Monthly Archives: June 2013

Artist? Architect? Aerospace Engineer!

Posted on by
Reply

Hey Everybody,
As promised, the following entry will be about the Dual Degree Program: how I became interested, details and benefits of the program, and the application and preparation process.

First things first, let me say that I decided on a career much earlier than most of my peers. Even now, at age 20, some of them are not 100 percent sure of what they would like to do in the future. When I was about 14 years old, my teacher assigned my class a research paper about an occupation we were interested in. I ran through various careers I was intrigued by when I was younger, artist, architect, and oceanographer, but eventually decided that the topic of my paper should be aerospace engineering.

I came up with the idea while watching Star Trek with my family one evening-super inventive of me, I know. I was fascinated with how the engineers knew the ins and outs of every piece of equipment on Enterprise. They could push the engines to go faster than ever before, improvise a communication device, and were able to repair every system on the ship. They were intelligent, inventive, and an integral part of the crew. I also loved how Enterprise traveled to other worlds and met different species and were able to communicate successfully and learn about their culture. I saw aerospace engineering as the perfect way to learn about all the engineering disciplines while being able to travel and work with people from other countries.

Since that revelation, I have done everything I could to make that dream a reality. During high school, I took advanced classes in math, science, and English. I also participated in a robotics club that went to a state competition for two years. I knew that these areas of my education needed to be strong in order for me to become a good applicant for top colleges. In addition, I also learned that the European Space Agency had headquarters in Paris, France. I thought that the ESA would be more likely to hire somebody who had studied French to help with the language barrier. As a result, I studied French for three years and traveled to the country during my senior year of high school. When I came to Embry-Riddle my freshman year, I sought out the Study Abroad table during the student activities fair to see what programs were offered. My favorite program by far was the Dual Degree Program.

The Dual Degree Program is an agreement that Embry-Riddle has with EPF, a well-known school in France, where students are able to earn degrees from both schools. The idea is that aerospace engineering students who participate in the program, which starts in their junior year, will be able to earn at least a Bachelor’s Degree from ERAU and a diplôme, a diploma, from EPF. Schooling at EPF starts during junior year with students returning to ERAU during their senior year to complete their Bachelor’s Degree. Then students travel back to France for their “Fin d’Etudes” or end of studies. From there, students have the option to either receive an internship through EPF or return to ERAU for their Master’s Degree.

Since all the classes taught by EPF will be in French, students will become bilingual and fully immersed in French and European culture. It is thought that bilingual individuals will be more likely to be hired due to globalization of the aerospace industry and international companies who have offices in both the United States and in other countries overseas. Furthermore, because both schools have a different approach to learning and teaching, students will have versatile problem-solving skills and be better equipped for engineering jobs. Essentially, the Dual Degrees allows students to earn two degrees that will be both recognized in the United States and in other countries while living in a foreign country, learning a new language, and becoming fully immersed in a new culture. Naturally, the minute I learned about this program, I was ecstatic and could not apply soon enough.
Eligibility requirements for the Dual Degree Program as stated on the main website, located here, are:
• Have sophomore status, complete all Freshman and Sophomore courses listed in the catalog for you degree program, and a CGPA of at least 3.0 at the time of application
• Write a one-page essay in French describing out the program will help you to achieve your goals
• A preferred completion of HU153 French II or be able to demonstrate proficiency in French

The application for the Dual Degree Program is located here and is due during the third week in February. The list of documents required for the application process is:
• The application itself-it asks for a lot of basic information as well as scholarships received, extracurricular activities, practical experience, advisor consent, liability forms, etc.
• A sealed copy of official transcripts-these can be obtained from Records and Registration located above the Departure Lounge near the Mailroom of the Student Center.

The door to the Departure Lounge, taken during summer 2012

• Two letters of recommendation, one must be from a past or current professor
• A one page, double spaced essay in English describing why you would like to study abroad and what you expect to gain from this experience
• Two passport sized photos-you can get these at Walgreens, located just off Beville Road
• A copy of your most recent passport-it must be valid for at least six months after you return to the U.S., if you do not have one, information about passports can be found here.
• A résumé in French-also known as a CV, please not that this is not simply a regular résumé translated into French. A CV has different content and a different layout than a résumé.
• One page, double spaced essay in French describing why you would like to participate in the Dual Degree Program
• An EPF Program of Studies Form-essentially how ERAU requirements are filled by EPF’s courses

The most recent Program of Studies form, as of summer 2013.

• A copy of your travel itinerary-due no later than one month prior to departure

One of the best ways to make sure that your application contains French that is grammatically correct is to ask a friend who knows the language to look over your application. I was fortunate to have a friend, Bryan, who actually grew up in France and was kind enough to help me with my application. Even though I took three years of French in high school, my skills were very rusty and I had to look up a lot of the vocabulary words on a website called, wordreference.com, which works much better than Google Translate.

My friend, Bryan, helped me with the French portions of my application. In this picture, he is wearing his Halloween costume.

Once student have been accepted by the Study Abroad Office at ERAU, they must apply to the summer language intensive program held by EPF, information about the program is here. The Programme enables students to learn French before they take regular classes during the school year. In addition to learning vocabulary and grammar, students are also introduced to French culture and are given ample time to explore Paris and the surrounding areas.

While students are applying to the Programme, they also need to apply for a long-term student visa. Information about long stay visas can be found here on the French Consulate in Miami’s website. Unfortunately, in order to apply for a French visa, students need to physically visit the consulate in Miami. Luckily, I was able to drive there last week with friends, so we made the day of it and visited the beach and saw the sights.

Miami Beach, taken by Courtney Hough, June 2013.

All that is left for me is the waiting game. I should receive my student long-term visa later this week. In between packing and getting all the logistics figured out, I have been practicing French. I have been using a program called Mango Languages. Embry-Riddle provides this program on ERNIE. Probably one of the most helpful parts of the program is that every word and part of speech is color coded to match the English translation. In addition, as each word is highlighted, a box pops up with how to pronounce each word phonetically. The program can get repetitive, but it’s supposed to in order to maximum retention of words. Mostly, I am using Mango for review and am on lesson 41. It is my goal to finish the entire program before leaving for France on June 26.

Until Next Time,
Brenna

Summertime Slipstream.

Posted on by
Reply

Sporting Plus One Flyers

This summer has been an awesome one so far. Catching up on sun rays, getting some flying in and working has been on the schedule lately… but mostly flying! I’ve been flying the C172/180hp and the Citabria 7GCAA and 7ECA. I think I’m addicted to tailwheels, but I’m completely OK with that. The airport has been quiet lately! Weather has not been CAVU (Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited), but luckily it’s been staying pretty warm here in San Diego.

Another side note to me.. in case some of you didn’t know, modeling is my other life. I started modeling when I was about 15 and have been doing it ever since. I can’t do as much when I am away at school, so during breaks it’s all I am doing. It’s definitely a fresh of breath air away from the college life. I get to work with all different kinds of incredible people, do awesome things, go to unique places (kind of like aviation, huh?)… and well, I love every part of it.

Modeling for my sponsor Scheyden Precision Eyewear

So, what’s going on this week?

Well, besides yoga and getting some sun, I’ll be up in Los Angeles for a few photo shoots and will be flying later on in the week. I’m loving this flying club and all it’s benefits, so if you’re already a pilot and not sure whether or not you should go to your local flight school as apposed to a flying club- join a club. The benefits and privileges outweigh any local flight school. For real. It took me about three and a half years to realize that. If you want to learn more, you can email me at GIANNOTW@MY.ERAU.EDU. I’m loving this huge airplane selection I now have! Especially, well, when I can get my hands on a few tailwheels.. you could say I am a bit spoiled. 🙂

Scheyden flight luggage in front of the Cub with Ben, a fellow ERAU graduate!

Short but sweet today, I have a huge week ahead of me.

 Keep squawking the blog!

Blue Skies

  ✈

The Real World

Posted on by
Reply

I board my flight to San Francisco. Just a couple more days until Washington State!
I decided to spend a few days with my family since I won’t be seeing them all summer. My days are spent shopping for business clothes and catching up with everyone. That same Sunday, I say goodbye to my family and dog Bentley, and leave on an 11-hour road trip with my dad on my little two-seater Smart Car (if you haven’t seen them…well they’re smaller than a Fiat!).

Me and Bentley

Within just a couple of hours, I’m amazed at how quickly the scenery changes as you drive north. This is definitely nothing like Florida! Mountains everywhere, the grass goes from a dry mustard color to the evergreen landscape the Northwest is known for. We trek what’s left of California, and venture into Oregon, where we stop for the night in a small town. Bright and early next morning, we make the final stretch to Washington State!

We’re not in Florida anymore!

At this point, I’m getting nervous. I’ve never really been out by myself. Even at ERAU, I know I always have people there for me, whether it’s friends or faculty. But now I’m out in the real world.

Home of the 777, 747, 787 and the Dreamlifter

But at last, we make it to Everett, home of the 777s, 747s and 787s. My dad and I decided to take a little tour of the Boeing factory. I wish I had pictures…but Boeing is very strict on their no photography policy. After all, wouldn’t want Airbus stealing the designs! 😉 Anywho, we made our way into the Fantasy of Flight center, where the tours begin. We then saw a short video on the history of The Boeing Company, and we were escorted into the factory. From the observation deck, you could see the assembly line. Apparently, Boeing is popping out one of these beauties every few days! And down at the Renton factory, 38 new 737s make their way out the hangar doors every month. The Dreamlifter is sitting on the runway, along all the other aircraft awaiting delivery. I couldn’t believe that in a few days, I would become part of this family!

Fantasy of Flight

We’re here!

That Friday, my first official day, all of the interns and new hires made their way into the Seattle facility for orientation, where we got our badges (!!) and were schooled into the ethics, cultures, and everything Boeing. We had a few tours here and there, but Monday was when the true adventure started!

That same day, I got an email from my manager giving me my reporting instructions, and information on my lead engineer. It turns out he is an ERAU graduate from the Daytona Campus! Instant connection, I tell you. It’s great to see fellow Eagles out in the industry working where you want to end up some day. Repping the blue and gold, I tell ya! But to hear about what’s been going on since…you will have to wait until next time!

Boeing here I come!

Posted on by
Reply

Hey everybody! Remember me? Well it’s been quite a long time since I last wrote a blog. When I first started doing this, I was just starting out at Embry-Riddle. Now I’m a senior!! Can’t believe how fast the time goes by when you’re working towards your passion in life.

Boeing here I come!

Not much has changed in my life. I’m still an Aerospace Engineering major with a concentration in astronautics. Except this summer, I’m here in Washington State at an internship with The Boeing Company!

Now, before I start saying anything about my job, I would just like to say one thing: you don’t know the power a good university like Embry-Riddle carries until you get out in the industry. You see, I didn’t get my internship through Embry-Riddle (although our Career Services Office does an AMAZING job at getting students jobs/internships!!). Last year, in October, I went to a Hispanics in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) conference in Orlando called HENAAC. For those of you who have previously read my blog…yes it was at Disney. Anywho, this is a huge conference where big named companies go and celebrate diversity in the field. And by big names, I mean people like Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Chevron. Did I mention this isn’t an aviation conference? Yeah, great shot for us aviation geeks at getting a job 😉

On the first day of the conference, the main sponsors held hospitality suites with food (lots of it!) and recruiters and managers (hiring people!). I was one of the first ones lined up to go talk to a recruiter I had met earlier. I handed him my my resume, he looked it over, and referred me to a manager that had literally just walked in. Mind you I was standing next to students from other really good Universities like MIT, GTech, Purdue. However, when that manager saw the ERAU name on my resume, he just looked at me and said “OH! Embry-Riddle! Very good school!” I was surprised, honestly! Our University has a huge name and a very good reputation in the industry. I found out Boeing hires hundreds of ERAU students every year as interns (don’t quote me exactly on that number). To put that into perspective, here in Washington/Puget Sound area, there are around 1,040 interns total this summer. And my lead engineer is a Riddle grad too! We do stake our claim here!
Anyways, that same night of the hospitality suite, the manager called me back (mind you it was like 10 pm…). He asked me to come back to the suite. I was so nervous! What was he going to tell me? Good job, but you’re just not what we’re looking for? Nope! He wanted me to set up an interview!

So a few days later, on a Saturday, I waltzed into the career fair with an interview already set up. I had such mixed feelings about it. It was a combination of anxiety, excitement, nervousness…well everything. And when I get anxious, I tend to talk a lot. Needless to say this carried on in the interview…I felt like I was talking way too much and that I was rambling on! I was so scared at the end of the interview that I had just bored them to death. I used every tip that Career Services had provided for me, but I just wasn’t sure how well I did!
Then, the wait began. On October 26th (yes I remember the date!), I opened my email. “Boeing Global Staffing”. Huh? I opened it. My phone began to ring. Should I wait and see the email? Who could be calling me? I answered the phone. “Hello, is this Adriana?” “Uh…yes…who is this?” “Hi, this is Cynthia calling from Boeing. Have you checked your email today? We would like you extend to you an offer for an internship for the Summer 2013. You have to reply within 48 hours on your decision. The instructions are in your email.” “UH! YES! I’ll do that right away! Thank you!”
Needless to say, I accepted right after I hung up. That was 7 months ago, exactly. Today, I’m sitting here on May 26 in my apartment. I started about a week ago (May 17th). But I think that’s a story for next time…

The Boeing Company, Washington state

 

Managing the Gauntlet – tips for engineering success

Posted on by
Reply

Greetings Everyone,

If spoken of, it is whispered. It causes sweaty palms and incites feelings of dread. It intimidates even the best of students. Ladies and gentlemen, this phenomenon is known as The Gauntlet. The Gauntlet consists of three classes for engineering students, ES 202 Solids, ES 204 Dynamics, and ES 206 Fluids. These classes are considered to be difficult and people say that they will “kill” your GPA.

No fear, I have taken these classes and have picked up a few strategies on how to manage these courses. First off, try to take ES 201 Statics as soon as you can in your academic career. Since all of The Gauntlet classes require statics, this will allow you to space out the classes. ES 202 Solids is the easiest of the Gauntlet, so it should be paired up with one of the two harder courses, ES 204 Dynamics or ES 206 Fluids. By spitting up the classes, they become much easier to manage. Another way to manage The Gauntlet is to take all three classes together, but to make sure that you do not have any labs in the same semester. Labs, especially PS 253 Physics 3 Lab, have a tendency to take up a lot of time in the form of labs that last over 2 hours and formal post lab reports due every week. I actually used strategy two to manage The Gauntlet. Even with my full time job as a Resident Assistant, I was able to keep those classes from “killing” my GPA.

The difficulty in these classes is not the work load, but rather remembering how to approach certain problems and what strategies were used. Solids went pretty well for me. My professor, even though he was forgetful, allowed us to have a note card for each test containing all of the necessary equations. I ended up having a study group for Dynamics. It was immensely helpful because working out problems together and verbalizing strategies really helped me to remember how to do problems on the tests, as one professor told me, “Collaborate and graduate.” My most difficult of the three was Fluids. I had a very good professor who would create her own questions on exams, which were much more complex than questions in the text book. Luckily, this professor gave a lot of extra credit on the fluids project; my group received a 128%, which helped my grade for the class.

Academics were the reason why I did not write during the school year.
Some of you may remember that I wrote a student blog last summer when I went to Italy with the Study Abroad Program from ERAU. If you would like to read about those experiences, as well as where the Study Abroad Office is located and who works there, please go to this address: https://riddlelifeflorida.erau.edu/author/freemab3/.
Currently this summer, I am taking a few summer classes, EE 335 Electrical Engineering 1 and EE 336 Electrical Engineering Lab 1.

A typical circuit for EE 335 Electrical Engineering 1, adapted from the EE 336 Electrical Engineering Lab 1 Manual.

Summer courses are by far one of the best kept secrets of ERAU. Summer is divided into two sessions, Summer A and Summer B. Each session allows students to take up to 6 credits worth of classes. Even though there is class Monday through Thursday and sometimes Friday, the work load isn’t too bad since a lot of the professors want to relax over the summer too. One of my professors believes that one poor test grade should not affect a student’s overall grade for a class. Therefore, there are no tests, repeat, we do not take tests. Instead, this professor has a list of skills that he would like us to learn during his course. We are given multiple chances to prove our knowledge in the form of in class exercises and once we prove to him twice that we understand and can effectively apply the skill to a problem, we receive a check mark for that particular skill. If we receive 90% or more of our check marks, we receive an A for the class and do not have to take the final. Granted, some of the other summer professors may not be as understanding as my professor, but they do tend to be more lenient.

I really enjoy summer classes because I have a lighter course load, less homework, fewer tests, three day weekends, and I still get to have a summer full of sunny outdoor fun, lounging about indoors watching television, reading, and hanging out with friends. Probably the best part about taking summer classes is that it allows me to have to take fewer classes during the fall and spring semesters and it allows the Dual Degree Program to better fit into my four year plan.

The Dual Degree Program is under the Study Abroad Program and allows aerospace engineering students to receive one or two degrees from Embry-Riddle and a degree from EPF, a well-respected engineering university in France, depending on the track chosen. The main website for the program can be found here: http://daytonabeach.erau.edu/degrees/study-abroad/dual-degree/index.html. EPF’s corresponding link for the Dual Degree Program: http://www.epf.fr/en/international/double-degrees. Students from ERAU take a summer intensive language course during Summer B in France before their junior year in order to prepare them for a full academic year at EPF where all the courses are taught in French. I will have more information about the Dual Degree Program in a later entry. Au revoir!

The Eiffel Tower, taken in Spring of 2011 during my first trip to France.

 

Goodbye island life

Posted on by
Reply

This is probably the only blog from an Embry-Riddle student who started two first days at this University, 5 years apart.

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that one year ago, I was a Key West trolley tour guide.  I entertained tourists with facts of the island and repeated the same corny jokes to them every day, sometimes with a few originals.  Chances are good that if you visited Key West and rode on an orange and green trolley over the past year, I was your bus driver and guide.  I also drove the Key West haunted tours, a type of meet and greet with Key West characters like Robert the doll as well as the other types of spirits….not necessarily the ones found in haunted houses.  I found myself living on the island by accident.  I went to be a dog sitter for two weeks and ended staying almost a year!  You might say I caught what the locals call the “Keys Disease” and it’s hard to resist.  People come for a visit but never leave.  It’s said on the island that if you show up to work every day, you have a job.  If two weeks later you’re still showing up on time, they’ll make you the manager.  Well, sure enough, the dog left town with its owner and I stayed.  As well as being a tour guide, I worked other side jobs such as newspaper delivery boy, bakeshop dishwasher, and event security (a.k.a. bouncer).

The island life was a relaxing and good one.  It is hard to resist the sunniest place in Florida with the least amount of rain.  It ‘s truly Paradise except, endless renditions of Jimmy Buffett songs blaring down from Duval Street.  One day I woke up with one more hangover and realized I wasn’t moving forward with my life.  It was time for me to progress forward on my flight plan for life.

This was the culmination of a restlessness that I tried to resolve, and it brought me through many different experiences.  These included several semesters at a state university, a shopkeeper in South Beach, and an unpaid Internship for Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in DC.  This was right after I withdrew myself from Embry Riddle; I wanted to try something different in life. But my passions drew me back.

On August 27, 2012, my second first day of college began.  Once again excited to be making progress, living in campus dorms, and starting from where I had left off, but more focused on my degree: Aviation Business Administration.  In one week, I will be curing my desires, dusting off the backpack and train hopping across Europe to appease my wandering soul.  In one month, I will be attending classes with the Study Abroad program in Berlin, and in one year, I will be an Embry-Riddle alumnus. It’s a long way from the old island life, and it feels great!