Senior Year
Senior year has been the best in every way. My sense of community finally matured to the point where I always was hanging out with friends, even while working on the worst assignments. I worked incredibly hard in my classes, and learned amazing advanced material.
Senior year was really characterized by two things. First, mechatronics, which is the senior option I chose in Mechanical Engineering. Second, by the community I had built over the years.
Senior year was really characterized by two things. First, mechatronics, which is the senior option I chose in Mechanical Engineering. Second, by the community I had built over the years.
MechatronicsMechatronics is an option for seniors in Mechanical Engineering at UW. You take three specified senior classes, and get to choose two others from among about five options. Finally, your capstone project needs to fall within the realm of Mechatronics.
I chose to do Mechatronics for four reasons. First of all, I loved the Professor. He was awesome. Second, my Dad specialized in Mechatronics when he was in graduate school. Third, I was interested in the subject, and fourth, it was harder for me than my other classes. I figured if I could succeed at something that was particularly challenging to me, I would be better prepared for industry or grad school. But what is Mechatronics anyway?
Well, Mechatronics is the study of designing computer control for mechanical and electrical systems. It is an interdisciplinary field that combines Mechanical, Electrical, and Computer Engineering. For example, the cruise control system in your car and the autopilot for an airplane are both Mechatronics systems. So is the cooling system for your computer. Pretty much all robotic and automation applications involve Mechatronics. Since we control systems with computers, it is important for us to understand the way computers think. I took two classes that studied this in depth, embedded computing and digital control.
Click the classes below to hear more about my Mechatronics coursework and my capstone project. |
CommunityBy senior year, my community had developed greatly in several ways.
First of all, I had more time to develop my relationships with my current friends. Friends I had made through Honors, through my living environments, and student clubs. I joined the Honors Student Affairs Panel (HSAP) which is the club that puts on fun events for Honors. After all, half the point of being in Honors is for the community you build there, so having fun events is of critical importance in my opinion. I got to work with my friends to put on several great events, such as Honors Open Mic Night, Honors Trivia, Capture the Flag in the Quad, Honors Bake Off, Honors Colloquium, and many more. Second, I made many new friends very quickly through Mechatronics. There were only 30 of us, and we took all the same classes and suffered through all the same assignments all year, so we really became a close bunch.
Three of us loved biking, so we started the Mechatronics Biker Gang. We went on many 20 mile bike rides exploring the Seattle area. North on the Burke-Gillman Trail along Lake Washington, South through the Arboretum to Seward Park, or West to Discovery Park to the lighthouse and Puget Sound. Both Daniel and Jacob, the guys I biked with, were in much better shape than me, so it was always a good workout. Third, my brother Stanley finally came to UW as Freshmen. With the inclusion of my brother Aaron who was a Junior, this made campus almost feel like home. Family was always there.
|