Professor Goldberg issued interesting points in his video "The Missing Basics: What Engineers Don't Learn & Why They Need to Learn It ". After watching it, I have some points to be discussed. The engineering education seems to be filled with disciplines and doctrines nowadays. Engineering students just play around the formulas and equations, but they cannot use these tools taught in class intellectually. The important skills are missing. I have the same feeling too. Back in high school, I achieved 4 As in A level courses, and graduated summa cum laude, but engineering is not all about science. Many more skills are required to be a real engineer, but not someone who just design and solve problems. They need to be creative, presenting ideas but not sitting around with a bunch of figures and formulas.
First of all I will seek the joy of engineering. High pay, job security or high rate of employment comes to someone’s mind when they heard of the word “engineering”. Also maybe someone chose engineering simply because they are good at science and got 5s in their AP tests. I know some of my friends are now studying calculus III in their freshmen year. But are those reasons that we choose engineering? High pay or wonderful achievements in science? Now I have just touched a little bit about engineering and how it works. I will find the joy of engineering later on in this semester. To better accomplish this, I will try to find it through working on those projects. To create ideas and to have some initiatives is also what I am planning to do. I will be seeking the joy more actively. I think the due dates are still unclear, but maybe in the future I will suddenly realize and appreciate the joy of engineering.
One important skill I want to develop this year is team working. Usually I preferred working by myself before. It may be working if I am doing my homework. But it will never work out if a big project is assigned. Several people will be working on one project. There is no way to be undertaking all the jobs on my own. Therefore I am about to develop my team working skills in this semester. To develop this skill, I will try to communicate better with my teammates and identify their advantages. Also I will be a good listener. When a problem occurs, I will consult with them and attempt to find the best solution. After undertaking two or more projects, I think I will able to develop it further.
Finally I will improve my presenting skills. I did presentations in high school about various tasks, but I never did speeches to explain one finished projects e.g. how it works, how it is done. Also I do not know how to write a comprehensive report about the project. It is essential that these skills be identified because the managers in companies may not understand deeply about technical terms, so they are more interested in listening to the presentation. Moreover a report will help me to understand where I did wrong on the task and where I did it right. It is a perfect thing to review your mistakes and change it the next time. It is just a matter of time for me to get this done, and I am sure I will.
I am inspired by Prof Goldberg and his video, and I am looking forward to transforming myself in this semester. I’d say I am ready for it.
