Monday, January 31, 2011

Eagle Alerts

Quick! A Volcano just erupted outside of UNT and the lava and ash are overcoming the school campus within the hour!! Oh no! But I also have an exam in MATH in 45 minutes what do I do!??

*BZZ BZZ*

What's this?

Why, it's a message from our friends. Eagle Alert is a campus wide alert system that the school uses in order to communicate with students in the event of an emergency. As seen in the screen shot above, classes are canceled tomorrow here at UNT because of inclement weather!! Now that Volcano threatening my ability to take my exam effectively and on time is no longer an issue, since all my classes for today are canceled and I can run for my life!!

Actually for real, it's raining right now and only getting colder. Forecast for tomorrow is snow! It was just 70 degrees on Saturday, and now it's freezing. Thank you, Texas weather, for being so unpredictable.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Electrical Engineering Department

This is the Third in a 5 part blog post series about every single department we have at Discovery Park.

UNT's College of Engineering at Discovery Park has 5 departments, each significantly different from the other, but with a few similarities.

  1. Materials Science and Engineering
  2. Computer Science and Engineering
  3. Electrical Engineering
  4. Engineering Technology
  5. Mechanical and Energy Engineering


As the name implies, Electrical Engineering has everything to do with electricity. Elements of Physics and Chemistry are also applied in this field, as well as computer science, digital logic, mathematics, and even Understanding the Human Community. OK so that one is just thrown in there by the University as a requirement to graduate, but it's all part of a well rounded education I guess. An EE Degree plan has you sitting at about 15 hours per semester. In case you're not familiar with semester hours, here's a brief summary - each class you take represents a certain number of hours. 12 hours of classes in one semester is considered full time. I believe 19 hours is the max any student is allowed to take. Most classes are three hours - that is - you'll be spending about 3 hours in that class every week, not including homework time. A Physics class though, for example, is 4 hours - 1 extra hour for the lab.

Look at how much fun they're having!!!

Anyway, with a degree in EE, you could find yourself working at any minor or major engineering firm, tech company, design company, the government, work in electronic systems in computers, household appliances, televisions, communications equipment, automobiles, airplanes, missiles, sub munitions, satellites and even space shuttles. Electrical Engineers are the guys who gave us calculators, wireless internet, cell phones, (HD/3D)TVs, etc. This requires understanding of electronic circuits, measurement systems, digital and analog signal processing, control systems, computer-aided design, microprocessors, video and image processing, and wireless communication (Source). Master's degrees are also highly encouraged.

So come out here and get your EE degree. The EE department is ABET accredited, by the way, so you can legally call yourself a full on Engineer. That title is reserved by law for only those who deserve it!

Also, in case you need any more encouragement, EEs make anywhere from 82-$160K a year. And your job prospects are great too! Worried about the economy? Don't be, in Electrical Engineering.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Overrides

What is an override? Up until last week I hadn't really heard of the term.

An override is the process in which upperclassmen can go through in order to be enrolled into a certain class, with said class being full. It is the process that will be going on in many departments this week as Juniors and Seniors such as myself are desperate to graduate on time, and will do anything to get enrolled in their class. So if you've read my previous post, you'll know I've been shoved out of my Physics class due to a fantastic mistake on my part. Now I'm doing anything it takes to get enrolled in the class. Otherwise I'll be faced with an 8 hour semester, which does no favors for my financial aid possibilities, and I'll be here at UNT for a whole extra semester *Queue dramatic horror music!!!!*

I mean I'll be in college a tad longer. ;)


*Update - as of 1/18, I've officially been enrolled into PHYS. Thank goodness. Needless to say, the lecture hall today was pretty packed. Glad all that's behind me now. Now I have tons of work ahead of me though. Can't say I didn't sign up for this.

Friday, January 14, 2011

And so it begins... again

Classes start Tuesday. In case you haven't already, you better sign up for those classes you need. I've signed up for almost everything I need. I can't believe this. Words of wisdom: Putting a class in your shopping cart does not reserve that spot in that class for you. You then need to continue through the rest of the process directly short of paying for the class. I made the fantastic mistake of assuming my spots in those classes were held when I added the classes to my "cart". A month later I get back on to sign up for my one last remaining class that I hadn't decided on what it should be, and low and behold my classes were filled. Wow do I feel stupid.

It's all part of the learning experience I guess

Maybe I can still wedge my way into this physics class...

In case you were wondering, my break went well, with the absence of posts here as evidence. Here's a picture of me in New York:

My brother, 25, on the left. Me on the right

Night time snowmobiling. Now there's something that will really get your heart racing, and
really get you thinking about your will and funeral arrangements. I also went snowboarding, equally as hard, equally as fun. I like my freezing cold weather in moderation, though, thank you very much. I just can't wait for 40 degree days again... that is 105 degree Fahrenheit days mind you ;)