Back at Olin

Being back at Olin is still a little weird. I'm living in a different dorm, and most of my friends have already gone through that adjustment. I'm in a double instead of having a large room to myself in a three person flat. I don't know a quarter of the school. (On the first day of one of my classes, the professor had us all introduce ourselves because "There's always that one junior who doesn't know the first years," and the other non-first-years pointed at me.) I'm not taking a math class, and I am taking four engineering classes. Olin culture is very different from BSM culture, and the Needham/Wellesley line is decidedly not Budapest. It's a lot to get used to, but it's been great to see people again, and I'm starting to settle in. Here's what I'm up to as far as academics this semester:


MechSolids - Mechanics of Solids and Structures, otherwise known as "how to build a bridge." This is a mechanical engineering requirement, and the focus is on statics. (Oliners tend to take dynamics before statics. This is very unusual. I'm not really sure why Olin does things this way.) The professor for the class is Chris Lee, who was my Dynamics professor, so I'm used to how he runs class. The format of MechSolids is pretty similar to the format of Dynamics, though the course won't be nearly so time-consuming. I feel like I know what to expect from this class, and I'm not worried about it at all.

MechAero - Mechanical and Aerospace Systems, which seems like it will focus on ornithopters (aircraft that flap their wings). I'm taking this class as my mechE elective. Since I like fluids, something involving aerodynamics seemed like a good elective choice. Chris Lee is also teaching this class, though it's very different from MechSolids. We're going to end up in teams building ornithopters, and so on the first day of class Chris gave us a bunch of ornithopter toys to fly, study, and take apart. (My team beheaded and removed the wings from one toy, and we've started modifying the wings of another.) Jumping right in to messing with physical systems and starting to talk about what mechanisms we'd like to use was a little intimidating, but I really like that we're starting from what's already out there.

MatSci - Materials Science. Okay, this is technically a science class, not an engineering class, but most universities put MatSci in their engineering college. MatSci or a chem class is a graduation requirement, and most people take MatSci because it's more relevant (and because Olin currently doesn't have a chem prof). The professor for this class is Rebecca Christianson, who was one of my profs for ModCon and RWM. The class is project-based, and within our project teams we even determine what readings and homework problems we do. It will be interesting to see how it goes, but learning how to use a lot of the machinery in the lab should be fun!

PoE - Principles of Engineering is a graduation requirement, and it's basically an introduction to mechatronics. Siddhartan, the professor, described it as integrating all the types of engineering that are really done at Olin (with the potential exception of bioE). PoE starts off with a few labs, but two thirds of the class will be spent on a major project. I was really nervous about PoE going in, but the intro lab and the first lab are pretty straightforward, so I'm less nervous now.

Research - I'm doing graph theory research again, and I'm so happy to be back. We had our first group meeting on Wednesday, and it felt so natural to just slip back in and talk about potential directions. We might be doing some different things this semester, which would be interesting! Jacques graduated, but there's a new student in the group, Joseph, who was on my UOCD team last spring.

PDEs NINJAing - I really missed being a NINJA. I held my first PDEs office hours on Thursday night, and they went longer than I expected, but they were a lot of fun. Most of the students are mechEs taking it as their advanced math requirement, but there are a few people who placed out of Linearity, some who just like math, and a surprising number of cross-registered students.

Linearity I NINJAing - This is the fourth time Linearity has been run, and this is the fourth time it has essentially been new. NINJAing this class is always an adventure. This year's adventure involves holding the class on the Dining Hall Mezzanine. Also, there are fourteen NINJAs. We'll see how it goes.