Welcome to Daniel's AE Senior Thesis e-Portfolio
AE 481W/482 Course Reflection
The first time I was subjected to the thesis environment was in my third year when the teachers pushed us to go and see the upperclass presentations. At first it didn't seem too bad, it actually looked fun and interesting. Then the presentations came to an end which (unknown to me) meant the faculty could drill the presentor with questions. Now it looked pretty scary. I have come to find out that the senior thesis program is set up so smoothly that it wasn't bad at all.
I had chosen to redesign a steel building into concrete because my weakness (at the time) was concrete design. Throughout the semester and the thesis program, I had developed my skills in concrete design. At the end of the year I was able to complete my thesis to the best of my ability with the guidance of my Thesis Advisor, Dr. Hanagan. Even though the question session during the actual presentation was pretty scary, I had finished the program with confidence, and am that much better of an engineer now.
CPEP & Discussion Board Reflection
The CPEP website and Discussion board was a great way to answer questions. I could reference previous reports to get a good idea of what was expected for a certain project. The Discussion board allowed me to get almost immediate responses to thechnical questions I had during the design of various systems.
All in All:: The thesis program here at Penn State significantly helps to develop engineering skills needed for the "real world". The program is definitely worth the pain!! And I'm grateful that I have done it.
