AE 481W/482 REFLECTION

After completing my thesis for the Penn State’s Architectural Engineering Program, I can honestly say that the experience was worthwhile.  The most important lesson I learned was to avoid procrastination. This industry requires an intense collaboration between the owner, design teams, sales representatives and industry members that cannot be rushed.   
In addition, I feel that the first semester’s coursework, including the Technical Assignments and Thesis Proposal not only adequately tested our knowledge in our area of expertise, but helped us to identify which aspects of mechanical design we were familiar with, along with those that we lacked experience or knowledge in.  The course also enhanced our technical writing abilities, which will continue to assist us as we enter the work place.

My only critique for the course was the lack of structure provided during the second semester.  I understand that it is our responsibility to manage our time wisely; however required advisor meetings and/or submissions most likely would have helped to keep the design moving at a more steadfast pace. Although it was time consuming and at times extremely stressful, the final thesis presentation was a great was to finish off five years of hard work here at Penn State.

CPEP & DISCUSSION BOARD

The website was an efficient and clever way for us to present and organize our work completed throughout the year.  Also, because projects from past years were easily accessible, it was a nice way to get ideas for technical formats, design proposals, etc.  The only complaint I would have in response to the CPEP website would be the required posting of irrelevant materials (such as the updated progess schedules) that interfered with us being able to work on more important components to complete our design.

The Discussion board was extremely helpful since we were able to acquire information from designers and engineers currently in the field.  Although the professors tried their best to be of assistance, questions often arose outside of the 9-5 hours which were often answered on the discussion board.  In addition, mentors were extremely valuable when it came to energy modeling questions, especially on the new version of Trace.  Their willingness to continuously provide feedback and suggestions for the design was sincerely appreciated.