Week of Dec 17

The exam for CEA will be on Wednesday  at 11:15.  Remember that school is out at 1:15 on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  School is out at 9:05 on Friday, so have a good and safe holidays.

I am postponing the portfolio until January.  I won't have any time in class for it, but you can work on it at home or after school and turn it in after we get back from the break.

EXCITING NEWS!  Novacentrix presented to our engineering classes last year.  One of the vice presidents is a RRHS graduate and very involved in helping our program.  He is offering for our students to participate in teams in a project and possibly present at a professional conference in February.  Novacentrix makes conductive ink and they demonstrated for us that you could print a circuit directly on a sheet of paper using a standard ink jet printer. (The ink, of course, is special and not available at Office Depot.)  We will have more details for you in January, but for now be thinking about 3-5 other people that you would like to work on a team with.  The teams will be tasked with designing an object that integrates electronics in the design, and you can create your designs on the 3d printer.  For example, you might make the train design (remember that from IED?) that has an LED for a light.  When you press a button, the light lights up.  It is a simple concept, but this is a new and emerging field.  The team with the winning design will be asked to present their results and process at the 3d manufacturing conference in February.


Don't forget about High Tech U
You have just another 2 weeks to get your application in before everyone else for Semi High Tech U.  If you are interested, you will need to submit your application on Semi's web site (above).  RRHS students are able to apply right now even though they will not open the applications to the public until after January 1.  The dates again are Feb 20, 21, & 22.  You would have to be able to miss those three days of school, but it is well worth it!


Have a happy holiday break, and be careful.  I look forward to seeing all of you back in one piece on January 7.

One More Week!!!! (practically)

The end of the semester is fast approaching.  You will get the final exam review this week.  Even if you are exempting, you need to complete the review as it will be good practice for your EoC exam next spring.  It is a good time for you to brush up on the concepts covered this fall and know what is important to remember.  Remember that (1) you may not exempt the CEA exam in the spring  and (2) to turn in your completed exemption form to the office by 4:30 Tuesday.  Check out the rules & procedures as well as the final exam schedule on the RRHS home page.


Any women interested in engineering?  Would you like a free lunch and a chance to talk with engineering students and faculty at UT?  The UT Society of Women engineers is hosting an Encounter with Engineers on Saturday February 9.  The link will take you to their event page where you can learn more about the day's events and how to register. You must register by January 11, 2013.  That is over a month off, but don't put it off if you are interested.  You can apply online.  Below is a summary from their web page to get you a little more information.
Encounter with Engineering (EWE) is a day-long program created to introduce engineering to high school girls. EWE is a great introduction the different engineering fields and is a great opportunity for students to find out about engineering, what they can do with a degree, and talk to engineering students. This event is entirely free, and lunch is provided. Many of our past EWE participants have been inspired to pursue a career in engineering. We strongly encourage girls in grades 10 and 11 to participate.

Also, NASA is sponsoring the WISH program (Women in STEM High School) for junior and senior girls interested in engineering.  This is an internship in which you would get to work on an actual NASA space exploration project with other high school students and present your team's results at the Johnson Space Center in Houston over a week's time this summer.  If you are interested, check out the WISH web site, but be aware that the deadline to apply is January 3.  

This is the last week you have to get caught up on work and get those grades up before the semester ends.  Next week, we will only be taking and grading final exams.  We will also start an electronic portfolio on Livebinder.  You will post pictures of your house designs and projects that we did this semester. 

Week of Nov 26

It's hard to believe that it is only 4 short weeks until we are out for the Christmas break and that the year is already half over.  Of course, one of those weeks will be taken up with final exams and preparations.  That means that there are some things you need to know about soon.

For all of the PLTW engineering classes, an End of Course exam is required, which will be given during the times of the spring semester exams.  That means that you will not be able to exempt your CEA exam in the spring regardless.  If you want to exempt the fall semester exam and qualify per the school guidelines, you are free to do so. However, it is a preview of at least part of the exam that will be given in the spring.  The schedule for exams and guidelines can be found on the RRHS web page.

Moodle2 is down all day Tuesday. The links that you need are:

Frost Depth Map
Soil Survey app
FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)

Happy Thanskgiving!

Wow! The semester is going very quickly.  It is already time for Thanskgiving, which means that semester final exams and the end of the semester are not far behind.

Speaking of semester finals, students who are eligible per school rules to exempt may exempt the fall semester exam for IED.  No one will be able to exempt the spring final exam as this is an End of Course exam that is required by PLTW for all of our students.  In short, if you think you might want to exempt one of the IED exams this year, it must be the fall exam, if you qualify for exemptions per school rules.

CEA should finish up the Habitat for Humanity house design on Tuesday, before the break.  Have the house placed on the site plan that you can download from Moodle and generate the required drawing set (see Moodle) on C sized paper.  Print out your drawings and turn them in to me.  

Week of Nov 12

We will be continuing the affordable house design unit this week.  Take this opportunity to learn more about Revit and how it works (differently from Inventor).  The majority of the design will be completed this week, but we will continue to look at different aspects of house design (plumbing, electrical, site planning) for another week.

Report cards will be handed out during 2nd period Thursday.  It is hard to believe that the year is already 12 (Well.  Really 11) weeks gone.  This six weeks will be extremely quick since we have finals and the end of the semester looming in just 5 more weeks.

Speaking of finals, the exam schedule is out and posted in my room. As far as CEA goes, you may exempt the fall semester exam but not the spring.  PLTW requires that all students take the EOC exam, which I will give during finals week in May.  If you want to exempt your CEA exam and are eligible to do so, you will definitely want to do so this semester.

Finally, I have duty every morning this week, so there are no morning tutorials.

Semi High Tech U - Feb 20-22

Semi High Tech U is a three day "educational field trip" sponsored by SEMI, a consortium of various companies in the semiconductor (commonly called "computer chip") industry.  The link above includes a video that describes and allows you to see what goes on at a typical High Tech U.  Many companies who take part in making the integrated circuits used in not only computers but also cell phones, games, MP3 players, cars, televisions, and garage door openers among thousands of other products put together activities and host students from all over central Texas to help you to understand the challenges faced by engineers in their companies.  This is a good chance to get exposed to how the math, science, language, and other skills that you are learning are being put to use right now in some of the most fast-paced jobs available.  You will also get to meet and interact with engineers, managers, recruiters and others who work for these companies.  You can ask questions about their jobs, experiences, studying engineering, and even conduct a mock interview.  It is a great chance to enhance your resume and job-searching skills.

The team at the Austin High Tech U last year set the HTU world record for the fastest time in the "human calculator" activity.

High Tech U is specifically for all students interested in pursuing a technical field.   Events are held all over the world, but the one for the Austin area is currently scheduled for February 20, 21, and 22.  It will require that you are able to miss school for three consecutive days (2 A days and a B day), so I am telling you now so that you can plan ahead.  There is not cost to you to attend, and transportation will be provided to and from the event every day by RRISD (probably even someone you know very well).

Students who wish to attend must apply directly to Semi.  They will make the selections, but there is no limit on the number of students who can attend from any one school.  Last year, we were restricted to five students from RRHS through a special arrangement between RRISD and Semi.  Applications will be accepted beginning in January, but RRHS students may submit applications NOW.  Download the application and submit it per the instructions as soon as possible to enhance your chances of being selected.  Even if you are not certain that you will be able to attend, apply now.  You can always turn down the offer later if  you are accepted.  Also, previous High Tech U students may apply, but remember that Semi makes the selection this year.  Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions.

Week of Nov 5

We will continue working on the Habitat for Humanity House design this week.  On Tuesday, we will finish up the design review and requirements with the client.  Then, we will begin creating the design in Revit, which will continue through next week.  As you work on your design, you may use Revit City to download items to place in your home (big screen TV, furniture, appliances, etc.).  It will give you a better idea about the size of the rooms as well as make the home look more appealing.  I created an account for all of us to use, so you can find the username and password in Moodle.


This week is the last week of the six weeks.  Make sure that your grades are up to date before Friday.  Look for report cards to come out next week.  In preparation for the grade deadline, this Wednesday will be  a WOW day, but Thursday will NOT be a late start   Make sure to plan your schedule for the week accordingly, and take advantage of the tutoring time during the WOW period Wednesday afternoon.

This Saturday is the FADE competition. Teams will need to be at the front of the school (100 bldg) in time to  leave at 5:30 a.m.  Check my FADE update page for details and more information.  It is exciting to see the teams working through their ideas and preparing to represent RRHS well in College Station.

Week of October 22

All of the shed designs should be complete, now.  We will work on estimating the cost of building materials this week and then look at analyzing the heat transfer through walls.  Ever wonder how home designers determine what type and size of air conditioner unit to put in a house?  This is where you will find out.  Make sure that you leave your journals in class this week, so that I can complete a journal check for you before grades are due next Tuesday.

Don't forget that Friday is a pep rally, and Thursday is a late start.  Consult the RRHS main web page for the bell schedules on those days.

This is also the last week of the mid-six weeks progress reporting period.  All work needs to be done and turned in by Friday so that we can finalize grades early next week.  Progress reports will be sent out next Friday (November 2).

Money for College  
Be sure to keep up with the Scholarship Page that I have tabbed at the top of this page.  I will drop scholarship opportunities there as I find out about them.  The latest is Milwaukee School of Engineering.  They offer scholarships for students who have successfully completed one or more Project Lead the Way class.  If you are in our engineering program, want to major in engineering in college, and need more help than you are getting from A&M or Texas, MSOE might be worth looking in to for you with up to $12,000 in scholarships provided.  I will update it from time to time with others as they come available.

Week of October 9

This week, we will continue work on the shed design in Revit.  We will also create a sample roof model to illustrate the different styles of roofs in different house designs.  Plan to be completed with your shed design by the end of class on Thursday.  Note the specific drawings that are required in the activity.

The school license with Autodesk allows students to download a copy of Revit for use at home for educational purposes.  If you wish to download the software to enhance your learning or to enable yourself to complete assignments at home, go to the Autodesk student web site to download it.  The download is quite large and will take some time, and you will have to provide an email for registration purposes.  Be sure that you download the correct version - Revit Architecture 2012 as other versions may not be compatible with the files that you create at school.

Don't forget that Monday is a holiday.

Samsung Field Trip
For those going on the Samsung field trip on Tuesday, be at my room (601) at 8:45.  We will meet there so that you can leave any items that you don't need with you in the storage room.  Samsung does not allow any type of electronic devices (including phones, MP3 players, cameras, and USB drives or storage cards) in their facility.  It would be best for you to leave them at home or with a friend on Tuesday.  The bus will be unattended and unlocked in Samsung's parking lot and may not be secure for you to leave valuable items.  The bus needs to leave at 9:00 because Samsung wants to start at 9:45.  In addition to the travel time, it will take 10 or so minutes to get everyone signed in through security.  We should return to the school between 2:00 and 2:30, so you will be back for the start of 8th period.

FADE Starts Wednesday
For those who signed up for the Future Aggies Design Exhibition, the kick-off is Wednesday.  Meet in my room after school, and I should by then have the design task that we are asked to perform.  I am excited about this because we ended up with 18 students registered which gave us 3 teams of six future engineers each.  You can keep up to date with the information as it is released by the Texas A&M Student Engineering Council at their web site.

PSAT October 17
Juniors and Seniors will take the PSAT test during the morning class periods next Wednesday (Oct 17).  Freshman and sophomores are still expected to be at school and will have classes planned for them.  When all have finished testing, we will continue with the regular 7th & 8th period schedules for the afternoon, so there will be no CEA class that day.

Oct 1 - Last Week of the Six Weeks

This is the last week of the first six weeks.  The year is going by so fast that it's hard to believe.  I always like to look back to the start of school and see much we have already accomplished.  If you have any missing work, be sure to get that in to me (or have me check your journal) this week.  Wednesday will also be the second WOW day of the year, another opportunity for you to make up missing work before the grade deadline this Friday.

Having finished up the unit introducing civil engineering and architecture and the related careers, we will start a unit that looks at residential construction.  We will start by looking at how walls and roofs are made.  Then, we will use Autodesk Revit 2012 to design first a simple rectangular shed and then, later on, a house design. The school license for Revit allows students enrolled in CEA to download the program for use at home.  I will post the link for that download in Moodle when we begin using it.

Make sure that you are leaving your journals in the room as well as keeping them up to date.  I record the third journal grade this week.  Every journal page should have a number, date, and signature (or initials), and you should update the table of contents every day at the end of class.

If you haven't paid the $35 lab fee, please do so this week.  This money is critical to pay for the supplies and equipment that we use in the engineering classes.  If you are unable to pay at this time, please let me know.  I can tell you if you have paid or not, so just shoot me an email or ask in class if you are not sure.

If you are going on the Samsung field trip next Tuesday, make sure that you are keeping up to date on your school work in all classes.  Remember that you will miss 5th, 6th, and 7th periods and should clear with your teachers how you will make up the work before you miss on a planned absence such as this.  Samsung security does not allow for cell phones or other electronic devices on site.  Since the bus does not lock, your best advice would be to leave your phones, iPods, cameras, USB drives, or other electronic devices at home that day.

Future Aggies Design Exhibition
I submitted registration for 19 RRHS students to participate in the FADE design competition on Friday, an exciting and great group of students.  The schedule for the day is now posted on the link above (and in a previous post below).  We will not be given details of the design challenge until October 10 when all teams are simultaneously informed of the task, leaving us with exactly one month to complete the challenge.  While we don't know the exact task that will be given, we do know that it will be based on one of the 14 Grand Engineering Challenges.  For those of you registered, look over those challenges and familiarize yourself with the possible tasks that may be given to us.  More information about teams and details will be sent to you this week.

FADE Registration Deadline Moved to THIS Thursday

There are a lot of you interested in FADE (Future Aggies Design Exhibition), and that is exciting.  I just got word today that the original deadline of October 5 has been moved up to this Friday, September 28.  I need to put together the teams and have definite commitment by Thursday so that I have time to fill out the forms.

I have hard copies of all that you need, but they are linked here as well.  I need 4 things from you:

• The FADE Behavioral Agreement
• Texas A&M Medical Waiver
• RRISD Permission & Waiver -   This is actually 2 forms: the medical waiver & permission form and an academic permission form.  The academic form needs to be signed by all of your teachers to indicate that you are aware of your responsibility to keep up with your school work and pass classes in order to take part in this extra-curricular activity.
• Give me information needed for the registration form by filling out this registration form.  

There is no cost to you.  All charges will be covered through the engineering activity account and grants (Let's hope!). 

The schedule for the day has been posted on the FADE web site.  Check that site for updates and more information as it becomes available.  The schedule for the day will be as follows.

7:00 am - 8:00 am	Team Check-in
8:00 am - 11:00 am	Design Competition
11:30 am - 12:30 pm	Lunch / Student Panel
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm	Campus Tour
3:00 pm - 6:00 pm	Department Tours
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm	Dinner / Awards Ceremony

In order to make it to College Station by the registration time, we will need to leave RRHS at 6:00.  Lunch and Dinner are provided by A&M, but you may want to bring money for breakfast and snacks during the day.  

Let me know if you have any questions.  

September 24

Be ready to present your This is your Career video and upload to Moodle before Sunday night at 11:55 p.m.  The link to our Moodle is in the links I have provided on the right-side of this page.  This will finish up our What is Engineering? unit.

After this study of civil engineering careers, we will start using Autodesk Revit and architectural design, beginning with designing a simple rectangular shed to get familiar with Revit. 

Parents, be sure to check over your student's progress reports that were given to them on Friday.  If you have any questions, let me know.

Also, this week will see our first WOW period.  On Work it Out Wednesday, students will  have a tutorial opportunity during the school day in order to make up missing work or get extra help.  Check with teachers for any classes which you are failing and request a WOW pass.  Thursday is again a late start day. 

FADE Design Competition & Texas A&M Field Trip

Check out the information on FADE (Future Aggies Design Exhibition).  This event is option and will take place after school hours, so it is optional.  If you are interested, let me know.  I will have permission forms this week that you will need to fill out and have parents sign.  The deadline for us to sign up teams of 4-6 students is next Friday, October 5.  On October 10, we will be given an engineering challenge to solve from the Fourteen Grand Engineering Challenges, although, I don't know right now exactly what that will be.  The student teams will then have one month, until November 10, to create a solution to the challenge that we are given.  On November 10, which is a Saturday, we will travel by bus to the campus of Texas A&M to present our solution and see how other students solved the same problem.  The cost is free to students participating, and lunch and dinner is being provided for all participants.  For now, start forming teams of which you want to be a part and let me know that you are interested.  I will have sign-up and permission forms on Tuesday. 

If you are interested, I need the information on this form in order to get you registered.  Please fill this out to let me know that you want to participate and to give me the needed information. 

September 18

Progress reports will be sent out on Friday, so look for those to come home before the weekend.  If you have questions regarding your grades, please let me know as soon as you can.  Also, next Wednesday (Sep 26) will be our first WOW.  If you have some missing work or low grades, take advantage of that  in-school tutorial times to make it up.

This Thursday will be a Late Start.  School starts at 9:25.

In CEA, we will take a short look at the different career paths available in civil engineering and in architecture.  In addition to creating your This is Your Career video on Thursday, students will present their architectural features project, describing the details of your assigned feature of architecture.  Be prepared to describe it well enough for all of your classmates to understand it fully. 

September 10

There are several events that you should be aware of this week outside of our engineering classes.

First of all, parents are invited to attend the Open House on Monday, September 10.  Parents will gather in the 1100 (new) building cafeteria for a short PTSA meeting and instructions at 6:00.  Beginning at 6:30, you will follow your student's schedule with 10 minutes in each class to meet the teachers and hear a brief overview of each class, grading, objectives, etc.  Students were given an invitation letter today during 2nd period and should have written their schedule down on that letter to give to you.  Please come to see us Monday night, and get a copy of your child's schedule and a campus map so that you will know where to go.


CEA student swill present their presentations on two architectural styles on Monday.  Be sure to finish the presentations and be prepared to make oral presentations on Monday.  Then, we will learn about architectural features and create a model of chosen features.  Those models will be presented and discuss the features on Friday.  

Don't forget to check out the other pages that I have linked through this site displayed as tabs above the blog posts.  One is a collection of scholarships that are available to RRHS engineering students to apply for and get assistance in paying for college. I have added a link to the college visit schedule for our school.  On Thursday (Sep 13), Rochester Institute of Technology will be here and wanting to talk to our junior and seniors.  Check with your counselor to sing up for a time to talk with them.  RIT is one of the colleges that offers college credit for participation (with an appropriate EoC and course grade) in PLTW courses.  You can start out college with 4 hours of credit already earned for successful completion of each of our PLTW courses. 

Welcome back 2012-2013!

Welcome back for another school year.  You may soon notice some of the changes this year, and I think they will help make it a better year at RRHS than ever before.  We'll talk more about those changes soon.  

This is the blog for my Civil Engineering & Architecture (CEA) class.  CEA is the fourth course in the PLTW engineering curriculum.  About half of the time will be spent using Autodesk Revit and architectural design, and the rest spent on civil engineering types of problems (beam stress analysis, temperature insulation & heat load estimates, water and drainage requirements, and surveying).  

I will keep this site up to date not only with class news but other information that is useful to students and parents, such as other web links, opportunities to work with industry partners, and even scholarship opportunities.  The calender on the right hand side of the page will keep a running list of what is going on in class as well as other key school dates (holidays, A/B days, etc.).  Above that is a list of useful links, including scholarships that may be available to you.  Since the curriculum is protected by copyright, I can not place actual classwork on this public blog.  The students will get used to accessing my information on my Moodle site.  I use Moodle to run the entire class, so all work and instructions will be found there throughout the year.

Look for a packet to come home from your student's first day that describes our class in more detail.  I am also sending a half-sheet home that has multiple methods to contact me.  One of those methods will be Remind101.  I will use that to send out short text messages or emails when there is pressing news or reminders (such as materials to bring to class, field trip deadlines, etc.).  Feel free to sign up now using the Remind 101 signup instructions. 

I look forward to this year.  Be sure to let me know if there is anything I can do to make it more enjoyable and productive. 

RIT Visit Sep 13

Welcome back!  Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT in Rochester, NY) will be at RRHS for a campus visit on September 13.  RIT is the school who issues the articulated credit for all of the PLTW classes.  In case you are interested and since you already have a couple of credits banked up with them, you may sign up for a time to visit with the recruiter in your designated alpha office.

If you want to explore RIT from the comfort of a warmer setting (like your living room), check out their web site. 

I'm upgrading the capabilities of this web page

Recently, I've come across several offers for scholarships.  I decided to add a page to this site to help seniors identify scholarship opportunities, particularly related to engineering and technical careers.  Be sure to check out the $cholar$ship Li$t page (tab above the most recent post) for the latest.

Final Exam Schedule
 Our exam will be Monday during 8th period.  Part A is required. Part C will not be held against you.  If you do worse on Part C, then I won't count it in the final exam grade.


As for the rest of the week, check here for the full schedule. 

The end is near ...

The end of this year (and all of high school for some of you) is fast approaching.  The final exam (EoC) is not optional for PLTW courses, so we will give it during 8th period on Monday May 21.  Both parts are on the computer. 

If you are currently a junior, check out the link on the right regarding a scholarship.  Denton ISD hosts a technology conference every summer.  You can apply and describe how technology affects your life and learning to win a $500 scholarship to be paid directly to the school of your choice in August 2013. 

Week of March 5

All of the beam calculation packets (3.2.6 and 3.2.7) are due no later than Tuesday.  This week, you will do some research in to foundations and utilities for commercial buildings (the Keystone Library).  
 
Samsung Visit 

I have tentatively scheduled our visit to Samsung for this year for March 20, the Tuesday after spring break.  Any student interested MUST sign up here.  I will not accept verbal requests.  Also note that we have limited spaces, so students will be selected based on academics and your interest in high-tech engineering careers. Also, those of  you who did attend last year will not be able to attend so that we can spread around the opportunity.

I doubt that I have to remind you, but next week is spring break (March 10 - 18).

Article on the Future of Civil Engineering Careers

I just came across this article tonight un US News & World Report.  The information is pertinent to our class. 

Feb 27 - 2 Weeks until Spring Break!

Only 2 weeks until we get a spring break!  We will spend most of this week finishing beam design and then start on commercial foundations.

This week is a WOW week. 

Robotics Demo on Friday
Dr. Julien is bringing her robotics demo back to RRHS on Friday for 5th & 6th periods.  If you would like to attend and did not get a chance last year, let me know.  You will need to clear your absence with your 5th or 6th period teacher.  We will meet in the Lecture Hall of the 1100 building.

Samsung Field Trip

The Samsung field trip has been set up for Tuesday, March 20.  That is an A day.  If you didn't get to go last year, now is your chance.  Samsung has a planned group of activities to show you what life in a high-tech company is like and how those jobs relate to various lessons that you encounter at school.  You get a chance to interact with actual engineers.  Look for permission forms and a sign-up (online, of course) next week.

Feel free to use the QR code here to correctly spell my email address.  I will start using this more and more to make it easier to reach me via email. 

Week of Feb 13

This week, we start "chasing loads" through a support structure to correctly size & design the beams in the floor and bearing walls of our Keystone Library. 

Make sure to get a permission form for the AT&T Labs/Edison Lecture Series from me and return by Friday.  The date of our trip is Feb 23.  Everyone in our class is interested in the AT&T portion of the trip, but please fill out this form, so that I have your names down on the list attending.  Be sure to work with your 5th, 6th, and 7th period teachers to ensure that your work is completed before you leave.