New Semester

This new semester has been very refreshing. I enjoy my professors and the subjects are interesting. I had a peer who mentioned that it finally feels like we’re learning how to be electrical engineers. I really enjoy the teaching styles of my professors which is such a nice change of pace. Here on my blog, I’d like to detail some of the things I’ve learned in, hopefully, easy to understand ways so I can recap what I’ve learned and prepare for my exams.

Weekly Recap

This semester, I have four classes: Discrete Time Systems and Signals, Microelectronics, Electromagnetism, and Engineering Professionalism. A detailed recap of each course is outlined below. I haven’t started up my extra-curricular activities yet, but the clubs I participate in start next week so there should be more to report then.

Discrete Time Systems and Signals

For most of my classes, this was an introduction and review week. This held true for my discrete class. While we did go over concepts we had learned previously in our Continuous Time Systems and Signals course, the professor, Dr. Gunther, began taking these concepts and showing the interesting properties when applied in discrete settings.

We learned what it means to have a discrete signal and their importance in electrical engineering. Discrete signals have finite distinct values which work very well with computers as they can only handle values corresponding to integers represented as zeros and ones. Dr. Gunther also demonstrated pulse trains (also known as the drum kit property). This property means that whenever a signal is applied with a sum of convolutions with impulse function, the unit impulse is repeated the so is the original signal. This property can be used with drum kit sounds to create some sick beats.

The class then started discussing how every signal can be represented as a combination of odd and even representations of the original signal. There is a special decomposition of signals called the four-way decomposition. This decomposition breaks down a signal into real even, real odd, imaginary even, and imaginary odd representations of the signal.

I discussed with Dr. Gunther the possibility of taking what I learn in the class and making a device that will automatically detect when a dishwasher is running and indicate when a load is clean or dirty. I have wanted to make such a device for a few years so finally having the knowledge to implement it is very exciting. He thought the idea is cool and said it would directly apply to the class. There may also be opportunity for me to share my project with the class if all goes well.

Electromagnetism

This week in electromagnetism, we went over the importance of mathematical models in engineering. Models can make implementing designs much easier without getting bogged down by physical phenomenon and heavy math. The basic quantities of electromagnetism were also described such as magnetic flux and field density.

The class also got a brief overview of the history of electromagnetic theory and how it developed over time. We were assigned to write a report on the electrical telegraph system, which I am planning to turn into a YouTube video by the upcoming Wednesday.

Microelectronics

We discussed how the study of semiconductors builds on the circuit theory we already know. The thing I found interesting was that semiconductor devices are non-linear electronic devices meaning they don’t work how circuit theory would usually predict, but when used in certain contexts and environments, many of these complexities can be ignored and they can be treated as linear devices.

We also talked a bit about the history of semiconductor devices and how the industry started out with vacuum tubes, but they were bulky and fragile. The invention of semiconductor technology, especially the transistor, has revolutionized our world and made computers, the internet, and even modern cars what they are today.

Engineering Professionalism

We discussed the importance of team work in the engineering profession. It is important to build teams that work well together towards a common goal. We also established groups to develop a professional design review by the end of the semester.

What to Look Forward to Next Week

This week didn’t really have any assignments or anything so it was a pretty chill week. Next week, I’ll have a bit more to do and a new YouTube video. On Saturday, the first Battle Bot competition at USU will take place, so I’m pretty excited about that.

Hope you had a great week and that you keep being awesome.

Gavin