Blog #5 - Emotional Intelligence and Video

 

When people hear the word "intelligence", most of the time the intellectual or academic meaning comes up. How many chemical compounds one could name. Who can integrate the most complex equation. That sort of thing. People typically think of intelligence in how much someone knows or how to apply it. That's fair and good and all. But that's not the only meaning of intelligence.

For instance, take the stereotypical nerd. An incredibly bright mind. A pocket protector. A pair of glasses with tape wrapped around them. And an inept social awkwardness. If anyone has seen The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon Cooper is a prime example of this. He is a genius, and yet can't ever fit in or even tell if people are using sarcasm or not.

What Sheldon and everyone needs is emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence- or knowing one's own feelings and other's- is also crucial in school, work, and- most of all- in life. I took the emotional intelligence test which asked personal questions about myself. Your typical self-reflection. And then it had a section that showed pictures of people and you had to determine their expression. It also tested on various scenarios and you had to determine the best course of action.

I won't delve into my exact EI score, but it was a good reflection on my own self. I feel that I'm fairly intune with my own personal emotions, and am also good at knowing how others are feeling.

This test was a good indicator for introspective thinking and helps me know how myself and others feel.

Blog #4- Modeling Visualizing

Toulmin's Model for Visualizing

People take in the world, visually. There are a multitude of different learning styles: auditory, linguistic, kinesthetic, but one of the most predominant is visual learning. In addition to logic-based questions, IQ tests also include questions on visual-spacial thinking. You can give someone a table of information and they will retain some of it, but if you give them a graph, they will be able to see patterns and more effectively remember the data.

Infographs, visually pleasing expressions of information, are becoming increasingly more popular in the media and online. Sites such as www.informationisbeautiful.net shows different studies by graphs, diagrams, and other visual techniques. You can give a table of different budgets and expenses, but numbers on a page don't show the extent of costs than looking at a huge block of expenses on the war to the relatively small block to feed every child in the world for a year. Even writing this in words doesn't provide the best representation, so I'll include the infograph as well.

Now earlier I explained about multiple learning styles, so it's true that not everybody perceives the world visually. Some people are less fortunate so they physically can't view the world in this way. However, as far as most people, visual examples help learning and getting points across.

As engineers, we need to visualize models even before they're completed. When sculpting the David, Michelangelo was able to see the completed masterpiece and chip away marble that wasn't a part of it. Without the finished project in mind, he would have never made the work of art as detailed or as amazing as it is.

People say the best directors are those who can already see the final film even before they start filming. Then they spend the whole project is trying to turn that vision into a reality. Same applies for engineers. We need to visualize the finished project and work towards that. With no end-goal in mind, it's just aimless working.

I am an engineer by trade, but an artist at heart. However, there is a way of combining design and engineering for my profession and future. I will always use my visualization skills both on the drawing board and off. It's a valuable tool to both take in and express the world visually, for better understanding for yourself and to others.

References:
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/the-billion-dollar-gram/
http://www.ldpride.net/learningstyles.MI.htm

Blog #3- Most Important Question I Ever Asked

What is the most important question I have ever asked? Now, that, is a good question. I typically ask questions to learn new information or to open a conversation, but there are some questions that I ask that seek more meaningful answers.

The question I bring to the table and the answer to the first question posed in this post is: What are my post high school plans? This question set a catalyst which brings me to where I am now. As with any question, I first had to consider all the possibilities before deciding on an answer.

My options were wide open of what to do after I graduated. I knew I wanted to go to college and further my education, but the where and what were still uncertain. If you were to picture a tree of possible options, the first division of branches was between going to a University and study Computer Engineering or go to art school to study computer animation. It wasn't an easy decision, but after discussing it with my parents, friends, teachers, mentors, and personal introspective thinking... I think you know what decision I went with.

I know my passion for art will remain with me wherever I go, but I doubt I would ever go back to study engineering if I didn't do that right out of high school. This was a more secure choice when considering my entire future. I wanted to build my house on a rock foundation instead of building it on sand.

With computer engineering decided, I still hadn't completely answered my question. I didn't know definitively where I was going to go, how I would pay for it, where I would live, and all of those details. Along with the tree metaphor, the next major branch was deciding on the school. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign seemed like a really great fit since it was in-state, had a top engineering program, and had so many resources and opportunities for my future.

There were still details that became fleshed out in the coming months before I came here. However, this question, and the following series of answers shape where I am now, and the path where my future will lead me. I will close with this post with the following passage: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

You can never know the answer until you ask the right question.

Blog #2- Initiative

Ever since I was little, I've always loved animation and cartoons. As I got older, I grew from just watching them to making cartoons of my own. So when my local library brought up the interest in an animation class, I jumped on the opportunity to teach my own class.

By the end of December I was teaching my first class in traditional paper/pencil animation. For this, I had to work conjointly with the library staff and on an independent level. They requested just a simple class, but I aspired to go beyond their expectations and do a really memorable experience. I had to design lesson planes, buy different supplies, and showcase animated examples to present to my students. The class was largely for a late elementary school and junior high audience and held roughly ten to fifteen students.

My first class was somewhat difficult since I didn't know exactly what to expect. I was well prepared, yet unsure of what exactly to expect. Once the students arrive, they were mostly shy and quiet so I had to find a way to get them to talk and be open in discussing animation.

For the main project on my first class, we all drew story boards and used them to make flipbooks. I went around helping each student if they needed it and offered encouragement for a job well done. Throughout the class, I gave little lessons and tidbits of animation advice- frames per second, tweens, motion blur, squashes, anticipation, etc. After the class was over, the teen coordinator asked to do a follow-up class in the summer. And thus began a whole new challenge of making a second class and trying to trump my first one.

All of this wouldn't have happened without pushing forward to make an animation class a reality. By putting in hard work, I was able to have successful classes and even for them requesting more and more of them. This winter break, I'm scheduled for two more classes and over the summer, we plan to do an entire animation class. This truly shows how the little seed of initiative can grow into a gigantic tree of opportunity.

Post #1: Three skills, three goals, three reflections

Hello iEFX reader! This is Shugo Tanaka, a freshman engineer at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Having entered college, it's a time for reflection on the past and outlook into the future. There are three skills that I hope to learn and will focus on throughout the first semester of this school year.

The first one is to improve my study habits. Throughout my previous schooling career, as I'm sure with most of you reading this, I was able to get by with little to no studying. I could go into a test with very little preparation, and still come out with an A. But now I'm entering college. This is a different animal entirely. I don't think my old habits will allow me to survive in this new arena. And so I will need a new arsenal of study techniques. Firstly, I must defeat the ravage beast known as Procrastination. In the past, I've had the terrible mentality of "If I could do it later, why do it now?" I need to stop this way of thinking and start things early so I have more time to work on it. I also need to dive into the books and actually study come test time. I'll have to start using more notecards, charts, mind maps, and other tools to memorize concepts and ideas. This will all be tested by my first midterms. Like voting, I'll do it early and often. Wish me luck!

The second skill I hope to harness over this semester is the ability to think up tangible projects. I'm a fairly creative person, but some of my ideas for projects are too far out. Either we don't yet have the technology or they're downright impossible. I have ideas for a molecular analyzer or a rapid DNA scanner. Someday, these ideas will be possible, but as for right now, I have to think more realistically in the realm of possibility. I need to use my creativity to think up of projects that I could do within my college career. I'm still working on ideas for different engineering clubs and classes, but I know I'll be able to think up neat, useful projects. And to do this, I'll need to work on my third and final skill I wish to learn.

And skill number three is to increase my reservoir of knowledge in math, physics, and chemistry. Before you can build a computer, you must know how one works. The steps to complete this skill are simple in theory, but will require hard work in execution. I need to go to my classes, learn the information, and perform well on tests. I've learned all of this information before, but failed to retain it. To change this, I need to learn it and apply it. Like learning a new language, I will only remember it if I keep using it. When I learn a new concept, I have to use my creativity to think of how to use this. In essence, that is what engineering is: the application of math and sciences.

Well, dear reader, this marks the beginning of a new journey. A quest for knowledge and an adventure into the unknown. These stepping stones will show me if I'm on the right path, and someday I'll look back to this and see how far we've come. Crudely quoting Hannibal, "I'll either find a path, or [engineer] one!"