High School Visit- Ian Davis (senior, Nuclear Engineering)

Last Friday was certainly a day of firsts for both myself, and the Engineering Ambassadors. For myself, it was the first high school visit that I had attended, and for the Engineering Ambassadors, it was our first out-of-state high school trip. Determined to make our mark in this new front, Kim, Katie, Adrienne, Matt, Alan, and I packed into an SUV ready to break new ground. And off we were at 6 am, aimed to teach high school and middle school students about what it really means to be an engineer.

I have to say that I was pretty excited about the high school visit, considering this was my first one. Throughout the day, Adrienne Crivaro and I gave several presentations about exciting careers in engineering to students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. Specifically, we talked about how engineers have an impact on the Hershey, Pennsylvania area through the chocolate factory, Hershey Medical Center, and Hershey Park. The students were surprised to learn that the engineers were so involved with all these industries, and hearing about it certainly grabbed their attention. I am a little sad to say that the end of our presentation was probably the most fun part of the day, but this was because it led right into a roller-coaster building challenge. We split the classes up in 5 small groups, gave them a limited supply of materials, and listed a number of constraints for the project. The students were allowed use any part of the room to build their roller coasters, but they had to include at least one loop in their design. Also, we asked the students to keep in mind some of the engineering concepts that we discussed. It was truly amazing to see the types of tracks that the young students came up with. Time and time again, my expectations were surpassed as the students incorporated crazier and crazier designs into their roller coasters. One group of bold 6th graders were able to include 3 successive loops in their design, and another creative group from the 7th grade actually had their roller coaster attached to the ceiling of the class room, running over some desks, and finally to the ground.

The entire day was so much fun, and I am honored to be part of such an amazing organization that offers these types of opportunities. It is so important to spread the knowledge, or the "word", about engineering because most of these students really don't know what engineers do in the world. We asked the students throughout the day what they thought of when they heard the word "engineer." Most often the students responded without much interest by saying that engineers work on trains or cars. Confused at first, I though back to when I was in grade school and high school. I probably would have said the same exact thing as the students I presented to had said. However, after seeing the looks on the students' faces and the enthusiasm they put into the roller-coaster activity, I know I have inspired some inspired future engineers. That alone makes these high school trips worth the time and effort that we put into them.

-Ian Davis

The Importance of Engineering - Kylie Sheplock (junior, Agricultural & Biological Engineering)

Early in November; Keri Wolfe, Boni Li and myself had the opportunity to give a presentation on the importance of introducing engineering to students at a young age. Our audience was a first year seminar class for students expressing an interest in elementary education. The presentation focused on how easy and simple it is to bring engineering into the classroom. Keri presented information about how rapidly technology is being developed. She then proceeded to inform us that more engineers are needed to translate and work with these new modern advances. In order for students to become interested in engineering we believe it starts in elementary school where students start developing their interests in science.

Then Boni processed to talk about actual data, showing that countries that are more developed have less of an interest in a career in technology. Next showing how girls have less of an interest going into a field dealing with technology. Boni then shared with the class a personal experience when he was in elementary school. He explained to us how one of his elementary teachers inspired him to become the person he is today. Boni is from China and because his teacher helped him follow his goals he was able to come to the United States for his college degree.

The final portion of our presentation is where I did an example of a lesson plan that could be applied to third grade students. It was a project that allowed students the opportunity to learn what an aerospace engineer is and does. Doing the project students are given the task that an aerospace engineer would also face, landing a space on the moon. The overall presentation went very well. It also led into a great discussion that we had with the students and their professor.

-Kylie Sheplock

The Cat In The Hat- Chris Golecki (junior, Mechanical Engineering)

You can’t be too young to learn about science and engineering. This was the theme of the Cat in the Hat Science Eventapalooza. Here, children from ages 5 to 9 years old learned important scientific principles through experiment and example. Activities were set up in the Outreach Building at Innovation Park to introduce these young minds to science and critical thinking. Students learned about basic chemical reactions, buoyancy, forces, astronomy, fluid mechanics, and biological structures.

As I helped these children with the activities, I was impressed with their enthusiasm and aptitude for learning. There is no doubt that these activities helped to spark and foster a love for the sciences. I think this event was useful for both the attendees and the hosts to stir up young children’s fascination with science. I also think that there is no substitute for learning through experiment and example, and as such, there should be more of these type of learning events. As a host at an activity table, it was very fulfilling for me to extend my knowledge to help shape these young minds to hopefully lead them to studies within the sciences and engineering. Overall, it was a great experience for me, and hopefully a great experience for the children as well.

-Chris Golecki

The End of an Amazing Week: Norway, Part 2- Danielle DaSilva (senior, Bioengineering & Mechanical Engineering)

It's truly amazing how quickly time flies by! As my fellow Ambassador Kim Harrison previously stated, we just wrapped up assisting in a week-long workshop at the Simula Research Laboratory where we helped 11 girls from the University of Oslo prepare to participate in a science outreach program. Since day two, the girls had tweaked their Assertion-Evidence slides, practiced their talks twice in English and then once in Nowegian and began to make edits for the last presentation day. The progress these 11 young women made within a single week was incredible!

By Friday's final presentation day, all of the mentors were so proud of their final product. They all exuded great confidence in their talks, passion about their topics and sense of energy that is sure to captivate their future secondary level students. Did I mention that all of the presentations were completely in Norwegian?!? Kim, Melissa and I may not have understood every single word as the mentors presented that day, but the Assertion Evidence slides kept us on track with the rest of their talk. Melissa even compared listen to the presentations as being out version of the Rosetta Stone, as we slowly picked up on words and phrases throughout the day. Kim's favorite, Spørsmål, concluded just about every presentation as the mentors asked for questions.

Following the presentations on Friday, we all shared a celebratory dinner at a restaurant in the city. It was truly the perfect way to wrap up the week and get to talk to all of the mentors even more before leaving the next morning. The topics of conversation ranged from discussing National Day and the traditional clothing adorned to celebrate Norway, learning even more about their schooling system and the different types of clubs and organizations their involved with and even comparing favorite TV shows, like The Hills and Gossip Girls. We also exchanged small gifts with the mentors, giving them Penn State pennants, as we received a portfolio signed by each of the mentors from the University of Oslo, a block of Brown Cheese (a type of cheese native to Norway) and a cheese slicer. The night ended with lots of hugs as the week finally came to an end and our job as Ambassadors finished in Norway (for now).

The next morning, Melissa, Kim and I took off on a series of trains and a plane ride to Paris to spend the day seeing the sights just for fun. We had the chance to climb the many spiral staircases of the Tower of Notre Dame and see the incredible view of the entire city. A crepe stop was also in order as we ventured to see many of the other grand locations of Paris. By mid afternoon, we finally had adventured over to the Eiffel Tower only minutes before a huge thunderstorm blew through the area. (See picture). The long day concluded with us enjoying our fresh cheese and loaves of bread in the hotel listening to the Penn State vs. Minnesota game online. The next day we were up early again, traveling to London for the day by train where we saw so much in such a quick amount of time. Our day began seeing the Changing of the Guard, followed by checking out Big Ben and Parliament and then taking the water taxi to the Tower of London. We even had time to enjoy fish and chips and embrace our British ways over tea. I still cannot believe everything that we were able to do and see within a short weekend before heading back to the US.

This experience not only allowed for me to grow as a speaker, but as a professional individual through the cultural experiences, formal dinners and representation of our university. Being in Norway really shed light on my current career goals and has me considering what aspects of my career are important to me, including international experiences. I am eager to hear about the mentors' experiences on their visits to come in the upcoming months and to see where the Engineering Ambassadors will go next!

-Danielle DaSilva

High School Visit- Holy Ghost Prep- Matt Krott (sophomore, Mechanical Engineering)

On November 5, 2010, six of us made history. Rohit, Matt, Alan, Josh, Nick, and I participated in a high school visit to Holy Ghost Prep in Bensalem, PA on that day. In doing so, we became the first males in the short history of the Engineering Ambassadors to participate in a high school visit. Just thinking about this fact makes me feel incredibly honored to be a part of this group. Three years from now when I am a senior and can look back and see how far the Ambassadors have grown, I will be able to pinpoint this as a huge step forward for our team.

The faculty and students at Holy Ghost were fantastic hosts to us throughout the day. I think I speak for the rest of the guys when I say that it was well worth the long journey from State College to show students some of the more interesting real-world applications of the material they are learning in their math, science, and chemistry classes. It was also really cool to sit down one on one with some of the students at lunch and talk about engineering. Seeing so many students with a genuine interest in engineering is remarkable in itself, but having the chance to influence them positively and help them realize their goals is infinitely more awesome.

The learning definitely was not a one-way process though. For one thing, I learned plenty just by watching with what the other ambassadors had to show the students. (You’d be surprised how much math there is behind the internet phenomenon that is the “double rainbow song.”) Plus, we had the opportunity to discuss engineering with the Holy Ghost faculty, a few of which were former engineers themselves, as well as Mr. John Brennan, a Penn State nuclear engineering alum who initially contacted us about doing the visit.

Now, you might think that being stuck in a minivan for four hours (twice) with a bunch of engineering students sounds like torture. In reality, it turned out to be a great bonding experience for all of us. On the way back, we even had a nice lengthy discussion in which I was compared to a non-Newtonian fluid. (Okay, maybe that’s a little nerdy, but it was hilarious at the time). Special thanks to Mr. Pappadakis and everyone else at Holy Ghost who helped make this happen. Hopefully, we will be able to return in the future to shape the next batch of young engineers!

-Matt Krott

THON- Catrina Vargo (senior, Industrial Engineering)

THON is a year-long fundraising effort for The Four Diamonds Fund, a fund that supports families fighting pediatric cancer. The keyword is "support." THON is not only financial support but also emotional support for the families who are involved in THON. Involvement in THON enables Penn State students to be a part of something that is much larger than themselves. It is a unique experience in that it is the world's largest student-run philanthropy which provides many great leadership opportunities to Penn State students. Many students including myself have found that their involvement with THON was one of their most meaningful and beneficial experience in their life.

For more information regarding THON, please visit: http://thon.org/

My personal experience with THON began my freshman year. I had heard a great deal about THON before I even came to Penn State and I knew I wanted to see what it was all about. I joined a committee my first year of college and already gained experience being a functioning member of a committee that was working toward the greater goal of conquering pediatric cancer. For my first 3 years of college, I joined a committee every year because I had amazing experiences each year that allowed me to grow as a person and develop as a leader. Then, my senior year, I was chosen as a Morale captain, meaning that it was now my job to lead the committees that I had been a part of my freshman, sophomore and junior years. This experience has been absolutely amazing seeing the inner workings of THON and has given me the greatest leadership experience of my life.

My involvement in THON overall has made me confident that I will contribute a great deal to my future career as an engineer. I cherish all of the memories I have made in THON and I believe the life-changing experience is why most students are involved in THON. Check out a video for THON 2011, which will take place from February 18-20, 2011: THON 2011

-Catrina Vargo

High School Visit- Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy- Julie Bickel (senior, Industrial Engineering)

On October 29^th a few fellow Ambassadors and I had the opportunity to visit the Pittsburgh Science & Technology Academy. The school was absolutely amazing! It is actually part of the Pittsburgh Public School System but students have to apply to get into this specific school. The school is only a few years old and has students from grades 6-10 so far and next year they will be adding 11^th grade, so by the Fall of 2012 it will have all the way up to 12^th grade. The school itself was right in the middle of the University of Pittsburgh campus. The kids in the high school grades each had their own laptops to bring to class! I definitely didn’t have that when I was in high school!

Catrina and I had the chance to talk to three different 9^th grade biology classes. We spoke to them about some of the cool advancements in prosthetics. They had already learned about some stuff in class and even did an entire paper on prosthetic arms. We talked about one method of using a person’s own nerves to stimulate a muscle in their chest to move a prosthetic arm. It was some really interesting technology that is becoming more main stream. All the students asked really great questions, the Ambassadors were really impressed!

Katie and Adrienne got to speak to some of the younger students in 6^th grade. They did a short presentation on the structure of bones and led a design activity. The kids had to create the tallest and strongest bone they could out of newspaper and masking tape! There were some very good designs!

Ginger and Whitney spoke to a 10^th grade engineering class (how cool is that? I wish I would’ve had an engineering class in high school!) and 8^th grade physics classes. In the engineering class they spoke about what makes a building “green”. They tied in what engineers do to help out with the environment when they are building structures. Then in the 8^th grade physics classes they made a short presentation on kinetic and potential energy in roller coasters. The students were then split up into small groups to build their own roller coasters out of pipe insulation, toothpicks, and masking tape. Their designs had to pass the safety test with marbles acting as real people!

At SciTech they have Science Forum every two weeks where they bring in different speakers for the kids to learn more about some of the cool stuff going on in science. In the middle of the day the Ambassadors split up into two groups to give Science Forum presentations. Whitney, Ginger, and Adrienne did an engineering careers presentation all about the new Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to the middle schoolers. They talked about what engineers did to make the building so high tech. Then they helped out with the bridge building project that the students had been working on in class. Katie, Catrina, and I spoke to the high schoolers about the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh as well, but a little bit more in depth than the middle school presentations. Once again the students had lots of great questions for us!

We all really enjoyed the trip and it sounds like the students enjoyed having us go talk to them as well! We’re really looking forward to working with them again soon!

-Julie Bickel

My Research- Matt Chang (senior, Electrical Engineering)

Here’s my favorite research story. In 2004, Andrew Geim and Kostya Novoselov from the University of Manchester were playing with tape. Nothing special about this tape, just the usual stuff you use to make things stick to other things. They stuck the tape to a large piece of graphite and pulled back so that layers of graphite began to come off. And they did it again. And again. And again - until the piece of graphite got so thin that it was literally one atom thick. They weren’t trying to get an atom thick piece of graphite but that’s what they found, and it was a huge surprise because an atom thick layer of graphite was supposed to be impossible. Long story made short, 6 years later (several weeks ago), Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics… for playing with tape and, essentially, pencil lead.

Don’t get me wrong, their accomplishments are deserving of a Nobel Prize. The atom thick layer of graphite, called graphene, has unbelievable properties. It is the strongest material we know of today, and has electrical properties that make your computer look like play-doh. Research does produce ground-breaking results. It is our front line as we push the boundaries of science and engineering. But the point of the graphene story is that research probably isn’t what you imagine it to be.

Let me explain. Flashback 2.5 years, and you’ll find a young enthusiastic version of myself (not that I’m not today, I’m just unbelievably modest now). I had just arrived in Gaithersburg, Maryland for my first research experience at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) which I had gotten by applying through the National Science Foundation (NSF). NIST is a government lab - they even gave us nifty pink badges that said “you have government clearance, but not really”. I was there to work on a project about a mysterious new material called graphene, which looked pretty cool. I was excited; I wanted to get into the lab, break the speed of light, create a warp gate into the future, and then build a flux capacitor. I walked on the first day, and my advisor, a fellow named Dr. David Newell, handed me scotch tape.

You can imagine my disappointment. No fame? No flux capacitor? Disgruntled, I spent my first few weeks trying to find a process to isolate graphene on tape and then see it under an optical microscope (yeah you can see an atom thick material with your eyes. How bizarre.). I played with new kinds of tape; I massaged the piece of graphite differently; at one point I sang to the graphite. And one day, EUREKA! An atom thick layer of graphite! In the next six weeks, our team produced more and more graphene. With some pieces we were able to grow (yes, grow) electrical contacts onto the graphene. We explored many properties: electron densities, electrical conductivity, optical properties etc. My personal project was to construct a Quantum Hall Device with graphene to use as a highly precise standard of electrical resistance. By the end of my 9 weeks, I got to witness the Quantum Hall Effect (a Nobel Prize winner itself) in real-time on graphene. It was surreal, and I really couldn’t appreciate the magnitude of that result. In my freshmen year, I got to work with a team of world-class scientists and engineers on one (and eventually two) Nobel Prize science experiments. Not bad.

Research can be incredible. You could be working on something that will eventually change the world, whether it’s energy, computing, medicine, robotics, fluid dynamics, or the other uncountable fields of research. The variety is huge: today I’m working with thermoelectric energy. If you’re passionate about it, there will be moments that you will remember forever because you really do have the potential to make ground-breaking accomplishments. Penn State is one of the nation’s largest research institutes. We spend over $800 million on research a year and have the results to show for it. If you’re looking for research, Penn State is one of the best places to be.

That being said, research is nothing like the classroom – in fact it’s nearly the opposite. In class, we know there’s an answer. We’re lectured on theories and findings; it’s like listening to a story. In research, we’re literally working on things that no one has tried before. No one knows the answer; there is no textbook to research. Your ideas are as good as your professor’s. It is up to you to try new things and think creatively and critically. That could be anything – even playing with scotch tape. In research, you are writing the story.

So when you consider research, think carefully. Research requires patience, creativity, and above all else, passion. You can’t be afraid to make mistakes, because making mistakes is just the next step in the research process. But if you stick it out, you may find that research is amazing. You never know what you will find, or where you will find it whether it’s in sunlight, in your cells, or in the tip of your pencil.

My Research- Katie Kirsch (senior, Mechanical Engineering)

I just started working this semester in the Advanced Multi-Phase Flow Laboratory, under Dr. Seungjin Kim in the Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Department. I became a part of his lab because I had expressed interest in research during my senior year to one of my professors (the EA faculty advisor!) and she put me in contact with Dr. Kim. My specific project deals with studying how pipe elbows affect flow regimes of an air-water mixture. Nuclear reactor plants contain multiple flow restrictions, such as elbows, throughout their piping systems and the effect these flow restrictions have on two-phase flow is not well understood. Understanding two-phase flow properties is essential to understanding the heat transfer capabilities the liquid-gas mixture that cools the nuclear reactor. I work in this lab for ~10-15 hours/week. More information about this lab can be found at http://www2.mne.psu.edu/AMFL/.

Before I became a part of Dr. Kim’s lab, I worked under Dr. Mirna Urquidi-Macdonald in the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department. I became involved with Dr. Macdonald my second semester freshman year through the Women in Science and Engineering Research (WISER) program. Dr. Macdonald and I worked with artificial neural networks, specifically Kohonen Maps, as they applied to the material selection and material design processes. Artificial neural networks are able to organize large amounts of data by clustering the data by similarities and differences. We looked at specific metal alloys in various environments and were able to understand which metal alloys performed best in which environments, in terms of corrosion rates, through the use of artificial neural networks. I worked with Dr. Macdonald for ~5-10 hours/week.

My Research- Stephen Pishney (senior, Chemical Engineering)

During my sophomore year, I was very interested in the possibility of going to graduate school. What are graduate schools looking for? Undergraduate research experience. Therefore, I applied for a fellowship through the Department of Chemical Engineering at Penn State. Several weeks later, I heard back with good news! I spent my summer after sophomore year (June-August, 2009) in State College working 40 hours/week with my research project. The research project was with Dr. Janik’s group.

I decided to continue research throughout my junior year. This time, I was working on a completely different project. My new project involved the analysis of Lithium conduction in the crystalline polymer, LiClO₄ PEO. Polymer electrolytes are very useful because of their conductivity potential in rechargeable, Lithium-ion batteries. In order to analyze the movement, different stability energies and transition state energies needed to be calculated. This research was very heavily computational, using external nodes (computers) to process the data. The picture below shows the computer modeling of my project:Throughout the school year itself, I spent approximately 10-12 hours/week with regard to research. This number includes the time spent in lab as well as the time spent in group and individual meetings. I highly recommend getting involved with undergraduate research if you are at all interested. It allowed me to be more involved with my major as well as get to know the faculty and students better. In addition, it helped me make up my mind as to whether or not I wanted to go to graduate school.

What is Your Favorite Class?- Kylie Sheplock (junior, Agricultural & Biological Engineering)

At Penn State there is a wide variety of classes that are offered and choosing the right ones for you maybe a bit challenging. But if you take the time to ask upper-level mates and professors in your department they will be more than willing to help. That is exactly what I did when I was looking for a general education class to take. These classes don’t necessarily need to apply to your major; however it is more enjoyable to take a class that sparks some of your interests. Which most of the time it will end up being something related to your major. I’m personally very interested in structures, so I decided to ask a couple seniors in civil engineering if they could recommend any general education. I was lucky enough for a senior to mention to me that a new class was starting in the spring, taught by a retired civil engineering professor. I jumped at the opportunity and found the class was called Structures throughout Society. I took the class and loved every minute of it we explored many different aspects of structures. We also received a better understand of why certain structures we constructed. It was a great class and gave me a new perspective on the way I think about structures.

TEDxPSU- Chris Golecki (junior, Mechanical Engineering)

Penn State recently had the opportunity to host a TED event on campus on 10/10/10. I was lucky enough to be able to attend. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design. At a TED seminar, these three sectors come together to share “Ideas Worth Spreading.” During a TED seminar, experts in their respective fields, talk about designs and developments or anything new and interesting in that industry. There are also musicians who perform their new and innovative music.

Sunday October 10, 2010 was nothing less than an epic day for me, as well as many in attendance at the TED talks given in Schwab auditorium. To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect from these TED talks. I had watched countless hours of video casts on the TED website but had never been to a live TED talk. The entire day blew my mind. Talks ranging from new innovative designs, to ideas about mortality, to a jazz ensemble, to economic theory gave great scope to the entire day, allowing each member of the audience to personally relate to a topic.

Every one of the TED speakers flooded the stage with passion for their topics and allowed the audience to share in this passion. However, I was really caught off guard by one of the presenters. Chris Calkins was one of the first speakers to say his piece at the event. He began talking about economics and the huge amount of debt facing the citizens of the United States, a topic I didn’t focus on as an engineering student. However, I remained attentive, and he steered his talk into another direction, one that I was not prepared for.

After explaining that he had been a hospital administrator and listing some statistics about mortality and the amount of money spent on hospitalization and treatments, he very frankly asked the audience, “How do you want to die?”

At first, I was stunned at the way he asked this question, and then began to wonder why he asked that question. This was a talk about economics and the great sea of debt, not pain and death. Calkins did not leave the audience hanging on this question, but explained 40% of Medicare spending was spent during the last month of life. So, I asked myself, “How do I want to die?” This is a pretty tough question to answer at 20 years old, but I saw his point. Then I thought about the context of this question and realized that Chris Calkins just linked gross domestic debt to a philosophical argument. Was this true enlightenment or crazy babble? I had a tough time deciphering the quality and urgency of his message, but it made sense. It actually made a lot of sense. But was this the solution to national debt? No one will know really, but that idea turned on the light for me. I then found the true essence of TED.

The True Essence of TED According to Me

TED is not about bankable patents, it’s not about solving problems with traditional knowledge, and it is not about empty commodities. TED is a different way of thinking. TED is about changing age old ways of thinking to new, innovative and abstract ways of thinking, and then using these new methods to solve the age old problems. It was clear, now, that true enlightenment comes from a wealth of experiences, knowledge, and wisdom. All of the speakers were truly enlightened and were clearly speaking from these elements, making their presentation worthwhile.

As a young engineering student, I think that TED is not just beneficial, but essential to the mindset and problem-solving of engineers. In this fast-paced world, there is an ever-expanding sea of new problems. Engineers can most likely solve these problems using old techniques, but there is another way. TED has taught me that there always is another way.

TED’s advice through my eyes: think differently, think abstractly, challenge and enrich your mind.

-Chris Golecki

Greetings from Norway!- Kimberly Harrison (senior, Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering)

When I got involved with the Ambassador program last year, NEVER did I imagine that it would bring me across the world to Oslo, Norway! Myself, along with fellow Ambassador Danielle DaSilva, are currently assisting Melissa Marshall (faculty adviser for Engineering Ambassadors) in teaching a week-long workshop on high school science outreach to 11 Norwegian students from the University of Oslo. The Prepare Project, which is based on the Penn State Engineering Ambassadors, was organized by the Simula Research Laboratory. Overall, the mission of both groups is the same: recruiting more young students, especially females, to pursue a career in the fields of science and/or engineering. So far the best way I can think to describe this experience is that it has been incredibly life-changing. I've always been proud to share my experiences as an Engineering Ambassador, but it's still unreal to me that I have an opportunity to share my experiences with such a diverse audience. Seriously...is this real life?!

After traveling between four airports within the span of 12 hours (including a sprint through the Amsterdam airport), we arrived (exhausted) in Olso, Norway on a Saturday afternoon. We spent part of the weekend exploring some of the city, including the Royal Palace and Oslofjord. The architecture is unlike anything I've seen before, and the fjords are so gorgeous in their own right. Luckily, we had amazing fall weather which just added to the beautiful scenery. But the real highlight of the trip so far has been interacting with the Prepare Mentors. These 11 women are incredibly passionate about their topics and have a genuine interest in inspiring younger students. They are currently on day two working on developing their talks as I write this blog. Some of the topics they are preparing for high school talks include nanotechnology, sound waves and acoustics, biological control, and the electrical models of the heart and brain. The most wild part, however, is the fact that English is their second language! You'd never be able to tell though. It has been quite an experience for me to not only have an opportunity to share my experiences, but to also help teach technical communication with a language "barrier." I still can't believe it. Nonetheless, I have been absolutely blown away in the short time I've spent with the Mentors. Their passion and dedication is very inspiring. I look forward to seeing their finished product at the end of the week!

-Kimberly Harrison

What Is Your Favorite Class?– Matt Chang (senior, Electrical Engineering)

I’ve been in college for over three years but I can’t really put my finger on one course and say, “that’s my absolute favorite course”! Thinking back, the courses that have most perked my interest are also the courses that have had lab components. It’s an odd thought because let’s be serious: no one’s excited to be in any one place doing work for more than two hours (unless there’s free food). In retrospect, however, these are the courses where we’ve done the coolest things; these are the courses where we get to actually apply the theory we’ve learned in the classroom and make it come to life.

Let me give you a few examples. In my basic circuitry class, we created our own sound cards. We did all the math, determined all the necessary parts, and actually soldered the parts onto the board. The sound card actually works: it has volume control, base/treble control, even an LED volume display. We took the board home and could hook it up to iPods and computers to play through the speaker. It was actually a handy portable speaker system. In digital signal processing, we used digital filters and algorithms to simulate a concert environment with echoes and reverberations. We even programmed the basics of autotune and tried it out on our own voices. Do things work perfectly (Can I rap?)? Uh, no, but that’s a (big) part of engineering. Neat connections exist between the theory we’re taught in the classroom and what that theory can do in practical systems. These are connections that we probably never knew about, but when that Eureka moment hits, it leaves us in awe at the scientists and engineers before us. Lab gives us one way to bridge that gap between theory and application, between the classroom and the real world.

-Matt Chang

What Is Your Favorite Class?– Ashley Elias (junior, Mechanical Engineering)

I have had a lot of great classes so far at Penn State but one definitely stands out from the others. My freshman year I took a Mechanical Engineering freshmen seminar and it was so much fun! On top of learning a little about Mechanical Engineering and creating a resume, our main project was to build a robot out of Legos (who wouldn’t want to do that??). So twice a week I worked with a group of four students and we put together a dancing Lego tricycle that could spin, pop a wheelie, and even had spinning handle bars.

A large portion, and probably the most difficult portion, of this project was to program the robot to dance to a song for the dance off we had at the end of the semester. My group chose the song “Bicycle,” by Queen and it was a huge success! I would like to say my group’s robot was the best but I don’t remember there being an official winner. Needless to say, engineering classes are more than just calculators and text books; you get to meet other students while working in groups for awesome design challenges!

-Ashley Elias

What Is Your Favorite Class?– Keri Wolfe (junior, Chemical Engineering)

I came into freshman year with zero AP credits…I took the classes, but I wanted a review of the material when I came into college. The Honors classes were a great middle ground between the classes I’d already completed in high school and the next level that I wasn’t ready for. My favorite class that I’ve taken here at Penn State would have to be Chem 112H: Introduction to Chemical Principles II. It was taught by a fantastically friendly and enthusiastic professor. He really loved the subject, and had a gift for explaining things. Instead of a class of hundreds, our class had only 30 people since it was an Honors class. We had one essay exam and two poster projects during the semester. These poster projects were a great opportunity to get us ready to present research projects in the future. I even got the chance to present about something that interested me: biomimicry. I spoke about how chemists are trying to artificially replicate hydrophobicity by analyzing the lotus leaf, a naturally hydrophobic surface. We also did a pretty intense research paper--mine was about a protein called ferritin. For our final exam, we had individualized oral examinations. The professor spent so much of his own time doing 45-minute exams one-on-one with every student in the class! He helped us along with hints, and we were allowed to adjust our answers as we went—he really wanted to see us learn and do well in the class! I can honestly say that I don’t know one person who did not love the class!

-Keri Wolfe

Penn State Tops Recruiter Rankings

“State universities have become the favorite of companies recruiting new hires because their big student populations and focus on teaching practical skills gives the companies more bang for their recruiting buck.”A recent survey of corporate employers conducted by the Wall Street Journal ranks Penn State as the top university for producing graduates who they hope to recruit. According to the recruiters surveyed, Penn State graduates:

-Were the most well rounded students
-Were the most academically prepared
-Had the most relevant training for all aspects of the company

Being Penn Staters, this is super exciting! So why exactly do recruiters prefer State universities, such as Penn State? First off, there is an emphasis on teaching practical skills that help translate learning in the classroom to productivity in the real world. Second, there is a plentiful pipeline of graduates. And third, State universities have an eagerness to forge corporate partnerships. Furthermore, the article states that “internships are the new full time hiring.” Many of the companies surveyed in this article indicated that summer internships were the best way to hire new graduates; it gives the company an extended period of time to evaluate a student’s skills in the real world, as opposed to a single thirty-minute interview. For example, 80% of General Electric’s (GE) new hires come through their internship program. For more on the article, please click here.

Penn State has one of the best career centers in the world, The Bank of America Career Services Center. The career center assists students of all academic programs and class years with identifying and achieving their individual career goals. They embrace opportunities to collaborate with employers, graduate and professional schools, faculty and staff etc.

Specifically within the College of Engineering, we have the Penn State Engineering Career Resources and Employer Relations. This office serves as a comprehensive career development resource for all Penn State engineering students. They work with students who want to develop their career search skills, present themselves effectively as professionals, and find both short-term and full-time job opportunities. For more information, visit the Penn State Engineering Career Resources and Employer Relations site.

So isn’t it time you got the bang for your buck? Come to Penn State!

-The Engineering Ambassadors

How Did You Choose Your Major?- Chris Golecki (junior, Mechanical Engineering)

Ever since I was young, I loved playing with K-Nex and Legos. It kept my attention for hours. As I grew older, my interest grew into car and motorcycle engines. I liked to tinker with my father's classic car. My mind was so drawn to how these machines worked, and I was eager to figure out how these machines operated from the inside out. It was true love when I finally completely tore apart my first engine. I knew that I was going to study mechanical engineering in college.

After taking biology in high school and some engineering classes at Penn State, I decided that I was even more interested in biomedical devices. My uncle, who works in the nuclear imaging field, introduced me to nuclear scanning devices during my freshman year at Penn State. The concept of creating internal models of the body from the outside the body blew my mind. My academic track now steers me into the biomedical device design area of mechanical engineering. As I look back, I'm happy that I made the decision to study mechanical engineering.

-Chris Golecki

How Did You Choose Your Major?- Anna Rish (junior, Computer Science Engineering)

As a senior in high school, I was probably the most confused 18-year in Pennsylvania. Here I was, ready to go to college in less than a year, and I still had less than no idea about what I wanted to major in. My high school career had been really successful; I had always gotten high marks in every subject in school, which is great except for one thing--it doesn’t give you any hints when you’re trying to decide what you like enough and what you’re good enough at to major in at college. However, engineering was one thing I knew I was interested in learning more about. I had always thought of it as some vague, far away field of study. I knew what it was and a little bit about what engineers did, but I knew there had to be more information. I started looking into different engineering fields and the different projects they worked on and realized that, while I really liked the problem-solving aspect of engineering and the idea of doing that for the rest of my life, none of the fields I had researched jumped out at me as MY MAJOR. I didn’t think I knew or cared enough about engines to be a mechanical engineer, and I’m too squeamish about blood and hospitals to be a biomedical engineer [that was before I had my appendix out]. I think bridges are incredibly interesting, but I just can’t picture myself in a hardhat and steel-toe boots, so civil didn’t exactly do it for me either. I was just as confused as before I started.

This is where I was before attending an event for students applying to the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State in October of 2007. I didn’t realize that I would need to have an “intended major” by the time I came up for this visit, but sure enough, after some all-inclusive presentations, the parents and students were split into groups by their college of interest and then into groups by prospective major in order to learn more about specific requirements and tour the majors’ specific labs and facilities. As the representative from the College of Engineering read out the different majors, a large number of people got up for each major called and joined a professor from that department to embark on their tour. I felt my opportunities quickly slipping away from me as groups left while I sat and wondered wildly what to even choose. Why wasn’t there an “undecided” option? I would just have to pick something. Maybe it was a sign or just fate, but towards the end, computer science was called out as an option. I saw the professor (who is now my honors advisor) smiling, ready to show off his department and try to sell his program. However, after a few seconds had passed, still no one had stood up to go on this tour. I felt awful! I didn’t want this man to go back to his office, disappointed because no one was interested enough in his major to even take a tour of the brand new IST building. I grabbed my parents and said “come on, let’s go on this one.” I got a pair of funny looks -- I had never been especially interested in computer programming. My high school didn’t even offer it as a class. But I felt terrible for Dr. Hannan, and I thought it could be interesting to at least learn about this option that I hadn’t considered before.

Going on that tour was the best decision I’ve ever made. I realized through talking to Dr. Hannan and looking at the course requirements that computer science was actually a great fit for my interests. In high school I was really interested in different “pure” sciences and mathematics. I like to work in the abstract. However, I don’t like the idea of simply working at a college and researching and teaching for the rest of my life, which is basically the majority of your options when you major in a “pure” science. Computer science was an awesome combination of abstractness and real-world-applicable problem solving that fit my interests perfectly. I came to college my first semester with an intro programming class on my schedule, and a plan to stick with computer science until I realized it wasn’t for me. I’m now in my first semester of my junior year and over halfway done with my major -- still no realization. So the moral of the story is, don’t get set on what you think your major can or can’t be. You may realize through a twist of fate that something you never even considered is actually a perfect major for you. Okay, there are two morals. The second one is to not be afraid to take classes or a major you don’t know anything about. Computer science especially is something that people usually decide they want to major in when they’re about 12. It’s that kid in your high school who was taking apart computers and talking hard drives and motherboard when everyone else was talking school dances and football. Let me reiterate. I was not that kid! And you don’t have to be either. I’ve got a great GPA and my classes really interest me. Did I do a ton of catch-up? Maybe a little but I didn’t even really notice. So, pick computer science. And if you’re not going to pick computer science, try something else that scares you a little. It’ll pay off.

-Anna Rish

Summer 2010- Danielle DaSilva (senior, Bioengineering & Mechanical Engineering)

This past summer, I had the amazing opportunity to work as an Lean Leader at GE Healthcare in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A Lean Leader is someone who's sole purpose on the manufacturing team is to streamline processes and eliminate waste in order to increase productivity and therefore output. Every morning I would put my steel toed boots on, grab my safety glasses and head out to the shop floor excited for my daily tasks. There was no such thing as a typical day, as I had to communicate with a large team of management and union workers in order to drive continuous improvements each day. I had not had any previous experience with Lean Manufacturing, so going into the summer I was a little intimidated of the challenges that may lie ahead. Thankfully though, the internship program was structured to allow me to not only work but also learn a wealth of knowledge. I had a mentor who guided me and served as a point person for those "dumb questions" you need to ask but don't know who to turn to. I also had the opportunity to present twice to my entire team and the plant manager at my site, which was a big deal and not as stressful as I thought it would be. Overall, I absolutely loved my 10 weeks working and always woke up excited for the day ahead.

In addition to working, Milwaukee was a fun place to spend my summer with about 150 other interns. A large group of us all lived within the same apartment complex which was at the edge of the city. This allowed for a quick commute to work during the week and a short taxi or bus ride to the lake on the weekends. Never being out in the Midwest before, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect but made sure to take advantage of every opportunity. I got to see a ton of concerts at Milwaukee's music festival called Summerfest and played countless number of volleyball games at the "beach" near the lake. Interns also planned a lot of events, as we volunteered at a 5K for cancer research and also went to a Milwaukee Brewers game together. I truly made some amazing friends that I still stay in touch with which only added to my summer experience.

My best advice when looking for an internship would be to not be afraid of going too far away from home or to a place you've never been before. I lived with three other girls this summer and only briefly knew one before the summer. Together we all had extremely different work positions which allowed us to view a number of aspects and made the large corporation feel a lot smaller. Definitely try to reach out of your comfort zone during an internship so when you begin to think about a full time job, you have a much better idea of what you're looking for.

-Danielle DaSilva

Summer 2010- Robert Guerrieri (junior, Chemical Engineering)

This co-op rotation was the first of three with The Dow Chemical Company which is the largest chemical manufacturing company in the United States. Dow is the largest producer of polyethylene in the world, and this summer I had the opportunity to work in Base Plastics Technical Services and Development, TS&D. The group I was in focused on polyethylene food and specialty packaging and operated as the technical interface between manufacturing and the customer. Plastics TS&D is solely located at the Freeport site in Texas which allowed me to not only work along side project engineers but technicians and global leaders as well. Plastics TS&D is meant to provide technical support and continual improvement for plastic’s customers, which is composed of converting and packaging companies. On one side, TS&D looks to listen to customer’s needs and alter different resins in order to meet a customer’s specific demands. However, the engineers do participate in various research projects as well, creating patents and trying to formulate new polymer properties. Overall, it is a market driven business group, and I was extremely fascinated by the customer interaction that the engineers had, since I am hoping to land a business role in my future career.

I really enjoyed TS&D because there was something new to do every day. Most employees have several accounts or projects that they are responsible for, thus, different tasks are being completed for separate projects every day. I was assigned four projects, and I would try to complete a small part of each every day. My main assignment was to research different additives that could be put into polyethylene in order to change the properties of the film. Because I had to bring in new chemicals and do the testing myself, I had to complete a process Dow uses to review and determine if any new chemicals or procedures being adopted by the operation are safe. Furthermore, I had to gain training on various machines to satisfy the safety requirements needed to operate any machinery Dow owns. Once this was completed I had to have the resins mixed with the new chemicals and converted into film. Although I was not able to actually make the film myself, I was able to shadow the technician, while he generated the film rolls I needed. Over a two week span, I had to test each film roll on a specific machine, in order to generate the data needed to analyze what additive proved to be the most beneficial. On another project, I had to mine through over 1500 different test samples entered into the laboratory management system. Over the term, I looked at data generated by Dow over a long history from all the major tests used to analyze film resin. I entered this data into JMP, which is a statistics program, and generated a database that gives comparisons of different resins. Through this assignment, I learned a lot about the physics behind film testing while also gaining some experience with JMP, which is statistical software being widely used by many companies for experimental analysis and Six Sigma projects. These projects were just a few that I worked on over my 12 week period. Every day challenged my project planning and management skills as new tasks were added and problems arose in each project. This co-op taught me to always brainstorm and anticipate any obstacle, because a problem, big or small, could have caused me to miss any one of my deadlines.

I really enjoyed everything about this co-op. I was able to go to Texas and vacation around some of the big cities of the south like, New Orleans, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. I was able to tour large scale plants making thousands of pounds of anything from plastics to various epoxies. I was able to make new friends with the other co-ops who I still stay in touch with, and learn what life is like in other parts of the United States. This was an unforgettable experience, and I am really looking forward to my next term with the company.

-Robert Guerrieri

Summer 2010- Kacie Long (junior, Electrical Engineering)

Working at GE Aviation this past summer was an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. At GE, I had the opportunity to work as a Separable Instrumentation Design Engineer. What that basically means is I was part of a team that was responsible for designing and installing the instrumentation and sensors that other engineers would use during an engine’s test phase in order to ensure the engine is working properly prior to its sale to the customer. It was awesome to have a job where I worked closely with mechanics and other engineers, and where I was able to spend a lot of time on the engine assembly shop floor. My job was really hands on and I was constantly surrounded by gigantic jet engines. I even had the opportunity to take apart a $1,000,000 jet engine as part of a class called Jet Engine Teardown School (JETS). I learned a ton about jet engines and working in a corporate environment as a result of these experiences.

My co-op experience wasn’t just about work. While at GE, I had the chance to go skydiving for the first time, which was something I never thought I’d be able to do. I also traveled to Puerto Rico, where I went snorkeling for the first time, and to Boston, where I experienced the fourth of July in one of the United States’ most historic cities. I made a ton of friends, and even met my boyfriend there. I would not have been able to do any of this without a steady (and pretty generous) paycheck. The point is, once you have the chance to have a taste of what it’s like to be a working member of society with a great job, take it. You definitely won’t regret it!

-Kacie Long

Summer 2010- Kylie Sheplock (junior, Biological Engineering)

Deciding to come to Penn State was one the best decisions of my life, and it was an even better decision to enter into the College of Engineering. Not long after I settled into my freshman and sophomore year did I soon realized that the classes I was participating in had a wide variety of all engineering disciplines. I wanted to enter into my major classes right away, but I soon found out that I needed to learn the basics before I dove into the core subject classes. However, even though these classes were just the building blocks to my overall goal, I soon found out that these building blocks led me down numerous pathways. At Penn State, it is required that all freshman engineering students take an Engineering Design class where we learn how to draw multi view drawing, work in a group project and learn how to operation a three-dimensional computer program called Solidworks. Well, little did I know that what I learned at the end of freshman year would help me receive an incredible internship at the end of my sophomore year. I received a summer internship at Penn State University working for the Integrated Design Services.

For the summer, I had the assignment of designing a surveillance warning system for the Naval Research Lab located in Washington, D.C. I obtained this job because I knew how to use Solidworks and my project was to be created using this software. Over the summer, I gained a wealth of knowledge from my mentors at work. I learned a lot about electrons, both heating and cooling systems, and got to experience firsthand my parts being made in a machine shop. Than the best part of my summer came at the very end where I was given the opportunity to go to the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C. and present my project to the head of the department. It was such an awesome experience that will never forget. I am very thankful that Penn State has opportunities like this for their students to be a part of.

-Kylie Sheplock