Meeting Engineering Professionals

Networking is the proven way to get hired. Source: http://bit.ly/8up18u

Recently, I have been meeting quite a few professionals from engineering industry. It is mainly because I have more or less decided that I do not want to go graduate school immediately after graduation. Instead, I want to go into workforce and see what work is like, assess what field of work I like the best and then decide about graduate school. Imagine getting a degree in an engineering field such as Electrical, Mechanical or Chemical and not liking the work afterward. You will then be stuck up with that degree for the rest of your life.

In addition, it seems like I will be able to graduate with double degrees. A double degree is different than a double major. You can get a double degree if you major in a Bachelor of Science and also a Bachelor of Arts. In order to get a double degree, you need to have at least 159 credit hours. To give you a sense of what this number means, imagine taking a full load of 18 hours (the maximum allowed at Trinity) every semester for eight semesters. A quick math in your head should tell you that totals 144 hours, still 15 hours short of required 159. You would have to spend an extra semester just to get a double degree. That would be pretty stupid. Furthermore, if you study abroad during your college, you will probably not be able to transfer 18 hours. It could be a maximum of 16 hours. That will increase the deficit further. My solution is: using AP/Advanced Level credits that I received from high school. Still, obtaining a double degree is difficult without attending summer school. I have not and will not be attending summer school but it seems I may just be able to get a double degree if everything works perfectly.

What I intended to get across is that, my interests are diverse and I do not know yet which field I want to focus on for graduate school. A few years in workforce will hopefully give me some insights on what my future path should be.

Just a funny cartoon about why Engineering is cool. Source: http://bit.ly/1zsn34

Yesterday, I met civil, petroleum and mechanical engineers working at various companies or as consultants. I was surprised by how many engineers identified themselves as consultants. In order to be a consultant, you need to have an Engineering degree and then get a Professional Engineer license for which you have to have practice in the field for at least two years. They shared lots of stories about their first jobs, what they wish they knew on their first day at the first job and advice to students about how to network or look for a job. One thing I realized from the networking session is that, the proven way of obtaining a job is through networking. It is unlikely that you fill out an application, will get an interview and boom, get hired. It just doesn't happen that way. Instead, you know someone at the company, you send your resume, she forwards it to someone else and testifies how good of a person you are. You then get an interview and likely get selected.

So, lesson learned: start networking and start early.

Now even I am a Proud User of Ubuntu

I have embraced Open Source software with open arms. This began after reading Linus Torvald's "Just for Fun" where his appeal for supporting open source software was convincing (I think). I installed Ubuntu on my PC and this blog post was typed and published on a Linux platform.

Have I told you about my new passion for programming and learning more about computer software? I have started learning C++ and also Linux. Windows is all good but I need to learn Linux because it is open source and thus offers flexibility to its users. Plus I am one of those guys who believes in open source, individuality and dislikes corporate control over intellectual property or strict regulation of copyright laws. You got the point.

Anyway, I will share an interesting troubleshooting story with you. After installing Ubuntu, I wanted to use Opera browser instead of Firefox. Don't even mention Internet Explorer, that's for old generation people who still live in dark ages. Do you ever think why people still use hotmail and yahoo while Gmail is available and it's free? I guess they might be afraid of giving too much control to Google that will link their browsing history with Gmail content. Or maybe they are just indifferent. One of my friends suggested Opera and have been using it in conjunction to Chrome. I realized Flash videos didn't work with Opera on Ubuntu. I also have Opera on Windows 7 so I checked if flash worked. It did. Flash also worked with Firefox on Ubuntu. So Flash only didn't work with Opera on Ubuntu. What a niche, you might think. A fraction uses Ubuntu and out of that even a tiny fraction uses Opera. So, maybe no one cared to fix the bug.

I decided to fix this problem because I thought it would be a good practice to start learning Windows-Linux interoperability. This was certainly a start among several other incompatibility problems to pop-up in the future. I went online to seek a solution. Adobe forums did not have anything about it but Opera forum seemed to have a thread on this because other Opera users on Ubuntu platform seemed to have the problem too. The solutions were very geeky with detailed descriptions of using terminals to open directories, locate files and then moving files around. I tried this option but commands for displaying files in the directory did not work on my terminal. I could have been putting wrong commands. So, I tried to adopt the second route: locating system files and manually copying and pasting into plugin directory of Opera and Mozilla from Flash. Unfortunately, the system denied permission for me while trying to paste the required file into Opera and Mozilla plugin directories.

I did not know how to fix the problem. I was scratching my head. I mean dreadlocks. When I looked at the clock, it was 6:50 pm, and suddenly I realized that in ten minutes Coates (food cafetaria at Trinity) would be closed. I grabbed my Tiger card and ran out of room towards Coates. I made just in time but the guy at the grill certainly wasn't happy to see me. More work for him. After eating, I made my way to the room still thinking how to fix the problem. I opened up Opera again and loaded youtube site and magic- flash player started working. I laughed ecstatically sharing the joy with myself. Now I am sharing this joy with you all readers.

After reading this you might realize I am aiming to become a proper geek now. 

Trinity Engineering Science Program: A Mismatch

Spring Break has officially begun. I can't tell you how stressful this semester has been. I promised I would update this blog more frequently but Trinity's overly demanding Engineering professors are making it so much difficult for me to do anything besides coursework. I don't think this Trinity's Engineering degree will get me very far anyway. No company wants to hire Engineering Science students. They are always looking specifically Electrical/Mechanical/Computer/Chemical/Civil Engineering etc. Anyway, I'm stuck and I have to try get the best out of it.

I really want to take courses related to Energy and Environmental Engineering. The Engineering department offers only elective called "Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering" which I have already taken. And it's taught by Dr. Uddin who is amusing in class. I liked his teaching style but can't say I learnt a lot because he didn't push us hard enough. He has amazing lecture slideshows for the class and that was the best part. But the course covered a broad field in one semester and there was not much depth in any field. It was a general introduction course.

Currently I am taking Fluid Mechanics and Embedded Microcomputer Systems. I like latter one than the former. I absolutely dislike having to enroll in Fluid mechanics course. Unfortunately, it is mandatory. I sit in the class and none of the stuff excites me but instead enters my brain and exits at the same rate with zero retention rate. The professor is funny but cannot deliver the ideas properly. It is mandatory courses like these that make me feel I am in the wrong program. I have already completed seven semesters of Trinity Engineering. It would be immature to try to change major or transfer to another college. If I could do it all over again, I would probably try to be a Computer Science major. There is so much flexibility as a Comp Sci major. If course is not interesting, I could learn programming and take up projects on my own in my free time. Recently, I have developed this fetish for programming. I want to be a geek. Not that I was a Greek and want to take a U-turn. I was a semi-geek anyway, it's just I want to be a proper one now. Geeks have made it big and become famous. Take Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Linus Torvalds, Sergey Brin, Larry Page and numerous others for example.

Is it too late to become a geek now? I guess one cannot become a geek, one needs to be born as one. I am planning maybe I can get started with fundamentals of C-programming this Spring Break and take it from there. My inspiration arose from reading "Just for Fun" by Linus Torvalds, the guy who created the kernel for Linux Operating System. I stumbled upon this book quite randomly while perusing through book shelves at Trinity University. He is my icon from now, the one I can look up to in life besides others that I already adore and revere. Blame it on my laziness, I have not gotten started on learning programming yet. I have been still reading "Just for Fun", tweeting, watching TV and cricket among my other pastimes. Wish me good luck and send some encouragement my way.

I promise once I start learning programming and spend more time with my computer, I will update this blog more frequently.

Libyan Situation Creates Unrest

I write this with a troubled heart. Thousands of miles away in North African land, unarmed protestors are being gunned down from land and air simultaneously and this scenario has induced uneasiness inside me. You might ask what connection do I have with Libyans? Hundreds of Africans (thousands maybe) die every day of hunger, malnutrition, malaria, AIDS, civil war and other cultural and natural malaises so why does it matter suddenly when 300 Libyans have died in a matter of two weeks? This is a valid question.

To know my answer about why I as a Nepalese citizen living in the U.S. feel connected about Libyans, read “Nepal's Stalled Revolution” by Manjushree Thapa. He, a fellow Nepalese outlines what a Nepalese in general, thinks of Arabian revolutions going on around the world.

My trouble stems from the fact that I have been actively following reports of killings of protestors by mercenaries and armed men loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Twitter is flooded with such reports despite the internet and telecommunication blockade in Libya. Follow Andy Carvin on Twitter if you want to stay updated on situation in Libya. I feel powerless to witness violence on Al-Jazeera live yet not be able to act or even attempt to prevent it. Tolerating injustice is as heinous of a crime as committing one, don’t you agree?

How can we go about our daily routine pretending to be oblivious of the fact that freedom seeking fellow Homo Sapiens are being mercilessly terminated? You could call me a hypocrite too for not I haven’t attempted to launch a protest at my university let alone local town or resident country. I still go about studying in the library and completing assignments for this hectic Midterm week and stop to catch Al-Jazeera and Twitter updates only when convenient. In addition, sleep deprivation that I have subjected myself to in the last two weeks is not because of the alarming situation in the Middle East or Northern Africa but only because I have been trying to keep with my college work and do well on tests. I have been a passive participant in these revolutions.

You can again ask what good does a passive participant do than who chooses not to participate at all? My response is: review Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle.  In crude terms, it states that mere presence of observer affects the state of the object/subject being observed. In other words, a device attempting to measure velocity of a moving body alters its motion by bombarding it with photons, even though the change may be very small. You can never measure both the displacement and velocity of an object accurately without compromising the other. This is because the presence of measuring device makes a DIFFERENCE. My mere presence in this world and thinking about a situation makes a difference. Review Chaos theory where flutter of butterfly wings could cause a cyclone in the Atlantic. Metaphorically speaking, writing this post and putting my thoughts out there is my flutter of butterfly wings.

When a geek with an interest in international affairs (like me) tries to understand or interpret the situation, use of scientific theories to understand and model the problem should be expected. My request to all of you reading this is: Do what you can. Tweet about your thoughts, update your Facebook status about Libyan situation or send your thoughts to media. Train to be an assassin to kill Gaddafi, if you have to. But don’t be indifferent. (Actually I was kidding about assassin training. Do that in your free time.) Flutter your wings because we are all connected with invisible strings (my version of string theory) floating in this matrix with solid space to step on that we call Mother Earth. Your little flutter will create force strong enough to cause a dramatic impact in a place thousands of miles away across the Atlantic. Act now.

P.S. 300 deaths have already been confirmed and Italy fears the actual number could be around 1000. Crude oil prices have peaked since recession due to situation in Libya. We can't just ignore it and go about our daily routine anymore.

Revolutions in Arabian World and Trinity

What a way to write my 200th post. There couldn't have been a better time. The Arab world has woken up and have led revolutions for democracy. This will certainly add new chapters in political science books in trying to define democracy and how a revolution is waged. It's no longer waged by elites or opposition parties. A new model has come into place where youths with little or no prior political experience are using social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Google to launch organized demonstrations. Who would have thought that the internet could have been used this way? I am very excited about what has happened in Tunisia and Egypt and is still happening in Bahrain, Yemen and Libya yet saddened to hear about Gaddafi's monstrous atrocities. How can anyone order its security forces to open fire on its own people? Did the world not already make it clear that we don't want any Hitlers no more?

If I were in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Egypt, China or Iran, I could have blogged about the mass protests and situation on ground. Fortunately, I am in the U.S. shielded from violence and influence of repressive regimes writing this in the cozy air conditioned "dorms like palaces" of Trinity University. What a contrast!

Talking about stories on campus, I am glad to see the improvement in the Trinitonian's quality of articles. Also, Dr. Ahlburg has set aside some time from his busy schedule to hold Open Door Hours to talk to students and faculty. What a positive gesture by the University President, will serve him good at a time when the Trinitonian published a story chronicling his criticism in a review by Leeds Business School of Colorado. Someone had sent me that review several months ago in comment section on my blog. I thought it still reflected positively on Dr. Ahlburg since he seemed to care more for undergraduates than graduates or faculty, according to the review. 

Another story in the Trinitonian was bashing the ASR for missing the deadline to send a proposal for student activity fee increase. ASR is finally getting a lot of attention on campus, not for good reasons this time though. ASR is facing a tough time in allocating resources properly. Maybe it can start by cutting back on funding for the Trinitonian. The Trinitonian probably receives the biggest chunk of the Student Activity Fee and the difference between what it asked for and what it received last year was the least for it compared to other organizations. It can certainly survive by increasing its advertisement and doing better marketing. Besides, there are always piles of unread Trinitonians in Coates, Mabee, Chapman, MMS and almost everywhere until Thursday. It can try to be wiser by printing only the amount that is demanded. Simple economics. Plus it will also add to our goal of trying to be green. Why print more than is read? 

Btw, I am planning to apply to work as a photographer for the Trinitonian. So, please Trinitonian staff, don't read this post. If you do, don't make it count against me because this is just an unbiased opinion of an anonymous author who does not want to be associated with his real name for anything expressed here.

Will write more about both external and internal revolutions in the coming days. Take lite!