MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Though the Massachusetts Institute of Technology may be best known for its math, science, and engineering education, this private research university also offers architecture, humanities, management, and social science programs. The school is located in Cambridge, Mass., just across the Charles River from downtown Boston. Stanford University The sunny campus of Stanford University is located in California’s Bay Area, about 30 miles from San Francisco. The private institution stresses a multidisciplinary combination of teaching, learning, and research, and students have many opportunities to get involved in research projects. University of California - Berkeley The University of California—Berkeley overlooks the San Francisco Bay in Berkeley, Calif. Students at this public school have more than 700 organizations to get involved in, including more than 55 fraternity and sorority chapters. California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology focuses on science and engineering education and has a low student-to-faculty ratio of 3:1. This private institution in Pasadena, Calif. is actively involved in research projects with grants from NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Institute of Technology has a total undergraduate enrollment of 14,527, with a gender distribution of 67 percent male students and 33 percent female students. At this school, 56 percent of the students live in college-owned, -operated, or -affiliated housing and 44 percent of students live off campus. Topic: The Effects of seismic shock on different bridge bracing systems. Hypothesis: The Bridge with the Cross Bracing system will withstand various levels of seismic shock longer than the bridges with V bracing, and diagonal bracing systems. (my hypothesis was accepted.) My Abstract: This experiment was done in the hopes of finding out which bridge bracing system would be the best to use in a bridge for seismic shock resistance (earthquake resistance). After a month or so of research three types of bridge bracing systems were tested (Cross Bracing, V-bracing, and Diagonal bracing). Nine truss bridges total were made from wood glue and balsa wood sticks. They were then tested on an earthquake simulating machine. The machine tested three different sets of magnitudes which included 2.5-5.4, 6.1 -6.9, and 7.0 -7.9. Pictures were taken all throughout the experiment and results and observations were taken down. During the testing the v- bracing seem to have the most damage but it took more time to instill it, unlike the diagonal, whom failed earliest but not as dramatic. Dissimilar to both of these, the cross bracing took longest and had very few broken pieces. In the results, the bracing system that did the best was cross bracing, next v-line and lastly diagonal. Their average times were 11 minutes, 5 minutes and 30 seconds, and 4 minutes and 2 seconds. These findings showed that cross bracing would be the better choice to use in a real life bridge or building in order to withstand seismic shock. I decided to participate in the AWWA water tower competition for the second year since my entering high school. It was loads of fun!!! and I won another award for creativity as I did last year. this years award was " best theme" and my tower name was "High city Living". It had one small leak that I could have easily fixed. but all in all I had fun and cant wait to build another tower next school year! my water tower was made from a water jug , plywood, paint, cotton balls, cardboard, plastic tubing, duct tape, poster board, water pastels, and nails. I did not have help making it . I cut the wood pieces at school with a saw, and used the sander to prep the surfaces for painting. Next I drilled 3 holes and used my hammer to nail the legs through the platform. I did all of this after I completed the jug tubing. then I just attached the jug with tube and decorated! (A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water supply system for the distribution of potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection.) -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_tower I'm so envious of those people who have no idea what they want to be in life yet. they actually explore their choices. I never really had a chance to. I thought I always wanted to be a civil engineer and I think I do. there are so many other fields that interest me. Like:
Architectural Engineering Design Engineering Architecture Interior /Exterior Design I have never wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer, or a singer, or a rock star, rapper, etc.. always an engineer . one who can design and build mind-blowingly creative home, bridges, and buildings. but which career will give me what I want in life? ... that is the question. My assignment was to design a bookcase . The creativity level of students is so low now-a-days is appalling. Wheres the imagination! my bookcase rotates and opens on the side to hold two 3 foot tall vases. it can also hold a printer and an entire encyclopedia set. :) ita not the most creative thing ever ... but its a start.
This summer I was blessed to be able to participate in a civil engineering class at an engineering college: Innovative materials for infrastructure. I picked this course because I was, and am , extremely interested in using "green" or earth friendly materials and building styles in civil- engineering. we learned about fly ash and HDPE fibers being used in concrete to strengthen it and increase toughness. we used recycled aggregate in our concrete mixtures and made 3 control group specimens , 3 specimens with fly ash, and 3 with HDPE fibers. then we put it in a machine that crushed them and recorded the strength index, and toughness index, made stress /strain Curves for the specimens and at the end of the college course we had a PowerPoint due and a 29 paged report about concrete uses and innovative materials. My title : The testing of Fly Ash and HDPE fibers as Innovative materials to improve properties of concrete and increase sustainability. This was by far the longest title I've ever written! Being the only 9th grader in that class was tough because the prerequisites were way over my years of acquired knowledge, but I owe the experience and my teachers a lot. Not only did it show me how rigorous College courses are, but it helped me mature and take certain things more seriously. It was no walk in the park, trust me. But in the end I learned a lot, and passed the course with an "A"! This was an amazing summer. |
Engineers Shape the World. AuthorMore than anything in the world I Would Love to be a Civil engineer/ Architect or architectural engineer. The fact that A great mind was able to come up with such feats as the pyramids, Roman Coliseum, the One World trade center, Taj Mahal, Tokyo tower and all of the amazing designs for homes around the world is Mind-Blowing. I would love to one day be able to contribute my ideas to the engineering world. I HOPE THEY'RE READY!! Archives
June 2014
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