Phil Mackey

Reflection

           I came into my 5th year Senior Thesis with a little apprehension. For the past four years I built up the anticipation for my year-long thesis project until it almost looked unattainable. Fortunately, my prior experience through two internships and the knowledge gained through almost five years of Penn State AE education prepared me quite well for the journey I was about to embark upon.

           Initially, I was a slightly annoyed with the numerous technical assignments and the seemingly mundane nature to many of the procedures required to collect all the necessary information for the building being analyzed. However, I found the technical assignments to be an invaluable tool when spring came around and I myself was performing the steps necessary to complete a creative and sound design. The knowledge gained in the fall assisted in the efficiency and clarity in which I was able to tackle each problem.

           CPEP was a unique and valuable aspect of my thesis project. At first, I was slightly apprehensive about creating a website. Although I consider myself quite savvy concerning technology, I have very limited experience in creating/maintaining a website. I also felt maintaining of the CPEP site was not as valuable to me since I will most likely not have any part in web design while working as a professional engineer and felt my time could be better spent elsewhere within my thesis project. Again, I found my initial assumptions to not be entirely correct. I found the CPEP site was crucial in presenting both my information and ideas most effectively. With increasing amounts of media being sent and received via the web, I found CPEP to be a valuable tool in making my ideas and work available to professionals, faculty, family and friends.