The Lifelong Learning essay is a brief overview on how I take my past experiences to solve new situations and how I plan to expand my knowledge during and after my formal education.
Lifelong Learning
When applying past experiences of engineering knowledge and searching for new knowledge today, I have found that there are a variety of sources that could help guide me to success on projects as an engineer. In the past, I would reach out to advisors who may be a friend’s parents or volunteers that were associated with the organization I was working with. They would provide input in how to approach the problem and serve a guidance on how to continue into the next stage.
When applying new knowledge, there are examples that are relevant to my academic and professional work. There was a book called Thinking in Bets, that specialized in decision making and working with the facts and previous experiences I had. The information that I could apply was relevant when I had worked in a chemical lab. My coworker and I disagreed on how to go disposing a certain substance. I had applied the techniques discussed in the book to help me make an educated decision on what to do, and how to effectively argue my ideas.
My personal career goals are to go into the healthcare industry, specializing in patient monitoring medical devices. I have not decided where to work with devices that can be used in a home, or on a larger scale such as hospitals and clinics. I hope to gain enough experience in this field and build a large enough network that I could start my own firm. Later towards the end of my career, I had considered teaching, though that is so far ahead it is only an afterthought.
The formal education learning experiences that I plan to pursue once I graduate with my B.S. in FABE from Ohio State begins with obtaining a master’s degree in biomedical engineering. It will either be through a BS/MS program with Ohio State, or completing a master’s program at other institution. Another possibility is going back to school after being in industry and obtaining a PhD in a relevant engineering discipline.
The informal learning experiences I plan to seek out include reading technical books that are relevant to approaching problems on a project and the workplace surrounding it too. Attending conferences are also something I plan to attend. I have been to these events before and alongside learning new strategies, these conferences are very effective in networking as many people who attend are in similar disciplines as myself.
Engineering Impacts is a short essay on the importance of taking General Education classes and while they may seem like extra work or even a breath of fresh air, they still have applications in the engineering world.
Engineering Impacts
When discussing the global impacts in relation to engineering education, it is important to understand the “why” an engineer is needed for every situation. The context may differ whether it is creating a new biotech device to identify a disease, or supplying water to villages in Africa. A mindfulness of the tools and needs of the clients must be taken into account when approaching a project. The views of the clients also have to be considered as outside factors such as the environment or how others may use the product. Ignorance of another’s culture can result in dangerous consequences.
There are a number of courses taken at Ohio State and elsewhere that I have personally taken to help my understanding and bridge the gap between engineering and global policies. These courses include POLITSC 1300: Global Politics, PSYCH 1100 Intro to Psychology, and AFAMAST 1121: African Civilizations to 1870 (taken at Cuyahoga Community College). For Global Politics, concepts of nation states were taught as well as how they work with each other to conduct trade deals and settle disputes. This can impact my engineering work as I can understand who to effectively purchase materials from, depending on trade relations with other nations. For Intro to Psychology, I was able to learn how to identify and respond to behavior trends in order better communicate and work with my current and future teams in engineering. In The History of African Civilizations to 1870, I was taught an understanding of early African people and the events that led to the nations created today. I could now visit these countries with a slightly better understanding of the situations they are in currently. For engineering projects, understanding the needs of the clients allows me to create a product better suited for them.