
Cheesy quotes aside, I'm sure everyone has noticed that our first semester at Illinois is drawing to a close. And what a semester it was! Though the decidedly more temperate clime and more intensive class- and homework took a little adjusting, I feel that I made the right decision both to come to Illinois as a civil engineer and to join iFoundry. Just how often I will be updating my blog in the future is unknown at this time, but any further videos will be posted on my personal youtube page, http://www.youtube.com/user/dergrevenator if not on facebook.
See you guys around!
PS: Larger versions of the videos I have posted here can also be found at my youtube page...it's recommended that they are viewed in HD.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Hot off the presses!
Or: How I Spent All My Free Time Since Thanksgiving.
Completely unnecessary? Yup.
Worth it? I think so...enjoy!
PS: Windows Movie Maker ate the oranges when it exported the movie; my apologies.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
A brief treatise on communications
This post is a sort of postscript to an interview I recently had, in which I was asked about one of the missing basics, and how its inclusion in iFoundry made for a better experience.
I'm sure everyone has fond memories of group projects--everyone always showed up, knew what they were supposed to do, and went above and beyond expectation.
Yeah, in our dreams.
In reality, group projects were much much more of a hassle: member attendance was spotty at best, nobody seemed to have more than half an idea of what the group was doing--let alone what they themselves were supposed to be doing--and more often than not, what they did show up with was half-done ten minutes before class. The crux of all these issues hinges on one simple thing: communication. For the most part, group members were largely unreachable, which means nobody knew when the meetings were, nobody knew what to do, and consequently did a poor job on it.
Currently, I have two projects underway: one in ENG 198 (with a group of all iFoundry members) and one not in ENG 198 (with a group of no iFoundry members--myself excluded). The difference between the two is quite apparent. With the group not in iFoundry, all I've been able to obtain are email addresses, one group member has shown up to fewer than a quarter of our meetings, and the only way to ensure that anything gets done is to hunt them down in class and force the assignments into their hands. With the group in iFoundry, I have multiple means of contacting all the group members together or individually, all members have so far attended every meeting, and we are making marked progress on a difficult project.
The difference is clear: communication is key. Do YOU have the key?
PS: My deepest, most sincere apologies for the ending; it was just too cheesy for me to resist.
I'm sure everyone has fond memories of group projects--everyone always showed up, knew what they were supposed to do, and went above and beyond expectation.
Yeah, in our dreams.
In reality, group projects were much much more of a hassle: member attendance was spotty at best, nobody seemed to have more than half an idea of what the group was doing--let alone what they themselves were supposed to be doing--and more often than not, what they did show up with was half-done ten minutes before class. The crux of all these issues hinges on one simple thing: communication. For the most part, group members were largely unreachable, which means nobody knew when the meetings were, nobody knew what to do, and consequently did a poor job on it.
Currently, I have two projects underway: one in ENG 198 (with a group of all iFoundry members) and one not in ENG 198 (with a group of no iFoundry members--myself excluded). The difference between the two is quite apparent. With the group not in iFoundry, all I've been able to obtain are email addresses, one group member has shown up to fewer than a quarter of our meetings, and the only way to ensure that anything gets done is to hunt them down in class and force the assignments into their hands. With the group in iFoundry, I have multiple means of contacting all the group members together or individually, all members have so far attended every meeting, and we are making marked progress on a difficult project.
The difference is clear: communication is key. Do YOU have the key?
PS: My deepest, most sincere apologies for the ending; it was just too cheesy for me to resist.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
iBracadabra
Ever heard the expression, "so-and-so is a wizard with this"? Well, after seeing Gerry and Tony from Motorola and Autodesk (respectively), I've come to the conclusion that this is much more than a figure of speech: it's a truth. Good engineering is like a well-done magic act.
Every magic trick consists of three parts, or acts. The first is called, "the pledge." The magician shows you something ordinary.
It begins with something simple...an object, an idea, a process. Pretty straightforward; the phone on the wall, a Walkman, a drafting table. Nothing radical.
Not yet.
The second act is called, "the turn." The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it into something...extraordinary.
The engineer comes up with a way to better that something ordinary..."what if I could take this with me? What if I could make it flip open like the communicators on Star Trek? What if I could digitize this information or this process?" He makes it work.
But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough. You have to bring it back.
Just making it work isn't enough; it has to have...something. Something that sets it apart. Maybe it's the bells and whistles. Maybe it's the user interface. Maybe it's the casing, a la Prof. Weightman's lectures on industrial design. Whatever it is, without it it still works, but it's not complete unless it has that something.
But the layman never sees all the inner workings that make the trick. They never stop to consider why it works. More than likely, they don't want to. They like the fact that it "magically" works.
Now you're looking for the secret. But you won't find it because, of course, you're not really looking. You don't really want to work it out. You want to be...fooled.
Every magic trick consists of three parts, or acts. The first is called, "the pledge." The magician shows you something ordinary.
It begins with something simple...an object, an idea, a process. Pretty straightforward; the phone on the wall, a Walkman, a drafting table. Nothing radical.
Not yet.
The second act is called, "the turn." The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it into something...extraordinary.
The engineer comes up with a way to better that something ordinary..."what if I could take this with me? What if I could make it flip open like the communicators on Star Trek? What if I could digitize this information or this process?" He makes it work.
But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough. You have to bring it back.
Just making it work isn't enough; it has to have...something. Something that sets it apart. Maybe it's the bells and whistles. Maybe it's the user interface. Maybe it's the casing, a la Prof. Weightman's lectures on industrial design. Whatever it is, without it it still works, but it's not complete unless it has that something.
But the layman never sees all the inner workings that make the trick. They never stop to consider why it works. More than likely, they don't want to. They like the fact that it "magically" works.
Now you're looking for the secret. But you won't find it because, of course, you're not really looking. You don't really want to work it out. You want to be...fooled.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Inside the Goodwin Ave. Erecting Shops
I know it doesn't look like much, but the boiler is now complete, with all the piping soldered on (definitely not pretty, but robust enough). Certainly was a difference from soldering wires like I did over the summer (for one thing, I was working with two different metals here). Nonetheless, the steam car is now taking shape.
The boiler fit like a glove, and lines up well with the turbine. Once the wheels are attached, we'll be ready for trials.Expect a more formal version in the official report.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
iThink, therefore iAm
In light of last week's lecture on the advantages of networking, I figured it was high time I started this blog rolling.
I suppose I'll start with an introduction: I'm Matthew (or Matt, if you prefer) Greve. I'm a freshman at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering (with Transportation more than likely as my primary). I'm part of the iFoundry group, which is why this blog exists; I'm in the AED iTeam and am the Habitat for Humanity liason for said iTeam. I'm a railfan and a music maker; when I'm not doing classwork or homework I'm usually doing something involving one or the other. I escaped from Birmingham, AL to attend college here in the endless cornfields of Illinois, and am so far loving it.
Anyone wants to contact me, feel free to email me (s2berk@gmail.com) or look me up on Facebook and let me know who you are. I don't bite, I just make corny jokes from time to time. :P
I suppose I'll start with an introduction: I'm Matthew (or Matt, if you prefer) Greve. I'm a freshman at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering (with Transportation more than likely as my primary). I'm part of the iFoundry group, which is why this blog exists; I'm in the AED iTeam and am the Habitat for Humanity liason for said iTeam. I'm a railfan and a music maker; when I'm not doing classwork or homework I'm usually doing something involving one or the other. I escaped from Birmingham, AL to attend college here in the endless cornfields of Illinois, and am so far loving it.
Anyone wants to contact me, feel free to email me (s2berk@gmail.com) or look me up on Facebook and let me know who you are. I don't bite, I just make corny jokes from time to time. :P
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
