Week of Nov 4

Welcome to November and the last week for this six weeks.  That's right. The 2nd six weeks ends this Friday, November 8.  Be sure that all work is caught up this week, so that grades will be accurate.

This week in IED
You should finish up painting and making the puzzle cubes.  Be sure that you have double-checked and had another student check the constraints and requirements against your design.  After we finish creating the cube itself, we will learn to use Autodesk Inventor to create a solid model of the puzzle parts and the final assembl as our introduction to Inventor.

If you would like to download a copy of Inventor for use at home, the school license allows that.  Go to the Autodesk web site and download Inventor Professional 2013.  Make sure that you download the 2013 version, or your design files will not be compatible with the version that we are using at school. You will have to provide an email address for use in registration.  Be warned that the files are VERY large and take several hours to download and install. I usually start the process when I go to sleep so that it will be done the next morning.

If you are attending the Texas State Ingram School of Engineering visit this Friday, you MUST turn in the permission forms for both the Skillpoint Alliance and RRISD waiver to me on Monday or Tuesday at the latest.  You must also have your teachers sign off that you are passing all classes and  acknowledge that you know that you are responsible for work that might be missed.  If you are planning to ride the bus to the Future A&M Engineers (FAME) on November 16-17, get a permission form from me this week to have signed and returned.

This Week at RRHS
As noted above, this is the last week for the second six weeks of the year.  Be sure that you are staying on top of grades and have everything completed and turned in by this Friday.  If you are submitting an assignment that has already been graded, please point that out to me so that I know to check your journal specifically for those items.

College Visits This Week
Monday - University of Texas at San Antonio
Thursday - University of North Texas

I have this information on my Scholar$hips tab, but the Milwaukee School of Engineering is the Wisconsin hub for Project Lead the Way.  They offer $3000 per year for 4 years to students who complete PLTW courses in high school to enroll in engineering at MSOE. I have a poster in the room that you can consult for more information or check out the link provided here.  This is a good time to encourage you to check out that Scholar$hip tab as well as the one for Internships and summer work opportunities.  I update that as I get information from colleges and potential employers looking for STEM students in their junior or senior years in high school.

Week of Oct 29

We will continue the puzzle design this week.  Students should complete their options for design and then choose one to continue to work with.  Be sure to check off your design against the criteria and constraints and have someone else double-check you.  Both of you should sign your to indicate that the design meets the criteria.  On Thursday, we will actually make models of the puzzle cube from wood blocks.

This Week at RRHS
We have a late start on Thursday, so there will be no tutorials and school begins at 9:25 on Thursday.  Friday will be a pep rally schedule.

College Rep Visits this Week
Monday - University of Texas
Tuesday - Texas A&M

Field Trip
On Friday, November 8, you can visit Texas State University's school of engineering.  There is no cost; they will provide lunch; and you may ride the bus from RRHS to San Marcos.  The bus will leave RRHS from the 700 bldg bus loop (along Lake Creek Street) at 7:30 a.m.  Be on time since we need to be in San Marcos before 9:00.  We will return around 3:30 or 3:45, in time for the end of the school day.  If you are interested, you need to fill out this form to let me know that you are interested and see me for 2 different permision forms that will need to be completed and returned to me this week.

Week of Oct 21

This week in class
We will finish up the unit on engineering drawings and begin the Puzzle cube this week.  Students will apply the design process and different sketching techniques to create a child's puzzle toy that is made of 5 different pieces that, when put together correctly, make a 2.25" x 2.25" x 2.25" cube.  You will get to take your final product home when finished, and then you will start making the cube in Inventor.

When we get to Inventor, I will make a link available that allows you to download the program at home for use in your class work.  Inventor is a 3d solid modelling program used by engineers to model, test, and communicate their designs.  The school licenses allows students in our engineering classes to download and install the software at home for educational use.

This week at RRHS
There are no special schedules this week (no late start, pep rally, etc.). However, Friday is the last day for the progress reporting period.  Make sure that your grades are all up to date before Friday so that your report is accurate.  If I graded an assignment and you had your journal at home, make sure to show it to me the next class day so that I can update that grade.

College Rep Visits This Week
Tuesday - U.S. Army
Next week:
Monday (Oct 28) - The University of Texas
Tuesday (Oct 29) - Texas A&M University


Opportunities for Aspiring Engineers
HAS/WISH
Each year, NASA hosts the High School Aerospace Scholars (HAS) program.  High school students can apply to NASA on the link provided, but applications must be in by November 15.  If selected, you will get to participate in a series of on-line training sessions and discussions with NASA engineers and other selected students. A select group from that will be selected in the spring to attend a week long camp at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) next summer.  Student teams will work alongside NASA engineers on a space design project and present their solution to JSC engineers and executives.  Best of all, the cost is completely free, including lodging and transportation to JSC in Houston.

If you are interested in the above, and are one of our female students, then consider the WISH program (Women in STEM High School). It is very much the same thing except for being limited to girls only, and the deadline to apply is December 1.  Consider applying to both to increase your chances.

If you are interested in visiting the Ingram School of Engineering at Texas State in San Marcos, be sure that you sign up and then get two permission forms from me: one for Texas State and the other for RRISD.  The visit will be Friday, November 8, which is an A day.  The bus will leave from the 700 bldg bus loop at 7:30 a.m. and return to RRHS around 3:45.  If you are interested, let me know right away since the event date is near.  You will also need to fill out a survey for Texas State on your interests in engineering.

Finally, make sure that you have signed up on my information form if you are attending FAME at A&M on November 16-17, even if you are providing your own transportation.  I would like to know which of our students are attending. If you want to ride a bus over there, then you definitely need to fill out that form and get a permission form from me.

Week of Oct 7

In class This Week
We will continue our study of engineering sketching techniques. By now, you should be familiar with oblique sketching (both cabinet and cavalier), isometric, and 1 point and 2 point perspectives.  This week, we will talk about probably the most common drawing (I won't call it sketching any longer) that engineers use: orthographic drawing.  It is also called multiview drawing since we will typically draw a front, top, and right side view of the subject.  Each of these views only shows 2 dimensions instead of the 3 dimensions that we have been working on.  For the remainder of the year, you will be expected to create drawings in your journals (typically of your choosing although I may sometimes specify the drawing type to be used) of our other projects.

We will then begin the puzzle cube project next week.  You will make a wooden puzzle that is made up of 5 pieces that, when assembled, form a 2" x 2" solid cube.

Be sure to check  below for some interesting opportunities that you have as engineering students.


This week is a late start on Thursday and begins the 2nd six weeks.  However, be warned that this "six weeks" is really only 5 weeks long.  Progress reports come out after 3 weeks, which means that you will only have about a week and a half after they go home before the end of the six weeks.

Week of Sep 30

In Class this Week
We will continue sketching this week as we learn about 1 point and two point perspectives.  I have some objects that we can use to sketch for practice.  This is the last week of the six weeks, so make sure that you have everything turned in and up to date.  Also, leave your journals in class so that I can get them graded this week.

Week of Sep 16

IED classes this week will continue our research on the history of the development of your chosen product.  Be sure to include details on the specific changes, the reasons for them, why they were made possible, who benefited from the changes, and what problems those changes created.  You may make the presentation in Powerpoint, Prezi, Google Slides, or another presentation software of your choice, and you will load the presentation in to Moodle.  You will present your results on Wednesday. Be sure that both team members have a role in the presentation.

We recently watched the video about the industrial design company, Ideo.  Would you believe that we have a similar company that even has some ties to Ideo just a half of a mile from RRHS?  We are working on a field trip to visit M3 Designs in October. Look for more details to come soon.

STEM-related Clubs
If you are interested in helping us to start an engineering club, come to Mrs. Saksena's room (603) Thursday after school for the kick-off meeting.  Many options are open right now regarding what the club can do and how it operates.

Also, the robotics club is now going in full swing. If you are interested, we will meet in my room (601) Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday after school to plan and begin building our solution to the BEST challenge for this year.  You don't have to attend every meeting.  I planned multiple meetings because many of you have conflicts on one particular day and because we will need the time to complete our build and test before competition day, October 26, which will be held at RRHS!

Cyberpatriots is going to kick off this week in my room (601) on Tuesday.  Cyberpatriots teams compete in a competition in November where you will be given computer image(s) with security holes. Your task will be to find the security risks in the software and resolve them. CP teams learn about many different operating systems (like Windows 8, Ubuntu, and more) and what changes to their settings to make them more secure.

This Week at RRHS
Thursday is another late start.

Grades are due on Monday, and IPRs (Interim Progress Reports) will be distributed to students during 2nd period on Wednesday.

College Visits this week
Monday:       University of Chicago
Tuesday:       Abilene Christian University
                    Johnson & Wales University
Wednesday: California Baptist University
Friday:         Rice University

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to a new school year and Round Rock High School Engineering. I am excited about the engineering program and a number of the things that we will be doing this year inside the classroom and out. Make sure that you check this site regularly to keep up with, all of those things. I will notify you of what we will be doing in class, when there are activities that need to be completed outside of class, and field trips or special events that we will take throughout the year.

Check out the related pages above this post. I have one for scholarships that apply to engineering students, internships and work opportunities as well as college recruiting visits. You may even feel free to browse some of the older posts on those pages as many of the items are either ongoing or recurring events. You may find that the links are useful for finding available scholarships and internships even if the stated deadline has passed.

I encourage students and parents alike to sign up for the IED reminders at Remind 101.com The instructions to sign up can be found here, but this is a Twitter-like (short) text delivery system which I can use to send out reminders about assignments, deadlines and other key class information. You can sign up with your mobile phone and/or your email account, depending on which you would prefer, and it does not give me your information. The only thing that I see is a name that you give and which list you are signed up on (in this case, IED). Please make sure to sign up so that you can keep up.

Finally, fill out my information contact form and let me know how to best reach you and also some information about your student that will help me guide them better as we explore engineering and prepare for the future.

This week

We began sketching last week as being able to communicate via pictures and drawings is important to engineers.  Take note as we go along of the difference in the front view, on which we are currently working, and other possible views.  All work should go in your journal.  While I'm at it, remember to sign, date, and number each page in your journal as we go along.  I will conduct the first journal grade next week. following the drawing unit, we will study the different fields of engineering and then the history of engineering development of a product of your choosing.  Students will get practice presenting both of these reports later on.  

Laptop Distribution

All 9th and 10th graders at RRHS will be issued their own laptop as part of the 1:1 initiative.  We will distribute laptops to the current sophomores this Thursday & Friday in the 1100 bldg library.  Freshmen will be issued their laptops next week. 

Open House September 9

Make plans to attend the RRHS Open House next Monday, September 9 at 6:00 p.m.  The evening will kick off with a PTSA meeting, and you will then follow the student's schedule through all 8 periods.  It is a quick opportunity for you to meet the teachers and learn about the different classes that your student are taking.  If you are unable to attend in the evening, we are having a reverse open house offered the morning of Thursday September 12 from 8:00 until 9:00.  You will need to make appointments with the teachers for that morning event.

This week

I am waiting on the solder practice kits before we can finish the foundation unit. Keep in touch with remind101 (see instructions to sign up) to know what videos to watch.

I will do the first journal check this week. Make sure to update your table of contents, sign (or initial) and number each page of your journal. This Friday is the last day for grades before progress reports.

Retest Available

Scores are in, and I am EXCITED!  So far, 24 of you have qualified for college credit for IED through Rochester Institute of Technology.  I have entered grades in to Gradespeed for the results.

Because of the problems encountered yesterday, some of you did not finish or the results were questionable. I have requested a reset/retest for select students.  If you did not finish or the results were not available for some reason, I entered a "1" for the final exam grade.  Those students will retest next week during the regular final exam period - Wednesday morning for 1st period, and Thursday morning for 2nd period.  In addition, I requested that the tests be reset for those students who failed the test as well.  Same rules apply as before except that the system has been working much much better since noon Thursday.  Basically, if you see a failing grade in the gradebook for the final exam, expect to retake the exam next week.

The outages did not affect 3rd period, and your grades are all fine s they are.

Last post for the year!

We are now at the end of the 2013-2014 school year.  I say this every year, but it has gone by fast.

As I have said previously, the EoC for all engineering classes is required per our contract with PLTW.  You will not be eligible to exempt.  However, I am moving it up to this Thursday and Friday.  You should finish your review before Thursday so that you are well prepared.

• You will be given a formula packet (9 pages) that has any formulas that you need on it.  It covers all of the engineering courses that we offer, so much of it is not applicable to IED.  However, it does have area and volume formulas, statistical formulas and others that you might use.
• Beyond formulas, you are allowed one 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper with notes and information that you have handwritten on one side.  We gave out some 1/2 sheets of pink paper that you may use to put your notes on both sides of it.  I would not waste any space on formulas because of the point above.  
• The test is in two parts, each with a 40 minute time limit, and both parts are 100% computer-based. There is no written portion or Inventor example to do.  
• The test will be used as our final exam, and it is what qualifies you for college credit through Rochester Institute of Technology, the University of Texas at Tyler, and other colleges.  

Don't forget to submit your Product Disassembly Powerpoint to Moodle. Those were due last week!

Week of May 6

This next week, we will only see about half of the students in class on any given day due to a combination of EOC testing (which affects all freshmen and sophomores) and AP testing (some sophomores, but mostly juniors and seniors).  As a result, we will do what we did during the STAAR testing in early April: same lesson in class both days.  Some students will be in class on Tuesday, while most of the others will be in class on Thursday.

Students should be wrapping up the disassembly presentation by this Friday.  I have a link in Moodle for you to load the Powerpoint or other file or to load the link to Prezi or some other online presentation software.  

We don't have very much new material left in this year.  It has certainly gone fast.  Two weeks from now, we will start thinking about preparing for the final exams, and then finals are May 28-31.  The final for IED is the End of Course exam that is required by Project Lead the Way for all students.  There will be no exemptions for exams in engineering for the spring semester.  

The good news is that, if you do well in the course and the exam, you will get a letter from me over the summer stating that you have earned the right to get college credit through Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Tyler, or Texas A&M-Kingsville.  In some cases, those credits can be transferred to another school as a transfer credit.  Check with whichever school you may be interested in applying to see how they will handle it.  You would have to pay the school that is granting you the credit, so you need to decide if it is worth it or not for you.  

The final exam schedule has been released. Be sure to clear up all obligations and get your exemption forms turned in by the deadlines.

If you gave me your pendant design to print, it is ready.  Be sure to pick them up this week.

Finally, we will be starting an engineering club at RRHS next fall.  Five of our current students attended a summit with the other RRISD schools last week and are anxious to begin working on it.  If you are interested, let me know so that we can notify you right at the start of school (if not before) next year to get it moving quickly.  

I am finished with morning duty for the year, so I should be available most mornings and afternoons through the remainder of the year.  Also, the last Late Start and WOW for this year will be May 22 & 23, so the schedule for the next 2 weeks should be normal.

If you are interested in the Aerospace class that we will have next year, I started the blog for it already.  Yeah.  I'm a little excited about that one.  :-) I will post updates over the summer for those who signed up to take the class next year.  

Week of April 15

This week may be the last "normal" week of school.  We do have a Late Start on Thursday, the last one for the month of April.  The next one will be May 2.  However, juniors will be taking the last TAKS test next week (April 22 - 25).  Everyone besides juniors is expected to continue with classes normally.  In the early weeks of May, many students will be involved in more STAAR testing and AP testing.

IED classes will continue with the Reverse Engineering unit this week.  We will study functional analysis on Monday and then structural analysis on Wednesday.  Students will analyze the function and design of our Automoblox cars and create a presentation to describe your results.  Before class on Monday, be sure to watch the video on simple machines so that you can describe the car parts and function with the correct technical term.  These reports should be technical and professional.  I have also created a short quiz that you should take in Moodle after the video to get credit for having completed that assignment.

If you are attending the Dell Social Media field trip this Friday, be sure that you get the forms turned in first thing Monday and sign up on the form so that I have your contact and id information that is needed. 

Week of April 8

Now that STAAR testing is over, we can get back to some sort of normal - at least for a while.  Expect more changes in scheduling for the last week of this month for TAKS testing.  There is a Late Start this Thursday, but that is the only anomaly.  All of the other days should be regular schedules.

Now that the final six weeks is upon us, it is more important than ever to keep on top of your work.  There will be less time than ever before to make up assignments with the last day of school now on the horizon.  This six weeks is really made up of seven weeks plus the final exam week, that happens after Labor Day.

This is Mr. Peterson's last week with us.  Make sure to say good bye to him before Friday.  He has done a great job with the classes, and his future students will be very lucky to have him.

I am altering some of the format of this web page slightly.  Notice that I have added another tab at the top, called "Internships, Work, and Summer Camps".  I had been putting that on the scholarship tab, but these didn't seem to fit.  Besides, I am getting enough of them that they deserved their own page.  If you haven't yet, check out both tabs. I will post scholarship and other free money (contests) information that gets sent to me on that page.  Hopefully, you will get some free money to help with college or, in some cases, just for doing a good job on a given project!  The new tab will host all of the information about summer jobs, internships (some paid/some not), and summer camps that should appeal to high school engineering students.  On both pages, I provide links for more information as well as applications.

If you are interested in the Dell Social Media trip on Friday April 19, be sure to sign up on this form and complete these forms (completely - all teachers must sign) by this coming Friday.  We can only take 40 students, max.  You must be passing all of your classes and caught up in your work in order to attend.

This is the first week of the last six weeks.  The year will be over soon, but it is not finished yet.  We still have work to do before the EOC exam for engineering, which is required of all students. Look for your 5th six weeks report cards to be sent home on Wednesday or Thursday.

Finally (before I talk about class this week), I have created a new site for our newest class, Aerospace Engineering.  We will be offering that class next fall, and I am excited about every aspect of it.  There isn't much to talk about right now, but as the class starts to take shape over the summer, I will update the page with new developments.

Week of April 1

This is the last week of the six weeks, so you need to make sure that all of your work is complete.  If not, we will have tutorials every afternoon and morning this week.  There are no duties or meetings this week.  Only one more six weeks to go, then, after this.  There is no late start or WOW, but that doesn't mean that the schedule is normal all week. Freshmen will be taking the STAAR test on Monday & Tuesday while sophomores will be taking it on Wednesday and Thursday.  The rest of the school will follow a normal schedule missing about 1/4 of the students.  We will work on the same assignment (complete your update of your portfolio) all week this week to allow everyone ample time to finish their work.

Make sure, also that you correct any mistakes from the original submission of your portfolio.  It is supposed to represent your best work, so it should reflect your current knowledge and best effort.

Journals have been graded along with all of the other assignments from this six weeks.  If you have any missing grades, be sure that you show them to Mr. Peterson or come in for tutorials to complete work this week.

Week of March 25

Spring break is over, and we are in the next-to-last week of this six weeks.  That means that all work needs to be finished by next week (first week of April).  Make sure that you are on top of your grades in the gradebook so that you know where you stand.  We have morning duty this week but will be available after school for tutorials and make-up work.  Next week, we will be available before and after school as usual.  You may take advantage of WOW this week to complete assignments, if you need the computer lab.  There is now WOW next week.  This is your chance before the end of the grading period. 

Don't forget that this Friday is a school holiday.  Enjoy your long weekend with family and friends.  Also, Wednesday is WOW, but Thursday is NOT a late start. 

IED students will finish their train drawing package.  You should have finished the package and be ready for a journal check before the end of the week. 

Week of Feb 25

Students should finish the section view activity on Tuesday.  You will need to create item # 5 and #7 in Inventor.  Be sure that you choose the best side for a front view BEFORE you start sketching.  Skip #4 & #6 (sketch in your journal) as you will use drawings that are created by Inventor.  On Thursday, we will start a review of dimensioning techniques so that you can create a drawing packet for the train.  Then, we will be finished up with the train.

If you want to print your train on the 3d printer, you need to engrave your name or initials in the train body somewhere, make sure that it is shelled, and place an STL file in the 3d pinter folder for your class period.  Get with myself or Mr. Peterson for help completing this.  I have printed about 8-10 of the trains already.  Be patient as the trains need to cure and dry before I can get them to you, so that they don't break as easily.

Leave your journals in class this week as I will be grading them.  Be sure to follow the usual journal requirements.  You should have class notes and work from the last two activities: auxiliary views and section views.  You can find the activities on Moodle if you need to make up any work.

Students have the choice sheets to sign up for courses for next year.  I created and gave a presentation in class last week that described the course sequence for engineering classes.  Students in IED should take Principles of Engineering (PoE) next, but you may take it in conjunction with another class if you need to squeeze in two classes in one year.  In order to be recognized as an academy graduate, you must complete IED, PoE, and Digital Electronics (DE). In addition, we offer Civil Engineering and Architecture (CEA) and Aerospace Engineering (AE) as specialization electives.  Both courses appear on the choice sheet for next year.  If you have any questions about the courses, what they involve, or what you should take, get with me.

Week of Feb 18

It is that time of year again - when students begin making choices about classes for next year.  For one thing, if you are planning to take the next engineering elective, know that we will be offering Aerospace Engineering next year.  The RRISD academy model requires that you take IED, PoE and DE, specifically and may take the specialization electives above and beyond that.  Those electives are currently Civil Engineering & Architecture and - now - Aerospace Engineering.  The plan is that we will alternate AE with CEA every other year.  Both of those are showing up on your course selection sheet for 2013-2014.  For now, I would expect that AE will be offered in 2013 and again in 2015.  If you are a sophomore and planning on AE, you should make room in your schedule next year in case it is not offered in 2014.  Freshmen will have plenty of time to take AE in a future year and should definitely take PoE for next year.  If you have any questions about the course sequence, please don't hesitate to ask me.

IED will continue with auxiliary drawings in Wednesday. You should make the parts from the last activity (8.3) in Inventor and check your calculations using the iProperties feature.  Next, you will move on to dimensioning, which has been covered in the past. However, there are some new dimension topics to cover in addition to a much needed review.

This is the start of a new six weeks.  The year is already 2/3 over and going fast!  Look for report cards to come home late this week.  Also, I graded journals for the six weeks.  If you did not leave yours at school, make sure to do so tomorrow so that I can grade it before grades are finally due.

Parents, we have a student teacher for this semester.  Mr. John Peterson has been with us for a month now and already been teaching IED classes.  He will take on more of the planning and grading responsibilities for my classes for the next couple of months.  You can still contact me if you have any questions, but I wanted you to meet Mr. Peterson because he has been doing a great job for RRHS engineering.

Week of Feb 11

You should be finished with all train parts (graded this weekend) and the train assembly, that will be graded this week.  We will begin some additional Inventor and design concepts this week, starting with parametric modelling on Monday.  Once we have the skills, we will create a drawing packet for all of the parts of our trains.

If you want to have your train printed on the 3d printer, I will give you instructions in class on Monday.  It is not required and, since the material is expensive, I only want to print trains for those of you who want them.

This is the last week of the six weeks, so make sure that you are up to date on all of your assignments.  To help with that, Wednesday will be a WOW day.  Make sure to get a WOW pass from any of your teachers for whom you need to make up or redo work.  There is no late start on Thursday, however.

Since this is the last week of the six weeks, I will do a journal check this week. Make sure that your journals are up to date and left in the room so that I can access them for grading.

Don't forget that next Monday (Feb 18) is a student holiday.  I hope that you enjoy your 3 day weekend.

3d Printing Challenge Update
The IMAPS conference for this month has been postponed, so the time pressure is off.  However, we are going to continue the challenge. If you are interested and have not signed up yet, there is still time.  Go to this link and give me contact information so that I can let you know when information comes out.  We will assemble a kit of parts that you can use and give to each team that will include an LED light, watch battery and battery holder, and some amount of ink.  Each team will experiment with the ink and the printer to vet out various approaches and then select the one that they feel has the best chance of success.  Then, you will design with that approach in mind, evaluate and even redesign. Remember that your design not working doesn't mean the project didn't succeed.  We are exploring territory here that hasn't been developed yet, so knowing the pitfalls and problems is in itself a success.  Check out the history of the rocket industry.  Today, we send humans and equipment in to space with regularity, but the industry spent years and years in "failure" as rocket after rocket exploded or rose a few feet in the air and then sank back and crashed back in to the ground.  After each failed attempt, the teams analyzed what went wrong and solved the problems - one at a time - to create the scientific and engineering success that we all know today.

We will start meeting weekly with the Novacentrix engineers and possibly others to exchange knowledge.  They will be able to share with us their knowledge of the conductive ink, and we will share with them our findings about how it interacts with the 3d printing materials and process.

Week of Feb 4

We are continuing to work on the train parts as we will assemble the parts this week in to an assembly (iam) file.  Be sure that you are choosing the correct orientation for your parts - in other words - thinking about the parts before  you start sketching in Inventor.  Also, be sure that you have finished the CAD Models activity (5.5) so that I can grade them.  I will also begin grading parts of the train.  Finally, be sure that you are making notes and observations in your journal on a regular basis, even if we do not have class notes each day. 

Paying for college is expensive.  RRHS' PTSA is hosting an information session to help you (and/or your parents) pay for college without going broke.  Check out the link or visit the PTSA home page for more information.

This week has both WOW on Wednesday and Late Start on Thursday.  

Last desperate plea for Semi High Tech U.  This is an incredible opportunity for our you to explore the life of an engineer in a high-tech company and get good advice about how to best prepare yourself for a technical career.  The deadline for applications is this Wednesday  I will be glad to answer any questions or help you in any way that I can because I know you would enjoy the experience as well as learn from it.

Week of January 28

This week, we get to start making the miniature train that you have been hearing about.  Those who do a good job on their designs will have a chance to get your train printed on the 3d printer and have a keepsake from your year in IED.  This is putting all of those sketching and modeling lessons to good use.  If you are interested in the IMAPS design project, you will need to make a train (or something similar) as a part of that project.  Be sure that you plan out your first sketch to achieve the correct orientation as outlined in the activity packet.  Also, think about how you can make the parts in the fewest number of steps.  Both of those criteria will be part of the grade for this project. 

I started creating videos to help you create some of the parts last semester.  Mr. Peterson is going to continue and expand that with this lesson.  Look for him to post some help videos in Moodle.  I would prefer that you make some attempts on your own before consulting the video lessons.  The learning will be much more permanent, but they will be very helpful to you, especially when you get stuck or for seeing a more efficient way to make something.  This concept has worked well for my DE class, and I look forward to seeing it work in IED as well. 

Don't forget that the deadline to apply for Semi High Tech U is Feb 6.  If you can afford the time away from school, it will be the most fun three days you will spend learning this year. Let me know if I can help you in any way. 

Week of January 21

Don't forget that Monday is a holiday.  No one will be at school on January 20.  When we return, we will continue for one more class period with the advanced CAD modelling (Activity 5.5) and then begin building the train on Thursday.  If you can not finish the CAD models by the end of Tuesday in class, plan to come in for some tutorial time outside of class to complete it.  I will also do a journal check this week.  Make sure that you have all of the information that has been given to you; table of contents are up to date; and that each page has a signature, date and number.

Happy New Year!

Welcome back.  I hope that you had a great break and are looking forward to a fantastic spring semester in IED.  The year is going by very fast, so getting in everything that we need to get done and all of the fun extra things will be a challenge.  Right from the start, we have a busy month with activities outside the class on top of continuing to learn about the engineering design process.

Toy Train designed using Autodesk Inventor

In the class, we will pick back up with Inventor lessons to enhance and improve our 3d modeling skills.  First off, we will pick back up with the Advanced Sketching activity that was started in December before we started the review for the final exam.  This activity, if you remember, had us exploring different methods of creating a 2d sketch in Inventor.  On Wednesday and Friday, we will move on to a similar activity and explore other methods for turning the 2d sketch in to a 3d solid model.  That is to help set up the train activity, which we will start next week. You will actually create a miniature toy train like the one shown on the right.  If you want, you can create your train on the 3d printer.


Extra-Curricular Projects

This train will play a part in the participation in the upcoming IMAPS Digital Printed Circuit Structures workshop on Feb 21-22.  I will explain in class and provide a link with more details, but a team of 4-6 students from RRHS will have a chance to present at this professional workshop, attended and created by professional engineers and engineering faculty members from some of the same colleges to which you may be soon applying.  The conference is being held in El Paso, but the team with the best design will have an opportunity to present your project via Skype to an audience of professionals!  It should be a lot of fun and a great addition to your college applications not to mention the direct exposure that it will give you before faculty members.

Students can participate in the Stratasys Extreme Redesign 3d Printing Challenge.  The challenge is fairly open, but you will select an item that you are familiar with and improve it through redesign.  We will cover this in a later unit, but contest entries are due February 6.  The linked web site includes contest rules and the application instructions.  You will need to submit an STL file for the 3d printer, and I can help you create that.  Winning entries in each category (and there are three) will be awarded $2500!

Don't forget about the chance to apply for the SEMI High Tech U, which will be Feb 20, 21, & 22.  It is a very fun and very educational 3 day field trip.  Of course,  you would be responsible for the school work for those days that you miss.  However, RRHS students have a chance to apply before applications are opened to students at other schools.  That was supposed to happen January 1, but I imagine that you can still get in early before too many others apply.  Dowlonad and submit your application RIGHT AWAY!