F-I-J-I

What does that spell!?!


FIJI!

So folks. Great news today.  I have the first 2-3 weeks of Summer 2012 planned out.
Making biodiesel from coconuts for the people in Fiji.


Beaches, engineering, coconuts, service, credit applied to graduation, friends, travel....all rolled up into one burrito.

Stay around for the updates, coming Fall 2011/Winter 2012 when I start working on my project.  click here to learn some more.

Later days!

RUNNIN' ON AIR

You cannot tell me that isn't cool.
Me and my team members machined each part of that sucker by hand.
I freaking love my major.


And I heart my little v1 engine.

WHAT I LEARNED FROM MY FIELD TRIP TO THE MRI

I was hatin' today, no lie. Crappy differential equations test with crappy transformations, crappy 5 page political science paper, just crappy crap.

Oh, and I was going to have to sit it a frickin' tube for a solid 45 minutes without wiggling.  Just swell.


But oh, how my attitude changed when I saw that sexy machine.
"Whoooaaaaa. Tell me how this WORKS!"

I said to the MRI technician.


I was very pleased with his answer--usually techs don't really know what is happening. They just 'press the buttons'.

He proceeded to explain the mechanisms of the giant current-carrying coil that produced a whopping 2.0 tesla magnet. (That is HUGE, by the way.)  Then he explained that tissue, bone, and fat all have different natural frequencies, and by getting them to emit energy, the computer can use a Fourier transform to turn the readings into 2-D, and even 3-D images.


I suddenly had a new motivation to study for my differential equations test--I could potentially save lives with those blasted transformations that I have cursed to the high heavens over the past semester.


Huh, this day was turning out to be pretty cool.



I contently sat in the tube 
and listened to the various calming frequencies and blissful clankings of the current through the coil,
pondering the sheer genius of the invention,
and hoping that someday,
I could come up with something like this, too.

A FOLK-ISH TUNE

Just lovin' this song. The simple vocal harmonies are superb.

The Boy Down The Street introduced me to it. He knows me all too well.

Oh P.S.--So you know how lots of girls burn their necks with their curling iron?

Well, I burn mine while welding. Because, well, ya know....I'm different like that.

I have a sunburn mark on my neck from where my lab coat doesn't cover.

SUMMER AT 5280'

I'm going to be living a mile high this summer
I'm going to Denver in June.
(Sort of)
Actually, a west suburb of Denver called "Golden"
In a net-zero energy facility
Researching, well, energy.
Or more precisely:
Turning alcohols into hydrocarbons.

SUMMER 2011=GOLDEN

Haha. Cool, huh?

I'm pretty stoked.

THE ENGINEER, NURSE, AND MUSICIAN

How do these three occupations support one another? Please read the following morbidly-true-story-conversation to find out how.

Future Engineer:
"I better go and study so I don't make a fatal error someday and blow up hundreds of people--like designing a jet engine out of magnesium. (magnesium is extremely flammable, people) HEY! I'll just send 'em to YOU! (referring to the Future Nurse below...)"






Future Nurse: 
"Well looking at my quiz scores today in my nursing classes...I'll probably end up killing all of the wounded passengers instead of saving their lives."











Future Musician: 
"And I'll play taps on my trumpet at the passengers' funeral. "








{Silence.}


Future Musician: No, seriously.  Please don't study.  I need job security.

I HAVE A FUTURE, I SWEAR

A rundown of my week so far:

Studied a whopping grand total of 14 hours for my econ test, and I bust out a C on the final.

I am a smart and capable woman.

Procrastinated studying for linear algebra by peeling my pomegranate.  When my roommate got home, she asked what the purple spots were on our ceiling.

I am a smart and capable woman.

Ok. Bragging time. Studied a mere 6 hours for my mechanics of materials test and walked out with 100%.  Yet another living testimony that I shouldn't be an econ major and should stick to engineering.

I am a smart and capable woman.


{No sarcasm that time}

Procrastinated some more (honestly, this is my week. Procrastinate. Take Test. Rinse. Lather. Repeat.) by microwaving popcorn for my personal consumption.  It was also a celebratory measure taken in behalf of my mechanics test score. Score = 100, in case you forgot. Anyways, you know how you can elevate the package with an inverted bowl to maximize the poppage capacity?

Uh, yeah.

Whoops.

I am a smart and capable woman.

*Tupperware failure was due to the fact that I neglected to calculate the maximum temperature of the popcorn bag and compare it to the minimum melting temperature of standard soft plastic before popping.  You would think that after  - ahem - *ACING* my mechanics materials test (oh, did I mention that already??)  I would have applied my fountain of knowledge to real life.

IT'S NOT YOU, IT'S ME

A few months ago I, rather dramatically, dedicated a post to my new bf of the semester: my major.

Haha. Now, I laugh.

"Trading men for matrices and flirting for free body diagrams" ? 

Try: Traded Studying for Spencer.

And after being force fed hundreds of equations and still having outputs of "C" on my tests, I think it is time for us to take a break.

I am here this afternoon to publicly denounce that title of boyfriend.
Especially with two weeks left in the semester.

Mechanical Engi....who? 

I dropped him like he's hot.*  

 It's ok, I applied for all my scholarships this week so I could use my good GPA before it TANKS after finals.




*Don't freak.
I'm not changing my major.

SHOW AND TELL

This is
my lucky
 t-shirt:

in all of its glory.

WE change your world

 @ BYU.

Women in Engineering &Technology

The shirt speaks for itself.

Ok, but maybe I'll just add a few comments.

Maybe I feel kinda smart when I wear this.

Maybe I feel elite.

Maybe it brings extra confidence

Maybe I score higher on tests with it on.

On that last one: yeah right. Ha ha.

And when I see another girl that has this shirt on campus it automatically makes her my new best friend.

"Hey!  A geek like me! 

Wanna hear a calculus joke?"

REJECTION

I am really good at saying no

when a boy, whom I am not interested in, asks me out 

when someone asks me if I like children

when someone tells me I should be a music major

when a guy wants to discuss politics on a date

And when the U.S. Navy asks me to fix their ships for them.

STICK IT TO THE MAN. 

*fist bump*

Yup.  The "top secret" internships didn't come in like I had hoped.  But a hard-hat-on-head and hammer-in-hand engineering job came up.  Can you picture a girl like me {for you strangers: blonde girl in a pencil skirt with stilettos} out in a naval ship yard maintaining ships?






Yeah. That's what I thought.

Before everyone gets the wrong idea, I was flattered by the offer, but don't think I would be very useful with a wrench.  I am more of a design/analysis/number crunching type person, ya know... or a....Ok fine. Nerd.

There. I said it.

ExxonMobil looks appealing to me.  Consider this: Last summer I was a part of a climate study and researched global warming.

 If things go my way, next summer I might be creating global warming and destroying the earth with drilling.

Again, stick it to the man.

DREAM INTERNSHIP

So, the STEM [science, technology, engineering, and math] career fair is this week and I am pretty stoked.

Boeing.

Lockheed Martin.

Northrop Grumman.

Pretty much the top dogs in the aeronautic industry will be there.

I even bought a cute blazer to wear with my slacks and heels.  I'll look sharp.
And so will my resume.


The best part is researching the companies so I will be able to conversation-alize with the reps.

GUESS WHAT I FOUND OUT??

Most internships I am looking at require security clearances--

TOP SECRET ones.

I thought they only used that term in cartoons and movies.  

Oh no. 

I could be working on a confidential project this summer.

For the U.S. Government.  

I hope I get a "top secret" internship. 

WAY cool.

FAIL/WIN

8:00

EXPECTATION: Woke up at 7:00 a.m. and skipped breakfast in order to turn in my homework before class started at 8:00.

REALITY: My hair looked great, but I missed the first half of the 3 minute pop quiz in class. That's ok--not like I knew how to solve the problem anyways...

Fail.

9:00

EXPECTATION: I understood all that was presented in the math review for my physics class.

REALITY: I forgot my iClicker, thus forfeiting another quiz score, when I actually knew the answers this time.

Fail.

10:00

EXPECTATION: Well, following the pattern of my morning, not much.

REALITY:  Answered the multi-step matrix problem (with no algebra errors in over 12 steps!!) on the board in front of the whole class. And got a compliment from my professor.

Fail.

WIN!

{Glad you showed up today, Luck. You slept in on me.}

UPDATING MY RELATIONSHIP STATUS:

Mechanical engineering is my boyfriend.

This decision was made rather quickly after seeing the syllabuses (syllabi? What is the correct plural form of "syllabus"?) in my engineering classes today.

I have no time for romances

To get emotionally tied down

Or to even have a social life

For that matter.

I will be trading: 

     dates for derivatives

            men for matrices

                 guys for graphing calculators

                      & flirting for free body diagrams

          

Here, I dedicate my semester to you, my dear Major of Engineering.

My 

time

energy

blood

sweat 

tears

mind

heart

& soul.

My life.

BRAGGING RIGHTS

Sorry, I just have to spill my happy secrets today.

Two of 'em.

Ready?

1. I might get to be a co-author on this biology research paper that I have been assisting my professor on all summer.

Yes, I will attach my name-Me. Sarah- To an actual piece of science. For better or worse (concerning my reputation in academia).

2. I secured a possible engineering internship (I say "possible" because I haven't committed yet) with a company that makes devices for biology research.

 Yes, this was a connection from my summer job.  The vice president was impressed when I wired the data loggers correctly.

Maybe this is why I am not ready to go back to school--my brain has been thinking and reasoning at maximum capacity during the past three months.  I need to...veg out...or something.

Two cheers for Sarah's academic success this summer.
Ooof. "Academic" and "summer" should not be in the same sentence...

SO...I GOT GLASSES

Me.

Sarah.

In the lab. 

With my spiffy lab coat.

With my new specs.

I think people will take me a little more seriously now.  I have to admit I have been blown off a few times in the Clyde/Widtsoe building and in my engineering classes.

Probably, it is because of my blonde hair.

And the fact that I wear a skirt every day and high heels every other.

Oh yeah, and I am a woman.  

[A rare species in the Clyde building.]

CLAP FOR SARAH

Have you ever played the game BANANAGRAMS?

It is like scrabble on steroids.

So, since my job requires me to live in a cabin seven miles up a canyon with little connection to society, I have to come up with things to do.  That is why I played Bananagrams. By myself.

No really though, it was a huge accomplishment.  I am good with numbers. Not words.  It took me a while to use up every letter tile.

Ok. Almost.

P.S. Notice which two letters just happen to be leftover! Jordan and Sarah!!! ---I promise I didn't plan that. Honest.

I like to call this "mechanical engineering style."  {I don't get it, but people are always worried when I take something apart, put it back together, and have a few leftover screws or bolts.}  C'mon people, if it still runs properly and stays together, I simply made it more efficient.

So there is the story of "mechanical engineering style" Bananagrams.

Except, I have to play like that by myself, because no one understands the great genius mastermind behind my rules.

Oh the solitary life of an engineer...

GOODBYE MATERIAL SCIENCE

So I took my material science final exam.   It was....ok...

I had to decipher my professor's questions sometimes- they were a bit vague-but all in all I think it went pretty smoothly.

If "smoothly" means deriving your own equations because you forgot them
[be true to your units, people! It saved my hiney!!]
and making up baloney about how to make a polymer more ductile
and trying to come up with the perfect material for an ice pick off of the top of your head.

I chose diamond.  

(It was the only thing I could think of that had the hardness I was looking for, would be eco-friendly, and doesn't corrode.  I usually google these things, so I was having a really hard time coming up with a material.)

Don't tell me that a diamond ice pick is ridiculous-- because price was not one of the things I had to consider!  {Haha Jordan, the econ side of me lost!}  I thought I was being pretty creative, actually.  Hey, my first thought was carbon nanotubes...

Diamond ice pick. Ha.

Well, even with the mediocre final, I got to sell back my textbook for a whopping $82!

{And no, I don't need the thing for reference, I google my material requirements, remember?? Doesn't that make you feel comfortable about today's engineers who are designing your bridges, dams, airplanes, and prosthetic limbs?? Wikipedia, baby.} 

I felt good about life after that.  Goodbye material science.

WHEN I GROW UP...

ya know....I want to start up SNASA:

Sarah's

National

Aeronautic &

Space

Administration.

{This is after I goof off on the TV show MythBusters for a few seasons}

But knowing the government, they will probably shut down my SNASA program, so I'll have to settle at some huge aircraft company, like Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman, where I WILL REVOLUTIONIZE THE AIRPLANE INDUSTRY.

{I have changed my mind on Boeing--I am a very punctual person and I wouldn't be able to handle working for a company that is totally a year behind schedule on the new 787 Dreamliner}

Then I will retire. I will enjoy the best things in life. Like fixing my children's battery operated toys as well as the dishwasher on occasion.

{While other mothers throw away the dead walkie talkies, I will be breaking into the circuit boards}

This is all before the age of 27.

DEAR JORDAN

So remember when my professor gave me a whole package of Now and Later candy in my engineering class, because I was the only person in my class who went on a date last weekend?

(Some engineers need incentives--I obviously don't...)

I know I promised that I would give you half of the candy, because it was all because of you that I won the candy...

But I am in the library right now, and I doing some excellent procrastination {among other things school-related} and I am very hungry. And I can't focus.

Just know that the candy went to good use.

Love,

Sarah

P.S. You are right-the strawberry ones are the best :)

WHY YOUR PAPER CLIP DOESN'T STRAIGHTEN PROPERLY

Have you ever unbent a paper clip and tried to get all of the little kinks out? It doesn't work. This has irked me for ages.

So I know you are DYING to find out why.....

I learned today in a materials science lab that when a metal is deformed, (flattening, folding, bending, hammering, steam roller-ing, jack hammer-ing, anvil smashing, sumo wrestling, karate chopping, alien laser beaming, neutron star colliding. You know, every day things.) the metal actually becomes stronger.

Yes, stronger. {Bear with me, this is a little counterintuitive.}

So when you unbend your paper clip and try with all of the strength in your human hands to straighten out those annoying curves and zizags, you are actually making it harder on yourself. Recall that "bending" falls under the category of metal deformation- thus hardening the material.

Now, things in this world are never free...

You always must pay a price. Same with this metal-deformation-hardening technique. (FYI: The engineering term is "cold work") So when you harden the material you give up ductility, or the flexible nature of the metal. It snaps easier. That is why the paper clip breaks if you bend it back and forth too many times.

Interesting, eh?