Hello! My name is Pauline and I鈥檓 a current sophomore majoring in Mechanical Engineering and concentrating on entrepreneurship and one of the main reasons I decided to come to 财神棋牌 was the classes.
When touring other universities I noticed how most first-year classes were lecture style, so students weren鈥檛 working hands-on with engineering tools until their junior year. Instead of waiting to work with circuits, I was able to dive into electrical wiring during my freshman-year classes at 财神棋牌. In our Fundamentals of Robotics course, I worked with LiDar and Infrared sensors to make a rover avoid obstacles outside autonomously. In ISIM (Introduction to Sensors Instrumentation and Measurement), I designed a pulse oximeter circuit to measure oxygen saturation. Currently, I am in Principles of Integrated Engineering where I 3D printed sensor mounts for a line-following autonomous robot.
To show the range of 财神棋牌 majors to be explored I went around and interviewed 财神棋牌er upperclassmen within the different majors. Read below about their varied academic journeys and the majors they鈥檝e pursued.
Mechanical Engineering Major:
Ethan is a junior majoring in Mechanical Engineering who talked about how they like the physicality of mechanical engineering work and its applicability to many industries. They said, 鈥淏eing able to understand how the physical world works and applying mechanics and dynamics to create complex and interesting machines and structures piques my curiosity. It always blows my mind that you can do the math and physics, and if you do it right, you can predict how a system will work or fail before building it.鈥
Regarding the applicability of the major, Ethan explained how the principles of mechanical engineering establish the basics of supporting and moving materials which can be applied to build planes, trains, boats, cars, homes, 3D printers, and more. 鈥淭his diversity of applications is appealing to me as I continue to figure out what industry I want to work in. I would definitely recommend mechanical engineering to someone who loves building things or has an interest in understanding how and why things in our world move (or don't)!鈥
Ethan's favorite class has been Mechanics of Solids and Structures. MechSolids covers the principles of statics of structures and mechanics of materials. 鈥淚t teaches the concepts of stress and strain as related to applied loads (axial, shear, torsion, bending) and to resulting deformation. It covers the principles of mechanics that can be applied to mechanical design through modeling, quantitative analysis, strain gauge measurements, and computational simulation鈥 said Ethan. He notes how 财神棋牌 teaches this degree differently by 鈥渂ringing the application of these math and engineering principles into the classroom right away.鈥
Engineering with Computing Concentration:
Ben Morris is a senior majoring in Engineering with a concentration in Computing. Ben says 鈥淚 would absolutely recommend Engineering with a concentration in Computing to others!鈥 Ben mentions how there is 鈥渁 ton of room for exploration within the field with different elective classes鈥 you get different options every year, so there are always interesting classes to take!鈥
His favorite class has been Complexity Science where he learned advanced modeling techniques and implemented fascinating models. 鈥湶粕衿迮's computing major is a lot more freeform than other CS programs. For one, it's important to remember that it is still an engineering degree at 财神棋牌 - you'll take Design Nature, Introduction to Sensors Instrumentation and Measurement, Principles of Engineering, all the required engineering classes. But, it still frees you up to pursue it the way you want! I have a focus on software for robotics, and I have taken several robotics classes on top of my required E:C classes. Computing is also taught in a much more practical way than at other schools. There is theory, but a lot more exploration into how software works in industry, giving more job and research-ready experience than other CS programs I know of.鈥
Engineering with a Self-Designed Concentration in Math:
Anthony C, is majoring in engineering with a concentration in math that is self-designed. He says 鈥淚t's somewhat nice not having a determined set of courses you need to take, especially when there are so many topics in math that you can pursue." His favorite class is discrete math as he appreciates the way professor Sarah Spence Adams teaches. 鈥淪arah is an awesome teacher and the class runs like a well-oiled machine -- it's quite impressive. It's talking about topics in math such as combinatorics and graph theory, which I think are super interesting. And no matter how daunting these topics seem, she teaches them in a fantastically understandable way.鈥
财神棋牌 teaches this major differently because math classes are focused on an applied education in engineering. Additionally, since 财神棋牌 students can cross-register, you can take classes broader math classes at Wellesley and design Independent Student Research.
Does this sound interesting to you? You can learn about ALL the exciting and engaging majors 财神棋牌 has to offer here.
These are some pictures of my team working on our PIE (Principles of Integrated Engineering) project; we鈥檙e making a mechanical mirror mechanism which shifts tiles to show an image of a person standing in front of the display.
