Cumulative Reflection

Throughout my time here at Iowa State I have learned much, made good friends, and as an individual changed for the better. Of all the things I have learned and discovered along my way, the most important realization I came upon was that I love to learn, about new techniques, new technology, you name it! It all started with a course I took called Electronic Circuits and Systems. Before this course I had been struggling through my pre-requisite obligatory Calculus and Physics classes, trying to find my purpose, my drive. Once I got into the Core coursework of Electrical Engineering I finally discovered my true calling, and an application to which I was able to apply all my previous knowledge to. In Circuits and Systems we focused mainly on learning about Op Amps, their properties and functionalities, but the main thing that interested me in this course was the fact that it was my first in-depth, hands-on lab experience. I got the chance to take a problem and actually design and implement a circuit that was able to fulfill that problem. To top it all off, in the last two weeks of the course I had my first final design project. We needed to build a wireless data transmitter that was able to send an input from one breadboard into another over the air. I enjoyed this project so much, learning how to coordinate and work with a team of students, theorizing and testing designs, researching ways to improve our designs, all of these things made this project so memorable that I will always consider it as a major reason why I chose to be an Electrical Engineer. As time went on my interest in engineering only grew stronger, with each core class I took I learned more and more about methods and techniques that I could actually apply in real life and use to solve problems. For example, I was able to use my knowledge of electrical engineering to design and implement an autonomous remote controlled car. The idea was that the car should be able to follow a black strip on the ground, similar to a track, automatically. Working with another electrical engineer we designed a rough idea of how we could accomplish this task and came up with a controller that was able to measure the light reflected off the ground at each of the front tires. So if the amount of light reflecting decreased it meant that we were going off course and the controller would automatically apply a voltage for course-correction. After many iterations and tweaks we managed to get it working, and the reward of having created a functional object was entirely worth the long hours and hard work that we put into it. In the end this project is what influenced me into pursuing a path towards control systems. As my time at ISU comes to a close we are given one last project, one that I feel is extremely important for understanding how engineering project design and management occurs in real life, our Senior Design Project. This project is the most open ended and difficult challenges I have ever faced, and I expect it to be a great learning experience as my group and I

work through it. The project we chose to pursue focuses on Cyber-Defense of the Smart Power Grid, and ways to protect it against unwanted intruders. As a group of 7 people we decided that we needed to break up the team into two sub-teams to be most effective. I am managing one of the sub teams and I work hard to make sure everyone is completing their tasks and that they always have a goal to strive for. As a manager I work with my team, I dont elevate myself above them. My team is focused on building and improving the current Electrical Power Grid model that the lab has set up and we plan on implementing a protection system for it as well as some control systems that can mitigate the effects of attacks on the fly. Since this project is deeply rooted in a real world system I feel that ethics play a big role in how we design our systems. It really showed me the kind of impact that I can have on society as a whole and it drives me to ensure we are maintaining our moral and ethical codes as we build this project. On top of all these projects, Iowa State has also provided me with many opportunities to better myself outside of the educational environment. I took part in a Study Abroad fair one year and thats when I made the decision to go for an International Internship in Malaysia. I worked for Maxis Communications, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life! I learned so much during my short 3 months there, from learning how to discover and respect another countrys culture, inside and outside the workplace, to learning in-depth about the technical systems that go into maintaining and optimizing a telecommunications network. Overall, I have had an amazing time studying at Iowa State. They have provided me with the knowledge Ill need for the modern engineering workplace, as well as providing me with plenty of opportunities to better myself outside of the classroom! I will remember my four years here fondly as I move on to even higher education and my career as an Electrical Engineer.