Prompt #8

Almost every freshman within the engineering field has to take a course called EGR 100. It has both a lab and a lecture portion to it. We haven't gotten into specifics much in the lectures, but we have begun to experiment with some basic engineering principles in the lab portion using an NXT robot kit, allowing for some hands-on experience within all the groups. Our first project involves building and programming it to perform certain tasks. The only one we've got to so far is using a light sensor to get the robot to follow a black line.

Testing the Robot allowed all of us a simple real life exposure to the scientific method. Though an extremely simple topic discussed in middle school science, the scientific method is vital to engineers in their work. The lab this week was dedicated to programming the robot and we still haven't really learned exactly how the programming software works. Some groups already have programming experience, but unfortunately, no one in my groups does. Regardless, the only way to achieve the goal is through running multiple experiments. Using the programming software, each group has three values to input and program the robot to get it to work. Personally, I had no idea what any of the three numbers meant in terms of how they affected the robot, but we still input multiple different values until we found a combination that worked. 

We tested our robots by running it through a course with a winding black path for our robot to follow. This simple example of the scientific method process was definitely a good starting point for our engineering lab as the concepts become more and more difficult. This example might seem like a repetitive and boring trial and error process to some, the scientific method is really at the heart of any engineering occupation that you could think of and it's good to be exposed to the process. The great part about this hands-on experience is so that students can figure out whether or not the experimental process appeals to them moving forward. 

Though they deal with much more complex and significant world problems, real engineers do have to engage in this process every single day. With that in mind, I think this was a very important experiment for many freshman looking to observe what it is that engineers actually do on a day-to-day basis. For some, the prolonged repetition and testing process might seem like quite a boring career. For others, the end result of achieving your goal is ultimately worth the struggle.

There are plenty of students that solely focused on the academic aspect of engineering. Their love of math and science led them to choose it as their declared major. To those, I’d say this class is very beneficial to them. It allows them an opportunity to truly grasp what a career in engineering looks like. The hands-on experience is so unbelievably different than sitting in a lecture or studying a textbook. For many, a simple task such as programming and testing a Lego robot is enough to dissuade them from pursuing a career in the engineering field, and honestly, that’s not a bad thing at all. It’s better to realize your passion early rather than late. Personally, I don’t mind the struggle and I think it’s important that people feel the need to persevere in order to find solutions to some of the world’s greatest problems. Regardless, the class is a great way for engineering students to figure out if the next four years of their lives is going to be worth it. But, it’s very obvious that a hands-on experience differs completely from just learning academic material.

-Danny