So very HAPI

The idea behind HAPI themes is to embellish those humanistic qualities extraneous or, if not extraneous, at least somewhat aft of the Engineering focus. Being a secular humanist, I often delve in philosophical readings: mainly Kant, Collingwood, and Plato. When I read philosophical finding I am therefore in my HAPI mode. This isn't to say, as I have learned from a previous study in logic, that philosophical reading aren't the only things that trigger a HAPI state.

Though an engineer, I also find the need to watch the news every day and look at Wiki and Wikileaks articles on the daily. Perhaps its my love of, what the philosophers deemed as wisdom which makes me stay so in tune with the world. I simply love to learn about things both pragmatic and concurrent as well as the useless and the abstract. The truth of the matter is that learning is my favorite thing to do. I don't watch much TV nowadays though I used to for very elongated periods of time.

Perhaps the HAPI theme that is most relevant to my major is my fascination of the unknown. As an Aerospace Engineer undergrad, the idea of the last frontier has always fascinated me. I figured such a major would allow my curiosity to be peaked and intrigued. So far I have not had any doubts and I am currently focused on my school life.

iDEAS, iDEAS

I would love to work with Richard Branson on his commercial spaceflight initiative. I would love to kickstart the personal flying car.

The Fluid iEFX system

If you haven't guessed yet, you will see that my design of the iEFX system is very Goldberg-centric. Now, the reason why I believe that to be so is because 1) we watch his videos from occasion to occasion and because 2) we were forced to buy his book, the Entrepreneurial Engineer. Given these last two facts, it becomes quite apparent that iEFX is truly a machine not necessarily designed by Goldberg altogether but at least based on some of his articulated principles.

Title: Labeling and whatnot. <---Failure to label.

The problem with labeling is...that...you're never too sure how specific you should be or, as the case may be, never know whether or not your great specifity may lead to sinilar complications. The problem with labeling, I'd argue, goes back to problems with miscommunication which in themselves can be attributed to the ambiguety of language. Now I don't mean to be repetitive but the concept of language is an integral part of labeling. Labeling itself can be seen as a sense of unspoken communication. How you choose to label something will definitely affect how well your message is conveyed.

Even from such a small scale area such as an airport, two differentally cultured people could hold completely dissimilar concepts of a singular object. At the very minimum, that's the value I saw in our iEFX class activity. Almost immediately, one could hear the sounds of scrutiny emanating from tired voices. "What? That's not a terminal..." or "What? They labeled the plane?!?" I gotta admit that I felt very sly for being able to label the whole plane however I almost immediately knew that someone would be lost trying to figure out exactly a fuselage was or, because of the small scale picture of the plane, have a very hard time trying to figure out where exactly the ailerons are on a wing...or even know what ailerons are or do!

What can I say? I got myself into Aerospace and am now consumed by its stylistic and technical jargon. However all labeling gets some getting used to. I was often very lost for some of Professor Dutton's lectures. I try to preview lectures nowadays to get familiar iwth the material.

Sometimes our miscommunication comes form our inability to label however at other times its our inability to know certain things that makes labeling hard to understand. While working at Orion Industries and working on their inventory, I had to get very familiar with labeling. Most importantly, I had to learn the names of numerous parts, gauges, bolts etc.. From that point onward, I tried to create a very easy systemt to help categorize certain things. I did this by asking questions. Through these questions, I was able to come up with a labeling system that would be easy to follow...even for an intern. Basics such as these are easy to complicate as well but using acombination of these missing basics can make life so much easier for you and others around you.

Communication is Key: The pen and the voice

We all suffer from Newton101 at some point in our lives! I for one am certainly not the exception to the rule. I can recall at least 10 situations in which I have gotten in trouble because of my communication errors. Granted most of them have also been due to knowledge issues and the ambiguity of language as a whole. To some people the word "maybe" becomes a topic of confusion. Depending on the person, the word "maybe" changes its contextual realm. We all know that one kid who, when he says "maybe," really means "sure I'll do it if you stress it enough" but just as likely remember the kid who responds "maybe" and means "when hell freezes over." Words take a definition based on cultural contexts...so is it really your fault for a miscalculation in communication? Though I may be arguing that communication can never be perfect, I am not arguing that all forms of communication are above us. We can approach it in a very similar manner as science is approached because as one should know, science is not a very conclusive field of knowledge; scientific conclusions are right until proven otherwise. How we choose our words and dictate our thoughts should be demonstrative of our need, ability, and talent to convey meaning. Each person can be a separate scientific case. It's only up to us to come up with our own hypotheses on how a group of words can effect a change in a person's mindset. Manipulating and presenting language can, in this way, be a learning process.

Social Networking at Illinois

"Not much of a daunting task but often a useful one, networking retains a vital aspect in the hierarchy of social and economic mobility." I quoted my fellow business majoring friend who in her attempt to ridicule my initial opening sentence...ended up providing me with a dressed up version of what I was about to say...but in reverse fashion. Why do I bring this up? Her thinking perpetuates a sort of stereotype whereby business students usually see the socializing aspect of work a tangible resource rather than mobility blockade. There's the glorified, simplified view of networking and then...there's the case of the "engineer" who, hiding from the face of social scrutiny, finds it difficult to shed his previous life as a cultured hermit. It's all mentality...and mentality can be mended to suit a purpose.

I for one am not saying that networking is too terribly easy but it sure isn't the hardest task at hand for any college student. Though not required, we, as students, are often told to talk to our professors. Why might you ask? It's because the smallest encounter with a professor could lead to forming other connections. It could lead to opportunities, internships, and perhaps even research. It just takes initiative really.

It's often really interesting how rather random experiences can lead to networking. Despite the lack of initiative, I managed my real life social network by meeting "a friend of a friend." As often is the case, knowing a person in common really facilitated the experience. I also took the time to get to know a TA of mine (Ilya Gurevic)who now know recognizes me from a quad away apparently...and is able to pronounce my name in spanish in a correct fashion. Now that wasn't all I did. I also experienced the harsh reality of an Engineering job fair. Underqualified and ambitious is the best that my resume could portray me. I wasn't expecting much from the experience other than for it to be "a learning experience." On the upside, I became familiar with the almost, ritualesque behaviors and practices at such a fair with all of its formalities. The networking was rather minimal but helpful for me.

iEFX Resume

Xavier Medina
Lincoln Park High School

Education
Unweighted GPA: 3.7
Weighted GPA: 4.78
International Baccalaureate Diploma
Hispanic National Merit Semi-Finalist
National Merit Commended
Illinois State Scholar
AP Scholar

Clubs/Sports
3 years of Varsity Soccer
4 years of Varsity Chess
1 year of Academic Decathlon
1 year of band (trumpet)
2 years of Newspaper club (newspaper editor)

Honors
3 years of State Playoffs (soccer)
3rd place State Academic Decathlon (medal)
3rd Place CPS Chess Tournament

Work Experiences
School Principal Assistant 2010
Technical Support / Assistant at Orion Industries, Dimension Bond and Surface Solutions Group

Blog Post #1: Missing Basics & Mini-Action Plans

Engineering is "practical, fun, mathematics, science"...Engineering isn't "history, memorizing dates, literature (and insert double negative noun here)." Well...what is engineering? At the point at which we offer double negatives for a description of what "Engineering isn't," it becomes rather clear that our answers are nearly misguided interpretations, swayed and swindled by our lilliputian exposure to engineering. The only consensus we all seem to reach is that engineering is somehow both hard and fun...an intriguing paradox really. However even students outside of our engineering major conform to popular belief. After answering the usual suspect of a question,"What's your major?", with "_____ Engineering; one is astonished to hear 'wow' or 'u must be smart ' or my personal favorite 'good luck with your social life'."...hardy-har-har.

At some point we take these rather sarcastic comments or elogies too close to heart...as if we have to prove that we are actually that smart or worthy of that one friend's "wow." Our medium toward this is none other than scholastic triumph or...acing calculus and physics courses. Yes, the praise is good and math and physics are an integral part of engineering but ENG 198 helps us acknowledge the humane side of engineering; to acknowledge that asking the right questions, sociability, and familiarity with the parts one is working with are also essential components of not just an engineer but a successful engineer. All the hours of math and physics required by an Aerospace Engineering student such as myself should not be belittled by the missing basics but rather supplemented and empowered by them.

My mini-action plan toward these goals started out before my transition into college. I was very fortunate to meet other engineers in my summer job and to work alongside them. The experience with certain aspects of engineering such as circuit boards was well appreciated but the most important aspect I learned was an extra-engineering aspect (or at the time I thought it to be somewhat extraneous to engineering). This aspect was to not take myself too seriously. What he meant was to not develop a superiority complex, leaving room for error, questions, and mentoring. (I now realize that this may sound like one of those chapters in our summer reading :O...maybe he read it too). Only through error can we learn to ask questions, better ourselves, and become more sociable in the process. If you never sought help because of a superiority complex...today's a good day to get over your fear of failure.