Girl + Computer = ?
Junior level female Computer Science major at Northern Arizona University, considering the college life in Arizona and speculating about the proper ways to inspire women and girls to pursue engineering-related disciplines.
Messages are always welcome.
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Post reblogged from Who Needs Feminism?
I need feminism because the fact that female students make up about 15% of the mechanical engineering department is considered normal and acceptable.
I need feminism because as a mechanical engineering major, I’ve become used to being the only girl in the room.
I need feminism because I’ve had, and only ever will have, one female engineering professor.
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I am about halfway through reading week of the toughest semester I’ve ever had. It’s been tough for so many reasons, both reasons I had anticipated and reasons I’ve been punched in the face by.
I have so much I’ve been wanting to share with everyone! Right now, I’m planning on writing a ton as a reward for finishing this week before plunging into the bulk of my studying, and then queuing up the posts.
A lot of blogging about being an engineering student is deciding that you don’t have the spare time to blog about engineering and that you’d rather nap instead - thank you all for hanging in there and following anyway!
— Maggie
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“We present an approach to 3D printing custom optical elements for interactive devices labelled Printed Optics. Printed Optics enable sensing, display, and illumination elements to be directly embedded in the casing or mechanical structure of an interactive device. Using these elements, unique display surfaces, novel illumination techniques, custom optical sensors, and embedded optoelectronic components can be digitally fabricated for rapid, high fidelity, highly customized interactive devices. Printed Optics is part of our long term vision for interactive devices that are 3D printed in their entirety.”
More information:
- Printed Optics: Disney Research 3D Printing to Create Future of Toys at On3DPrinting.com
- Disney Research
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The Scottsdale campus has a full day event for to-be graduates they’ve recruited. Part of the day includes two (!!) interviews.
The first one went well - The project my first interviewer worked on was fascinating, and I portrayed that, and I felt like I understood everything we discussed.
The second one went not-so-well - My second interviewer was extremely nit-picky so I felt rather foolish as he grilled me about specifics that I know (but didn’t remember).
Apparently I’ll hear on Wednesdays about any offers, but I’m skeptical they’ll want me. I’m not sure I’m quite as tech-savvy as they want. It bums me out to think of that though, since they have some stuff that is absolutely intriguing to me.
Wanna see the GD stuff I’d enjoy being a part of?
Command Post of the Future (CPOF)
NASA Space Network Ground Segment Sustainment (SGSS)
Right now I’m exhausted, so I’ll post more later.
Any General Dynamics employees want to give me their two cents? -
Link reblogged from tech ramblings
Not me, but damn.
How many other computer science/engineering/technology students feel this way?
I’m just starting my fifth year of college (technically my 12th semester if you count summers) and I’m getting so frustrated just being a student. Yet ditching my degree this far along will do me no favors.
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Tomorrow I have a major test tomorrow, the first for my Algorithms class.
I have been struggling a lot in this class, in the way where you think you know how to do it, but when you try it on your own its completely incorrect. I’m having flashbacks back to Junionr year again with Automata and AUI.Of course, the way I am coping with this is through procrastinating my studying, which I know will only make me feel even worse. Still, I find myself with 8 hours until class starts having done nothing productive all day.
It makes me feel even worse knowing that I’m actively participating in this cycle right now, but I think what is most upsetting is acknowleding he pattern I’m falling into. This is not new. This childish behavior has been a cornerstone of my CS life, and the student culture in my department is full of procrastination like this.
Why do I procrastinate and self-sabotage like this in some classes but not in others? Some classes I work my ass off for, get that A, and love every minute of it. Other classes I struggle to even find the motivation to attend. My behavior in Algorithms is extremely similar to how I was during Automata Theory - no matter what level of work I put in I always end up with a poor grade, so the extra effort seems worthless if he content doesn’t absorb me.
I know this is immature. I can’t expect every task I do to always be captivating, but I will still need to do it. This is so especially hard to outgrow when it feels like your classmates haven’t either (except they happen to love this subject to death).
Probably the truh of the matter is that many of the people in my class must feel the same way as me, and have gone to bed much in the same mood as I am now - feeling disappointed with myself and frustrated with the situation I’ve gotten myself into.
I’ll be getting up early with the hopes of remedying my lack of studying today - hopefully a new day will change my spirits.
And if I really do utterly fail the test, it won’t be the first one. Tomorrow is a new day, and a new opportunity to try again. -
Yet another hiatus, embarrassingly after I just said I was back from a prior hiatus.
Well, this time I really am back, as I’ve got lots of things to chat about! In fact, I’ll be drafting up some posts tonight, so hopefully there will be new content this week.
Thanks for sticking around, followers!
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Sorry about the unfortunate (and unplanned) hiatus!
Usually when there are breaks in my posts, its because I am living the CS life. I definitely have a lot to talk about.
Hopefully this week I can catch everyone up on my experiences and new thoughts this past semester.
I have a feeling my life is going in a different direction soon, also…
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Photo reblogged from Engineering is Awesome
good:
There Are No Ethical Electronics, So Buy Less Stuff
In a piece on Salon last week, writer Andrew Leonard laid out the raw truth: There is no ethical smartphone. The sins of Apple’s iPhone factories, where laborers literally and figuratively kill themselves in pursuit of faster gadgets, are well-documented. Just as the problem isn’t only Apple’s, neither is it relegated to phones. Laptops, televisions, digital cameras, and every consumer electronic in between wreak havoc on people and environments at every point in their lifespan—save, of course, for when you own them.
Please be sure to read this whole article! This is such a major worldwide issue - we think about the ethical production of our clothes and our food, but not our technology?
The constant demand for new electronics in the first world is creating some major issues in second and third world countries. I think that, as a society, we forget that other people made our gadgets and that they didn’t fall down from the sky. As soon as we remember that our luxuries come from the work of those less fortunate will we be able to set this issue straight.
In fact, I wrote a paper on this exact topic for a class last semester. Perhaps I should post it?
