About Billy

Junior

Aerospace Engineering

**Campus Involvement:** Staff member and photographer, Avion Newspaper, Student Technician for Information Technology Department, Digital Design Studio Tutor

**Hobbies:**Graphic Design, Photography, Video Production, Playing the Piano

Music and Rockets: The Unlikely Encounters of the Third Kind

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Billy

With the end of the semester nearly 2 weeks away, things are really starting to pick up across campus. From the events and activities on campus to my classes and projects that need to get done, there’s so much to do and so little time.

Let’s start with the Touch ‘N’ Go Big Show. Every year (or is it bi-annually?) Embry-Riddle’s entertainment board, Touch-N-Go, has a concert on campus and this year they managed to book the Plain White T’s and Smash Mouth. While I never really had the opportunity to listen to their music as a kid growing up, I definitely knew who they were and was really excited when I found out they were coming to Riddle. Because I volunteered to cover the event for The Avion, I got the opportunity to meet both bands and interview them along with two of my friends from the newspaper. With heavy rain storms predicted, Mother Nature did not disappoint. But, despite the hour-long delay and heavy rain, the concert was absolutely amazing, until the generators that ran all of the equipment on stage started cutting out during the Plain White T’s’ performance. After the massive fireworks display and the bassist playing “The Star Spangled Banner,” with vocals provided by the crowd, the night came to an end and the show was over.

Flash forward two days later and I found myself biking to the Student Center (UC) at 6AM Monday morning to cover SpaceX’s rocket launch at Cape Canaveral. This was my first rocket launch ever so to say that I was excited would be an understatement. Again, thanks to the power of college journalism, I was lucky enough to get media credentials through The Avion. Thanks to the media credentials I received, I got to actually go to the launch pad and saw the Falcon 9! It was truly awe-inspiring to actually be at the Kennedy Space Center because it’s like you’re standing in a time-capsule: everything looks like it did back in the 1960s! Even the buses we rode on were the old iconic flat-faced white buses that were common during the 60s. Unfortunately the launch was scrubbed T-minus 3 minutes until launch which meant I had to come back the next day. After emailing my teachers and getting their approvals, I was good to go. All in all, after seeing the rocket launch and meeting all of the people I met, including a student from Embry-Riddle’s Prescott campus, it made me realize how lucky I was.

So, year 1 of college complete. I probably look like an idiot sitting in the library looking bewildered but wow. I can’t believe 7 months of college flew by that quickly. I’m really excited for Fall 2015 and what else is in store for me at Riddle. Unless I’m told to put out another update before I leave on the 30th, enjoy the summer, do adventurous things, and remember to be curious.

We have how much time left?

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Billy

In terms of time, this might be the 2nd to last post I make for this semester which is crazy. I can’t believe the semester went by so quickly.

It was a really foggy night when I got back from NJ.

Good vibes all around when flying.

Spring break was lovely and, even though I miss it, I know that in three weeks time it’ll be summer vacation, so I can’t complain. It’s nice that we get like 3-4 months off because I could really use that time to get caught up in my hobbies and school work, not to mention going back to interning in New York City.

I’m very excited for the Touch ‘N’ Go “Big Show” this Saturday! I hope that I can get credentials for the event just like last year with Gabriel Iglesias as it would be a nice way to end my Saturday work day. I’m also working on getting credentials for a rocket launch next week; hopefully the date stops moving around because it’s really hard to plan out your itinerary when the dates keep getting scrubbed.

At this point of the semester I’m starting to really focus on my school work and the results have been very promising! CAD class is wonderful, though we’re diving into tolerances which is starting to mess with my head. Psychology gets very interesting with each lecture. Hopefully I can find a similar class to fill my high-level social sciences (crosses fingers.)

Aside from all the other usual stuff that goes on, I’m still writing letters and postcards to my friends and keeping in touch with my family, and writing to people has so much more meaning and worth than just sending a text message. I dare you to try it.

So jealous that the math teachers have this view of campus.

Nothing makes your better than getting a letter.

Unfortunately the past two weeks have been somewhat of an “off-week:” no real action going on, but that will change when the next post rolls around. So, until then, cheers!

Snow? During Spring Break?

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Billy

Wow, here I am back in NJ, and it’s snowing on the First Day of Spring. None of it is sticking however, but it’s nice to see snow falling after spending so much time in Florida.

Someone please tell me that isn’t jet fuel being dumped out of my plane before landing…

Surprisingly this is the 2nd time I’ve flown out of Daytona Beach Int.

Unfortunately, my break hasn’t been all that eventful thanks to Mother Nature’s winter-weather-fury. I manage to visit my friend who goes to school at the University of Delaware, got to go back to my high school and visit my friends in the drama department, had dinner at my friends’ house, and spent some quality time with my family; what more could you ask for?

I found the University of Delaware’s equivalent of the COAS.

I got a nice chunk of my homework done, but there’s still more to accomplish so hopefully I don’t get sidetracked. Speaking of sidetracked, the snow is actually sticking! All the lawns on my street are turning white!

I’m glad we had a week off for Spring Break (technically 10 days for me but I digress.) I definitely needed the break to take some time to think about what I need to accomplish when I get back to Riddle. Not only that, it was nice to see my friends rooting for me because we all need a little motivation in life.

With that said, I think I’m ready to come back to school. I can’t wait to get back into the swing of things. I definitely need nicer weather to get more practice with my quadcopter so I’m excited. So, on that bombshell, I’ll see you all soon!

12:41 “Eh, nothing’s gonna happen.”

1:14 “NO WAY.”

“Oh, we’re halfway there. Woah, livin’ on a prayer.”

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Billy

What’s that you say? Spring Break is only just a week away? Inconceivable! I can’t believe it’s already March! Like I feel like the semester just started. I guess time flies when you’re having fun, or are doing way too many things at once; I digress.

I’ve been flying a lot more with my quadcopter, and I finally got the confidence to mount my GoPro to it! I got some great video – some of the highlights include: aerial footage of Embry-Riddle, mid-air collisions, and formation flying with other smaller planes. I’m still getting the hang of working with Adobe Premiere Pro and SpeedGrade. I also ordered more parts for my quadcopter so fingers crossed as I try to get better footage! If you’re on the fence about starting, I highly recommend getting into RC flying because it’s such a wonderful hobby. Honestly, everyone who’s seen me and my hall-mates flying on the soccer field just stop and smile because of how awesome it is. We even managed to impress two campus security guys one night when we were flying. RC flying teachers you aerodynamics, electronics, videography, and so much more; it’s definitely a hobby that’s going to stay with me for a very long time.

I am a very huge Doctor Who fan so logically, rather illogically, I decided to decorated my door to look like the TARDIS, the iconic blue police telephone box from the TV show. When I came back from class one day, someone left a replica panel of the door sign on my desk. After talking to my friends, I learned that someone from maintenance saw my door, left and came back with the panel for my door. I was truly amazed and shocked because I wasn’t expecting something like that to happen to me. Flash forward to present day and the sign/panel is hanging proudly on my door.

Aside from that, there’s nothing really new on my end so on that bombshell, I’ll see you all in another two weeks!

DUDE, IT’S ETCHED IN PLASTIC.

My door game is on point…depending on which point system you use.

I need to start getting into architectural drawings.

More fun!

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Billy

At the expense of my procrastination, I bring to you all another blog post. With 2 weeks passed, let’s reflect on the many things that happened since February 4th.

I love name tags. Makes a you feel official.

My day was made when someone handed me a flower as I played piano while on break.

I was gonna be like “Woah, I can’t believe I got hired by the IT Department bro,” but then I realized I said that last week; so I won’t. I will, however, discuss the aspects of my job, and hopefully not bore you all to tears in the process.

In addition to golf cart driving privileges (finally) and fancy name tags, I’m a part of a 30+ person strong team that, well, fixes computers. Originally, I had the intention of wanting to work for ResNet, which is the Geek Squad equivalent of tech support for students here at Embry-Riddle, but I wound up being placed in desktop support. I really like the job, granted I work weekends and Thursdays. I mostly look at tickets that have been placed in our system and check to see which ones I can handle with my 4 hour shift on Thursday. Once the weekend comes, I’m off with a 2-3 person team that inventories, replaces, and recycles computers. It’s not a bad gig, and I’ve meet some really cool people through the job. I can’t wait to see where this job takes me.

With Spring Break rapidly approaching (4 weeks and counting) I booked my airline tickets for NJ. Normally I would fly out of Orlando to Newark, but after talking it over with my father, we both agreed that flying out of Daytona would be better. And you know what? With my last class on the 13th ending at 11:30AM with a 2:00PM flight putting me in NJ at 7PM, you can’t beat it! (Well I guess you can, if you fly out of Orlando with the 2.5 hour flight but I digress.) Anyway, I’m so excited to come home. I started making plans with old friends and will be looking forward to some R&R.

I don’t talk about it a lot, but I am a part of Embry-Riddle’s Solar Decathlon team. The Solar Decathlon is a contest set-forth by the United State Department of Energy (DoE), and it challenges schools from around the world to design and build a solar-efficient home. In years past, schools like Stevens Institute of Technology and Arizona State have competed along with schools from Italy and China. If I remember correctly, and I tend to be wrong often, this is Embry-Riddle’s first year competing so there’s a lot on the line. I’m on the architecture team and we believe that we have a design that may work. At this point, all we need to do is to finalize all of the details and submit it to the DoE by October; plenty of time right? Once that’s done, we start building the home and ship it to California in 2017 which is where and when we’ll be participating.

I flew my quadcopter again today and I was pleasantly surprised with how well it flew. I feel like if I practice just a few more times, I can start mounting cameras to it. Speaking of, as we speak, I set up my GoPro to shoot a time-lapse so I might as well go check on it. So on that bombshell, not really, I’ll see you all later!

Taking Flight

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Billy

Has it really been two weeks already? Honestly so much has happened in this week alone that I cannot comprehend it all. In terms of highlights: I got to meet Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise, I was hired by the IT department, so I now have two campus jobs (yay?), and my new quadcopter came in the mail.

The Avion strikes again! *Angerly waves fist in the air*

Meeting Fred Haise was absolutely amazing; words cannot describe how nice and genuinely awesome he is. I was fortunate enough to meet him as well as sit-in on two of his Q&A sessions. As I sat in the audience and listened to him speak, you could feel his enthusiasm for space and aviation. He had a wonderful sense of humor, and he was very honest and open about what he talked about. If any of you ever get the chance to see him, please do yourself a favor and try to. I would like to thank Dr. Kain of the Honors program here at Embry-Riddle for allowing me to meet Fred Haise and my friend Gus Galarnyk for telling me about his session with the honors students.

In addition to applying for a Resident Adviser (RA) position, I also applied to the IT department here at Embry-Riddle. I was extremely nervous because I was never interviewed for a job before and I knew that there were people who were way more qualified than me. With that said, I was amazed and excited when I learned I got the job. I start work on Thursday so hopefully I can work out my schedule because I’m terrible with time management. Hopefully I have the same amount of luck for my RA interview (Fingers crossed)!

I don’t know if I learned from the Quadcopter Incident of 2015 because almost immediately afterward, I sprang to get a new quadcopter and returning the old one. In terms of practical use aside from “it looks cool bro,” I really want to get into aerial-imaging (fancy schmancy for footage taken in the sky/air.) With photography and videography under my belt, I need something to challenge myself and since like 5 guys on my floor are RC plane hobbyists, I had no problems getting into the swing of things. One of my suite-mates recently got a new RC plane while the other, who happens to be an RC plane trainer, built one from scratch. Since we all acquired our new gear on Saturday, we all went flying and it was a fun time. RC flying is definitely a hobby I can get into, and since it’s not that big where I grew up, more bragging rights for me when I come back home.

Soccer fields are amazing great places to fly dangerous precision-control aircraft.

I can’t believe we’ve been back in school for 1 month already. What’s even more shocking is that I have friends who didn’t even go back yet! Oh well, just 3 more and I’m back in NJ. On that bombshell, I’ll see you all soon.

If hyper-linking works, he’s an outtake from our RC flying antics: Whoops

The Future is Very Bright

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Billy

With Winter Break behind us all, it’s time for us to continue what we started last semester. I was pleased, well moderately satisfied, with where I stood last semester but there was definitely room for improvement. This semester I’m attempting to push myself harder and, thanks to my schedule, I might make my goal a reality.

With only 4 classes this semester, I have plenty of time for school and the clubs I’m involved in. It’s nice not feeling constrained by your course load, but also it feels good to have something to do. Whether it’s doing my EGR120 homework (Graphical Communications) or a photography assignment for the Avion, I’m always doing something.

Aside from school and clubs, I’m starting to get back into photography and, more recently, RC planes. I just got a mini-quadcopter and I love it! Of course that was until after 2 minutes of me flying it for the first time, I got it stuck in a palm tree. With the enlisted help of 4-5 of my hall-mates, and the loss of my two flip flops, we got it back and it still works! This basically means I need to practice in the simulator more and/or not fly by trees.

Since it’s only been 3 weeks into the semester, nothing much really has happened. I’m sure things will change in the next couple of days. So, until then, “Till all are one!”

I also would like to take the time to thank my friend Rachel Weeks for proof reading my posts since I have the grammar mechanics of a 5-year-old.

An Intermission

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Billy

Grand Central Station is astonishingly beautiful.

As I sit here typing, I’m literally having that “What I learned in boating school is…!” moment from Spongebob as I try to account for what happened these past few weeks.

With my first semester completed, I finally have time to reevaluate all the things that have happened to me over the past four months. I have learned from my mistakes, and hopefully I will have the courage and intuition to make the upcoming semester better for myself, physically and mentally.

Of course as I waited for my flight at Orlando International Airport, I had plenty of time to

The Airbus a320 I was on crossing the runway after touching down at Newark.

think about these things since my flight was delayed for about five hours. With my 7PM departure time on December 10th bumped up to 12AM , I didn’t get to my house until 4AM the next day. Surprisingly enough, I was very alert and awake… I may have accidentally “loosened” one of those motorized sliding doors at Newark trying to get to my parents because they had to move the SUV, but I digress. Once I recovered from the flight, I spent the day visiting old friends and the next I went back in business as a freelance photographer taking pictures of my friend’s Sweet 16.

The following week I went back to work at the staffing firm I’d been interning at for the past

I would take the train to Newark, NJ and then the PATH to the World Trade Center. Elapsed time: 1.5 hours.

3 years in New York City. It was good seeing my old coworkers again, and it felt good getting back into the swing of things. Nothing says you’re a man like commuting to work by train, working in the financial district of New York City, and drinking hot chocolate during breaks; I missed it.

Despite experiencing Daylight Savings my whole life and working in the city for 3 years, the whole “Wow it gets really dark here after 4PM” thing never really stuck with me. To be honest I was hoping for some snow this winter because I hear the city looks fantastic at night with snow. I never had the opportunity to see itfor myself because I would usually leave the city by around 6PM due to my hour-long commute. I’m hoping to at least go back on New Year’s Day as a tourist to visit all the places and see the sights before going back to Florida.

On the bright side, I’m looking forward to coming back to Riddle. I feel like a new person and I have a feeling that 2015 may be my year. Only time will tell right? Happy Holidays everyone, and I hope to see you all really soon!

The 12th Hour

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Billy

Has it been 14 weeks already? Honestly it feels like I just moved into Riddle yesterday, and now I’ll have to leave in a matter of days; It’s almost surreal to be honest. But, with finals just around the corner, there’s no time to reflect on my nostalgia. I have only two finals: physics and calculus. Physics I’m pretty confident in thanks to the regulations regarding note-cards: we’re allowed to use them. Calculus is a little more dicey, and I try to forget about it as best as I can. Hopefully, I can overcome my procrastination to relearn all the material that, for some bizarre reason, never seemed to stick in my head. All in all, “the grade you get, is the grade you earned” so I’ll have to let that be my mantra while studying.

On a much brighter note, I am now a general member of the Avion which means I can get clearance for events and stuff. Because the Avion is well known, many of the photographers in the group, can get special clearance to view rocket launches at Cape Canaveral much closer than the general public. I’m looking forward to next year’s launch schedule and I will make it my mission to see a rocket launch; hopefully my schedule will cooperate with me on that.

Ernie the Eagle joins me for dinner at Starbucks.

Also, as of 5 hours ago (Dec. 5, 2014 8PM EST), I was totally unaware that we had a college mascot. I was taking pictures outside and saw a rather large eagle costume approach the Hunt Library. In a brilliant moment of word association, I realized that the eagle was no one other than Ernie the Eagle. Or it could have been the fact that someone yelled “Ernie!” across the courtyard but we won’t mention it.

I recently had the opportunity to observe a flight with my friend and it was absolutely incredible. After many years of flying in Flight Simulator X, seeing a Cessna, or any plane really, up close and personal is such a wonderful and surreal experience. The fact that I could sit in the cockpit and had a feel for what each button, lever, and dial does is truly remarkable. I hope to one day get my pilot’s license and trade up my desk simulator for actual flight hours, but for now, FSX and flight observations will have to suffice.

I’ve learned a lot of things during this semester at Riddle. Aside from the knowledge learned in the classroom, I’ve learned a lot about myself, valuable life lessons, and how to navigate life in Florida. I’ve had a great time these past 14 weeks, and I’m definitely looking forward to next semester. So on that bombshell, not really, I wish everyone luck on their finals and hope to see you all in a few weeks!

“This Isn’t ‘Goodbye,’ It’s Only ‘See You Later.'”

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Billy

Hello there!

I’ll assume that if you’re reading this, you’ll have no idea who I am: which is good because I have a few lines to make a good first impression!

In addition to living in NJ, I also work in New York City!

My name is Billy Nguyen and I’m from Eatontown, NJ. For starters, no NJ is nothing like the TV show “Jersey Shore.” Actually, it’s quite far from it and I highly recommend coming down in the summer since the beaches and night life is pretty cool around here, or you can go to California: I won’t judge you. Growing up, I didn’t have that many opportunities to pursue my interest in engineering or really anything aerospace related. What I did to get by was take the engineering courses offered at my high-school and spend countless hours flying in Flight Simulator X. Still to this day, I fly regularly in that game.

Oh so artsy.

On the side I started doing photography, videography, music, acting, graphic design, drawing, and computer work; a mouthful right? While my hobbies weren’t directly related to my major of Aerospace Engineering, I was able to find some outlets for my hobbies to keep myself engaged and active during my first semester here at Embry-Riddle. Thanks to my ingenuity, I’m now a general member of the Avion newspaper and I regularly cover campus events as a photographer. I wish I had time to join the Acafellas and Riddle Players, but maybe someday I’ll tryout. (You have been warned.)

Adjusting to life at Riddle was extremely challenging: definitely a step-up from high-school for sure. As we near the end of the first semester I can really start to grasp how much I’ve learned and changed these past few weeks and it’s really amazing. I think I’ve changed for the better; I’m now more aware of how important time management is (note how I didn’t say I got better at time management,) and I’m starting to learn how to navigate the world on my own. It’s a life changing experience and my curiosity and passion for learning is what will ultimately carry me through all of this.

As my high-school’s cheerleading manager of 3 years, the quote in the title was

adjust is to get involved. If you have a passion for

tossed around a lot towards the end of each season and it makes me think about all the things that could happen in the 4-5 years when you’re away at college; only time can tell how things will turn out for me. For now, hopefully I come home for Winter Break I can impress my friends with the MATLAB programs I can write.

My advice for anyone still trying to adjust is to get involved. If you have a passion for something, chances are there is a club for you; you don’t even have to join a

Wings & Waves was my first ever airshow and I was amazed.

club on campus per-say. There’s plenty of opportunities in the Daytona area. There is literally so much you can do at Embry-Riddle but you have to take that first step. Also, keep in touch with your friends and family. I like to send letters to my friends and I think I’m one of the few people still keeping the post office running.

So on that bombshell, “Allons-y!”
Billy N.™

My Life @ Riddle

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