Blog #1
My summer (2019) was very busy. A week after my junior year ended, I started my summer school classes, Micro Economic s and Political Science, at Santa Monica College. The classes lasted 8 weeks and took up a chunk of my summer time. Regardless of the classes, I enjoyed many days at the beach and hung out with my friends.
I am very exited about the fourth year PLTW class because of the JPL Team Competition and our Capstone Project that will take place second semester of the 2019-2020 school year. In general, however, I am most exited for the end of high school and the start of my college experience and education.
Blog #2
My team for the JPL Team Invention Challenge is making progress, quickly. We have a finalized design and as of now are on track to finish a working prototype in a month. Our design is simple, we are using airflow to transport the ping pong ball to 30 cm away from the mason jar. Then, using the air flow, we transport the ping pong ball roughly a foot vertically. With the ping pong ball elevated, we will then drop the ping pong ball through a funnel, to eliminate any external velocities, and bounce the ball into the mason jar.
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My individual research project can be related to my current JPL project because, both of my projects have gone through the engineering process and researching process. Problems will arise within the next two weeks of the build process due to the inaccuracy of the airflow output by the fan we are using. Additionally, the ping pong ball could get stuck in the pipe.
Blog #3
Launched on May 5, 2018, InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to give the Red Planet its first thorough checkup since it formed 4 billion years ago. It is the first outer space robotic explorer to study in-depth the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core.
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Although the engineering of the lander is unreleased, the NASA/JPL engineers used the same engineering process that I used for my project: Defining a problem, brainstorming ideas to solve the problem, planning out a solution, testing the solution, making edits and corrections.
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Studying Mars' interior structure answers key questions about the early formation of rocky planets in our inner solar system - Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars - more than 4 billion years ago, as well as rocky exoplanets. InSight also measures seismic activity and meteorite impacts on Mars today.
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The lander uses cutting edge instruments, to delve deep beneath the surface and seek the fingerprints of the processes that formed the terrestrial planets. It does so by measuring the planet's "vital signs": its "pulse" (seismology), "temperature" (heat flow), and "reflexes" (precision tracking).
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The InSight lander is a good example of teamwork. Over a hundred engineers and scientists, worked together to complete a singular goal. My group is about 95% smaller, we work together and we are efficient with our time. In addition, we have fun working on the project.
Blog #4
I wish someone had told me before college that it was just as important to focus on making A's outside of the classroom as it was inside of the classroom. Too many times I, and the people around me, sacrificed our health, relationships, and our mental well being to make sure we kept up in class. As long as we "made grades" everything else would be “okay," and inevitably, life took a back seat. I now know that A's in class and F's in life was not the right approach.
Something I would like all future senior to take into account, when applying to colleges, the amount of time college applications take. From entering the general data of the common app, to the “why us” essays, the entire process is very time consuming and energy consuming.
What excites me the most about graduating high school and going to college is the transformation from being a teenager to being a young adult. College, to me, is where I will become more self reliant and more independent.
If I had one GIF to describe my application process this would be it.
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Blog #5 (Second Semester)
What are you most excited about for second semester of your senior year?
I am very excited for the second semester of my final high school year because it serves as the transitional phase from high school to college. This semester is where I get rejected from colleges, accepted, and where I will finalize the general plans for my next four years of my life.
What challenges and obstacles is your group facing, or will your group face as you move through the “year long” project?
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Some challenges that my group will face as we progress throughout the project will include, learning how to code elements of the project, creating a thorough solution to the problem, maintaining legality (some elements of the project could violate privacy rights) and creating an agenda that my group will follow to make sure that we are productive throughout the entire semester. Most of these problems will be challenging, but the problem that will take the most time should be the coding element. None one in my group including me are experts or experienced coders. However, my entire group is determined and smart enough the learn the coding aspect within this semester: we also have mentors and outside sources to help us with this task.
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What is the difference between products that are made for profit and products that are made to benefit others?
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What makes an organization a nonprofit has to do with purpose, ownership, and public support.
In contrast, a for-profit business typically seeks to generate income for its founders and employees. Profits, made by sales of products or services, measure the success of for-profit companies, and those profits are shared with owners, employees, and shareholders. An example of a for-profit company is Amazon.
There are many types of nonprofits other than charitable ones, ranging from your local credit union to the Chamber of Commerce in your city. Some nonprofits depend on membership fees and sales of specific services or products and an example of this would be American Red Cross.
Blog #6
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What has been your biggest challenge with the engineering project so far?​​ What are you most proud of so far?
The biggest challenge with the project has been identifying viable solutions to our problem. There are many limitations to our solution development process, for instance my group has very little knowledge when it comes to coding. In addition to this challenge, developing a solution from start to finish has proven to be very difficult. There are many variables to our complex problem.
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Why is it important to get project design ideas from multiple sources?
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It is crucial to get project design ideas from multiple sources because different sources provide different information. With more information on past solutions and current attempts, we can make a more accurate and viable solution.
Blog #7
As of right this moment what degree do you intend to major in college? Why do you want to study this path, and
what job/career do you hope to obtain in the future?
As of now, the degree I am pursuing is Mechanical Engineering. I want to study Mechanical Engineering because I plan on pursuing work in the Racing field. Ideally, I would like to end up on a Formula 1 racing team and work as a team engineer.
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• Research a famous person in the field that you wish to
study. And write a summary that answers the following
questions on this person.
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In the racing field, Enzo Ferrari is THE person. He created the brand Ferrari and advanced the race car and how race cars were driven. For decades his cars dominated the racing game. At the same time he created the luxury sports car.
o What job/career does this person have?
Engineer, Businessman, Race car Driver.
o What level of education does this person have?
Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna
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Enzo worked as a workshop mechanic, air force pilot and as a test driver before creating his brand, Ferrari. He did not have to complete post-doc, post-bac degree's before getting his job. However, in this modern time, he would have completed all three before creating a car company. Enzo and ferrari represent Innovative, creative, bold, unique, and leadership qualities. I chose to research this person because I admire his pioneering spirit and ability to see into the future of his field. I like Enzo's career path because he created it for himself, besides from his young life and work, Enzo did not spend his life climbing a corporate ladder or working for someone else's dream. I very much admire innovators and entrepreneurs.
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https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/enzo-ferrari
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