Fourth year business

Ahhh. Things have been really busy lately. Fourth year seemed like it was going to be less work than the previous years. I thought that we paid our dues and they (the profs) would just let us coast a bit for the final year. Class hours are considerably less. There are no tutorials, no major labs, just HUGE assignments and projects. A 15 page essay here, a design report there, and looking for a full time job in between. It all adds up to a busy a year with little to no motivation to do any work. I never had the motivation to begin with, but this year is proving to be even worse. Is it because I’m close to being done?

On other hand I don’t want to finish school. I was thinking the other night, while trying to fall asleep at about 4 am, about what awaits me after a few months. It’s scary! I’ve considered grad school, but so far I’m not really pumped about an research going on around here. I have done my research and applied to places that I really believe will provide a rewarding career, and I have an interview for one of those places tomorrow. I’m nervous, but I’m sure it’ll go fine.

One thing I like about the job I have an interview for is the flexible start date. When I asked the hiring engineer she said that I can start after the Labour Day weekend, which means I can spend my summer backpacking in Europe, pay a nice long visit to Syria, and perhaps explore some neighbouring countries as well.

Another reason I have been especially busy this term is due to my increased involvement in clubs, and soccer. I wanted my last year of university to be socially rewarding. I wanted to meet more people, make some long term friends, especially since once I leave it’ll be hard meeting people randomly. University, I thought, was a great repertoire of interesting and cool people conveniently grouped together.

On another note, I remember promising to tell you about my final design project, so here’s a brief description of what it is. According to my power point presentation to the profs my project is “a retrofit-able sorting mechanism to sort garbage and recyclables for use in high rise residential buildings.” In simple words, it a mechanism that detects garbage from recycling as the bag is speeding down the garbage chute, and then sorts it accordingly. We’re hoping to reduce the amount of recyclable material usually thrown down the chute by making it more convenient to recycle, which reduces landfill volumes by at least 20%. In most building a resident has to go all the way to the first floor to throw out the recycling, with our design you just deposit it in the chute and forget it about. Are you sold yet?

Once I have some drawings I’ll post them online. My partner and I are planning to build a scale-model of the system next term. If everything goes smoothly I’ll post a video with the mechanism in action.

For now I better get back the lab, or is it the essay?

Condolences to Yazan

I was shocked when I heard the news. Thoughts of Yazan keep going through my head, and I wish I was closer so I can support him like a friend is supposed to. But for now this is all I can do.

Condolences my friend, be patient, we're all here with you.