So yesterday was my last day of class- ever!!! (Unless I go to grad school, which is entirely possible...) It felt so great to walk out of my last class. It was a busy day- I had a linear algebra test, then my senior design group gave our final presentation, then Laura (also in my senior design group and one of my best friends) and I had our last lunch date at Moe's, our favorite restaurant (we have lunch there together at least once or twice a week), then I had more class, then I presided over my last Tau Beta Pi meeting, then I had dinner with some friends. Then I crashed and went to bed early!
Going to bed early allowed me to get up early so I could get to work early... so I better jump to it! I'll post again soon, as soon as I get something more interesting to talk about.
Jennifer
April 27, 2007
April 25, 2007
Didn't Mr. Eigen have anything better to do?
An n x n matrix A is said to be diagonalizable if there exists a nonsingular matrix X and a diagonal matrix D such that
(X^-1)(A)(X) = D
Furthermore, if A is diagonalizable, then the column vectors of the diagonalizing matrix X are eigenvectors of A, and the diagonal elements of D are the corresponding eigenvalues of A.
(In other words, I have a linear algebra test tomorrow...)
(X^-1)(A)(X) = D
Furthermore, if A is diagonalizable, then the column vectors of the diagonalizing matrix X are eigenvectors of A, and the diagonal elements of D are the corresponding eigenvalues of A.
(In other words, I have a linear algebra test tomorrow...)
April 21, 2007
Time to take a breather...
Oh my goodness... what a week this has been! The month of April has turned out to be the busiest of my college career. I guess that shouldn't come as a surprise, since I am a graduating senior in engineering. I'm almost there, but still have two pretty insane weeks left. Unfortunately, from the looks of things, my remaining time at Auburn will follow in the exponentially increasing "amount-of-work-per-day" trend. (I have so much work to finish by graduation, I get queasy whenever I think about it!)
On the bright side, though, I've gotten a couple of the major milestones out of the way this week. Yesterday, my senior design group (or "DAWS Engineering" as we call ourselves- long story) finished and turned in our final report... all 102 glorious pages of it! It felt great to turn it in, since that one document represents an INSANE amount of work over the past several months. Our project was to design and analyze multiple processes to produce a certain chemical- so basically, we designed several entire chemical plants. We did all manner of calculations to figure out how much it would cost to produce the chemical using each of the different processes, studied the safety and environmental aspects of each process, etc. etc. etc. At any rate, we're just about done with senior design! All we have left is a presentation next week to a few professional engineers who are flying in to evaluate us.
The other big accomplishment of the week was the Fundamentals of Engineering exam (which is one of the steps required in order to be a licensed engineer- it covers everything a person is supposed to learn in engineering school, including quite a lot of stuff I didn't learn!). I took it today. The entire thing took 11 hours! The actual exam time was only 8 hrs, but we had a lunch break and about two hours of administrivia and other nonsense (waiting in line to be searched/admitted, listening to all the rules, filling out paperwork, etc). It feels great to be done with it, but now I'm worried about whether I passed. I won't find that out until the end of July.
One of the not-so-stressful events of the week was the Honors Scholars Symposium, which - for lack of a better term - honored the graduating "University Honors Scholars" (all the geeks like me). After completing their freshman and sophomore level honors classes, the members of the Honors College have the option of writing a senior thesis based on research. I did the math the other day, and only about 1% of Auburn grads do this... and (overachiever that I am) I'm one of them :-) I've absolutely loved doing research, though, and I'm enjoying writing my thesis (if only I could finish it!). So it hasn't really been that bad!
Here are a couple pictures from the symposium. It would be nice to put one up of me giving my presentation, but it didn't turn out so great and vanity prevents me from posting it :-p
On the bright side, though, I've gotten a couple of the major milestones out of the way this week. Yesterday, my senior design group (or "DAWS Engineering" as we call ourselves- long story) finished and turned in our final report... all 102 glorious pages of it! It felt great to turn it in, since that one document represents an INSANE amount of work over the past several months. Our project was to design and analyze multiple processes to produce a certain chemical- so basically, we designed several entire chemical plants. We did all manner of calculations to figure out how much it would cost to produce the chemical using each of the different processes, studied the safety and environmental aspects of each process, etc. etc. etc. At any rate, we're just about done with senior design! All we have left is a presentation next week to a few professional engineers who are flying in to evaluate us.
The other big accomplishment of the week was the Fundamentals of Engineering exam (which is one of the steps required in order to be a licensed engineer- it covers everything a person is supposed to learn in engineering school, including quite a lot of stuff I didn't learn!). I took it today. The entire thing took 11 hours! The actual exam time was only 8 hrs, but we had a lunch break and about two hours of administrivia and other nonsense (waiting in line to be searched/admitted, listening to all the rules, filling out paperwork, etc). It feels great to be done with it, but now I'm worried about whether I passed. I won't find that out until the end of July.
One of the not-so-stressful events of the week was the Honors Scholars Symposium, which - for lack of a better term - honored the graduating "University Honors Scholars" (all the geeks like me). After completing their freshman and sophomore level honors classes, the members of the Honors College have the option of writing a senior thesis based on research. I did the math the other day, and only about 1% of Auburn grads do this... and (overachiever that I am) I'm one of them :-) I've absolutely loved doing research, though, and I'm enjoying writing my thesis (if only I could finish it!). So it hasn't really been that bad!
Here are a couple pictures from the symposium. It would be nice to put one up of me giving my presentation, but it didn't turn out so great and vanity prevents me from posting it :-p
A couple of my engineering buddies...
The director of the Honors College congratulating me after he presented my stole and goblet
My research advisor, Mario. And of course, the goblet. (It's a long story, but the goblet was partially what enticed me to go for the thesis option. As soon as I'm done with my thesis, the goblet is going to be tested with a little champagne :-p )
Well, that's been my week... the high points, anyway. If I can only hold on a few more days......
(And in case anyone's wondering, no, absolutely no knitting has occurred within the past couple weeks. I did take a break last night to do some minor alterations to my bridesmaid dress for an upcoming wedding - doing crafty things is always stress relieving - but no knitting; sorry!)
Take care!
Jennifer
April 17, 2007
April 14, 2007
San Francisco
Earlier this week I took an overnight trip to San Francisco to present research at a conference. Here are a couple pictures from the trip:
Even though the trip was short, I feel like I'm way behind in my schoolwork now. I've spent the day working on my thesis; I think I'd better get back to work!
Jennifer
Shamefully enough, these are just about the only ones I took! I was traveling by myself, so I was a tad nervous walking around downtown by myself (there are homeless people and panhandlers everywhere!). I was trying to avoid looking too much like a tourist, which meant I couldn't take lots of pictures like I normally do :-)
My presentation at the conference went well and it was a fun trip, although it was very short! I arrived early Wednesday afternoon and checked into my hotel, which was right off Fisherman's Wharf. I grabbed a late lunch and then walked around the wharf a bit, before I headed up to the downtown/Union Square area. Then I walked back to Chinatown for a little shopping, then to Little Italy, and finally back to my hotel. The rest of the people from my school arrived around dinner time, and we ate dinner at an upscale Indian restaurant near Union Square. I tried some "kashmiri pulao," which was very good. We rode the cable car back to the hotel- fun! We got up early the next morning to head to the conference, which was across the bay in San Rafael. Immediately after my presentation, I caught a cab and headed for the airport. All told, I was in San Francisco for exactly 24 hours. Whew- what a trip!
My presentation at the conference went well and it was a fun trip, although it was very short! I arrived early Wednesday afternoon and checked into my hotel, which was right off Fisherman's Wharf. I grabbed a late lunch and then walked around the wharf a bit, before I headed up to the downtown/Union Square area. Then I walked back to Chinatown for a little shopping, then to Little Italy, and finally back to my hotel. The rest of the people from my school arrived around dinner time, and we ate dinner at an upscale Indian restaurant near Union Square. I tried some "kashmiri pulao," which was very good. We rode the cable car back to the hotel- fun! We got up early the next morning to head to the conference, which was across the bay in San Rafael. Immediately after my presentation, I caught a cab and headed for the airport. All told, I was in San Francisco for exactly 24 hours. Whew- what a trip!
Even though the trip was short, I feel like I'm way behind in my schoolwork now. I've spent the day working on my thesis; I think I'd better get back to work!
Jennifer
April 13, 2007
Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire
1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?
Ravenclaw
Ravenclaw
2. Shoe size?
7 ½ US
3. Foot Length?
9 ½"
4. Foot Circumference?
8 ½"
5. List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length
Mmm... not a lot of experience to draw from here! My favorite set was a gift from Mum, so I don't actually know what brand they are- although I believe they're made of rosewood. They are size 1's, about 5 ½" long. I also have some 6" Plymouth bamboo size 1's, which I like (although haven't used yet).
6. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?
Since I've only used a couple types, definitely! I love wood needles. I would like to try Pony Pearls. Not a huge fan of metal. Based on a couple iPod socks I knit last year, I'm not overly fond of Balene or Crystal Palace either. And I definitely prefer DPN's to circulars.
*addendum/ That reminds me... since I have high tension, size 0's probably wouldn't be best for me. Size 1's (2.25 or 2.5) would be better. /addendum*
7. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?
Although I'm a complete purist when it comes to all things Tolkien, I'm not that picky about Harry Potter. I prefer the film colors, but I would also appreciate the accuracy of the book colors.
8. Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal?
Certainly!
Inaugural Post
Greetings!
My name is Jennifer, and (as you might have guessed) this is the first post on my new blog.
By way of introduction, I should probably mention first off that Mum is my mum. (Incidentally, the way that she - a very American woman with a very American family - aquired this moniker is a rather interesting story; you should ask her to tell it. I will say that I should receive primary credit for the fact that the name stuck, as my sister calls her "Memo" for some reason... a name which, in my mind, is much less sophisticated than "Mum" and would make for a lousy blog title.)
Mum has been trying to convince me to start up a knitting blog for quite some time, and I finally caved after she set up the Hogwarts Sock Swap to entice me. Just to warn you... I currently don't have time (or enough interesting post topics) to maintain two separate blogs- one for knitting, and one for personal/social/fun stuff. As a result, this blog will likely be a combination of the two. So if you're only here for the knitting-related content, feel free to ignore the posts about school, vacations, the weather, the plight of the snowy owl (just kidding), etc. Likewise, if you're just a friend of mine, don't know how to knit, and don't really even care that I know how, you can ignore the knitting stuff. :-) I should also point out that for the time being, the ratio of knitting/non-knitting content will be heavily skewed to the non-knitting side- for the simple reason that I don't foresee much knitting occuring in the next four weeks! (See following paragraphs.)
So, that said, I should probably try to introduce myself to you. I'm about to graduate with my Bachelor's of Chemical Engineering degree from Auburn University (t-minus 27 days!). Unfortunately there's a heck of a lot of work to be done between now and then, so you may not hear from me much until after graduation. This is due mainly to the fact that I'm a slight overacheiver, and have a tendency to take on superfluous work (research culminating in a 60-page senior thesis, holding the office of president in an engineering society, etc). But, I wouldn't have it any other way. :-)
That leads into the next topic I should touch on... my personality. I should probably just go ahead and say it- I'm a geek. This tends to result in some really boring posts, so I apologize in advance. I'm easily excited by topics most people find soporifically boring (such as nuclear power), and find humor in things most people wouldn't (like the term "centrifugal force"). I promise I'll try to keep the geekiness to a minimum on this blog!
There are a lot of other interesting (or not-so-interesting) things I could mention about myself, but you've probably already noticed one of the more obvious ones... my verbosity. And, judging from the current length of this post, I should probably move on to different topic. :-p
If you linked to this blog from my Mum's, or are somehow connected with the Hogwarts Sock Swap, you might be wondering about my knitting history. I've been knitting for about a year and a half, and - interestingly enough - Mum didn't teach me how to knit. She was readily available with tips and advice, but I more or less taught myself. I've always been really crafty, though, which I'm sure is partly due to Mum's influence. I think I've dabbled in just about every type of handiwork there is, and have aspirations of learning everything that's left. My favorites (besides knitting, of course) are hardanger and scrapbooking. In terms of my knitting repertoire, I've not done anything terribly advanced... just scarves, hats, etc. I just finished my first pair of socks a few weeks ago; Mum was so excited she blogged about it. I'm looking forward to starting my next pair (and finishing up my other works-in-progress) as soon as school finishes up. For the time being, though, the only things I'll be "creating" are my senior thesis, senior design report/presentation, C++ program, etc... none of which would make for very interesting blog entries. My apologies :-)
Jennifer
My name is Jennifer, and (as you might have guessed) this is the first post on my new blog.
By way of introduction, I should probably mention first off that Mum is my mum. (Incidentally, the way that she - a very American woman with a very American family - aquired this moniker is a rather interesting story; you should ask her to tell it. I will say that I should receive primary credit for the fact that the name stuck, as my sister calls her "Memo" for some reason... a name which, in my mind, is much less sophisticated than "Mum" and would make for a lousy blog title.)
Mum has been trying to convince me to start up a knitting blog for quite some time, and I finally caved after she set up the Hogwarts Sock Swap to entice me. Just to warn you... I currently don't have time (or enough interesting post topics) to maintain two separate blogs- one for knitting, and one for personal/social/fun stuff. As a result, this blog will likely be a combination of the two. So if you're only here for the knitting-related content, feel free to ignore the posts about school, vacations, the weather, the plight of the snowy owl (just kidding), etc. Likewise, if you're just a friend of mine, don't know how to knit, and don't really even care that I know how, you can ignore the knitting stuff. :-) I should also point out that for the time being, the ratio of knitting/non-knitting content will be heavily skewed to the non-knitting side- for the simple reason that I don't foresee much knitting occuring in the next four weeks! (See following paragraphs.)
So, that said, I should probably try to introduce myself to you. I'm about to graduate with my Bachelor's of Chemical Engineering degree from Auburn University (t-minus 27 days!). Unfortunately there's a heck of a lot of work to be done between now and then, so you may not hear from me much until after graduation. This is due mainly to the fact that I'm a slight overacheiver, and have a tendency to take on superfluous work (research culminating in a 60-page senior thesis, holding the office of president in an engineering society, etc). But, I wouldn't have it any other way. :-)
That leads into the next topic I should touch on... my personality. I should probably just go ahead and say it- I'm a geek. This tends to result in some really boring posts, so I apologize in advance. I'm easily excited by topics most people find soporifically boring (such as nuclear power), and find humor in things most people wouldn't (like the term "centrifugal force"). I promise I'll try to keep the geekiness to a minimum on this blog!
There are a lot of other interesting (or not-so-interesting) things I could mention about myself, but you've probably already noticed one of the more obvious ones... my verbosity. And, judging from the current length of this post, I should probably move on to different topic. :-p
If you linked to this blog from my Mum's, or are somehow connected with the Hogwarts Sock Swap, you might be wondering about my knitting history. I've been knitting for about a year and a half, and - interestingly enough - Mum didn't teach me how to knit. She was readily available with tips and advice, but I more or less taught myself. I've always been really crafty, though, which I'm sure is partly due to Mum's influence. I think I've dabbled in just about every type of handiwork there is, and have aspirations of learning everything that's left. My favorites (besides knitting, of course) are hardanger and scrapbooking. In terms of my knitting repertoire, I've not done anything terribly advanced... just scarves, hats, etc. I just finished my first pair of socks a few weeks ago; Mum was so excited she blogged about it. I'm looking forward to starting my next pair (and finishing up my other works-in-progress) as soon as school finishes up. For the time being, though, the only things I'll be "creating" are my senior thesis, senior design report/presentation, C++ program, etc... none of which would make for very interesting blog entries. My apologies :-)
Jennifer
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