Half of four score and twenty days ago, our administrators brought forth on this university, the end of another semester, after many finals, in dedication to the pursuit of education. And only now will I be writing about it.
In addition to taking five academic classes requiring actual work, I had three one credit classes of varying time commitment, and I was a TA for (ChemE) Fluid Mechanics. Which may not have been the best idea, but the only thing I regret is not taking my liberal studies class pass/fail.
Environmental History – This was my second 2000-level liberal studies class. The material was interesting enough, but I didn’t find the course as a whole coherent. Although the professor lectured somewhat chronologically, in the end the class felt like a collection of related facts instead of topics that built on each other (unlike, say, an engineering class). If I were to recommend a history class, I liked History of Science in Europe much better*. I will say that the books and readings for the class were well chosen and generally interesting or of historical significance.
*With the caveat that the enjoyment of liberal studies classes – more so than technical classes – depends very much on the professor or teacher.
Intro to Process Dynamics and Control – Required ChemE class number one. This class focused on mathematically modeling systems to predict transient behavior (non-steady state, so the time derivative can’t be assumed to be zero, which just makes everything that much more difficult). In the second half of the class, we used the model to develop control systems.
Process Control Strategies – Not the same as the class directly above. I’m planning to use this as one my ChemE electives. In this class, the professor tried very hard to convince us that in the real world, no one uses mathematical models to control processes; people just use trial and error. While taking the class, I didn’t like the professor’s teaching strategy at all, but after getting through the class, I have to admit I learned ChemE things. The midterm and final were good exercises in process control, though frustrating at times – the TAs, on multiple occasions, gave us different answers to the same question asked minutes apart. That’s totally not confusing at all.
Chemical Kinetics and Reactor Design – Required ChemE class number two. It’s kind of like two mini classes – one on kinetics followed by one on reactors (though kinetics plays a part in designing reactors). Taught by the same professor who taught me Intro to ChemE, and just as well organized. We had competitions every week in recitation ranging from matching chemical reactions and rate equations to figuring out fun facts about our fellow ChemEs.
Analysis of Separation Processes – Required ChemE class number three. Another lecture style I was not a big fan of: annotating handouts on PowerPoint and drawing arrows all over everything. I didn’t need to read my notes anyway. Material was exciting enough, and relevant – separation units and reactors are both major parts of process design.
Career Perspectives – Required ChemE class number four. To go with the academic classes, we had a seminar every week given by a former ChemE who spoke about his or her current job. Definitely a good thing to see how (or not) their ChemE knowledge was used after graduation.
Production Lab – A couple times a week, I worked in the scene shop at the Schwartz Center. I used the screw guns and saws, painted, cut rope, and tied flowers, among other things, for two plays – The Glass Menagerie and Blood Wedding.
Shawangunks Rock Climbing – Another PE class just for fun. After a couple introductory/preparatory classes at Lindseth, we went climbing in the Gunks for a weekend. It was fantastic. I don’t know if I can say it was my favorite PE class ever, because b-rock was every week for over two months (vs. just a weekend), and in high school I got to try cross country skiing/go hiking/do the ropes course in PE, but it might be my favorite PE class ever.
If you made it to the end of this long post about classes which you probably don’t care about, congratulations. Here’s a picture of a waterfall as a reward:
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