Well, the semester is just about over. Friday was the last day of classes, and now we move into final exam week. Luckily for me, I only have one class to take, so I am not nearly as stressed out as I have been in previous years. Last year when I was a senior, I had 24 credits, including senior design. So at the end of the semester, I had about 4 finals to take, plus to finish senior design. Stressful!!! But this semester is a nice change... I'm not used to it actually. Since freshman year, I would be looking forward to summer as a relief from classes and schoolwork. But graduate school is no where near as stressful as my undergraduate years. I usually take 9 credits a semester as a graduate students, and only 3 credits right now! So the workload is much less than usual. I have much more time to myself, which is fantastic. I am still involved in choir, but do not have all the meetings and events I had the past few years.
And for the first time since high school, I am NOT taking any classes this summer. I need a break... I plan on auditioning for a couple musicals in a few weeks with a local theater company, so that will keep me occupied for the majority of the summer. I performed with them when I was in high school, so I figured this summer would be the perfect opportunity to be involved in something I love doing... performing!!!
On April 25th, I took the Fundamental of Engineering (FE) or Engineer-in-Training (EIT) exam. It is a state run exam, which many engineers take upon graduation with their bachelor's degree. I applied a few years ago to sit for the exam, but something happened with my application so I couldn't take it. Most engineers who take the exam are civil and environmental engineers, but there are some mechanicals who take it too. Basically, any engineer who wants their professional engineering (PE) license in the future has to pass this exam first. The exam is 8 hours long... yes... I did just say 8 hours. There is a 4 hour morning session, and a 4 hour afternoon session. The morning session has 120 multiple choice questions on the following subject matter: mathematics, statics, dynamics, chemistry, physics, materials engineering, engineering economics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, ethics, and my favorite... fluid mechanics (I may have missed one...). You can chose to sit for a diciplined exam in the afternoon (civil, environmental, chemical, mechanical, industrial) or you can take the general exam (which asks more in depth questions on math, statics, dynamics, materials, economics, thermo, fluids, and biology). There are only 60 questions in the afternoon session, but the questions are more involved than the morning session. There is an hour lunch break between the two exams. I finished an hour early in the morning session, and an hour and a half early in the afternoon session. It didn't help that it was GORGOUS out, and about 75 degrees. Taking that exam was the last place I wanted to be on such a beautiful day. But I'm glad I took it, and even more glad it's over! I'm fairly certain I passed. It takes 12 weeks to get the results back... so keep your fingers crossed!
Friday May 8th is Technogenesis(R) Research and Entrepreneurship Day at Stevens. Different departments present posters of the research they have been working on over the year. Also, several senior design projects are showcased as well. We have a poster we are presenting from the Center for Maritime Systems, discussing our project in Long Branch, NJ and our jetski surveying system. Below is the poster we presented at R&E Day in 2008!