Engineered For Success

Awards Nomination

2009-08-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

Intern Awards Nomination:
Carole Able "Best Research Assistant"
Brandon Vinson "Best Portfolio Training Award"

"A man that will not stand for something, will fall for anything" Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Everyone has their own talents, but what separates people from each other are the skills that are acquired over the years as you come into adulthood. The emphasis that this program puts on that is great for the youth, but furthermore the community. Skills that I have picked up over the years, I have redefined and build on through this program. Skills such as leadership, teamwork, and enthusiasm that will have an even greater impact on my life as I grow further in my profession field. Along with the internal skills we have learned and fine tuned our technological literacy, verbal communication skills, and our total ability to meet and greet in a professional setting. The whole experience has been tremendous and the general direction that it sends the students into is awesome.

-Brandon Vinson

Thank You Letter

2009-08-12T08:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Program Coordinators, Mentor and other Interns,

My name is Shequanah Anderson, one of the interns from the Environmental Engineering Department.

First, I want to say thank you to Professor Michel Boufadel, the Chairman of Environmental Engineering Department, for providing such a wonderful working environment for us. We experienced the real life as young engineers and professionals. I also want to say thank you to Bilal Knah, the program coordinator from EE Department. I want to say thank you for showing us the sieve analysis experiment and the Alaska Project and enriching my engineering knowledge. I felt very grateful that Environmental Engineering Department and PYN were very impressed by our work and spoke highly of the tasks we completed.
I also want to say thank you to Cici, my mentor, for well organizing and execuating our daily plan. Your leadership and supervision throughout the summer assisted me in further development of my working and communications skills as well as my ability to implement individual projects and function as a leading contributor on various team projects within the engineering. You really showed me a lot and I learned how to do the podcast and how to put research recordings to our blog. Besides, I improved my excel skills through learning the data collection and sieve graph analysis. During this internship program, not only did I learn the environmental engineering knowledge such as storm water management and microogranism, but also the useful information technology skills.
Last but not least, I want to say thank you to all the internship program creators and organizors for showing me the importance of working skills and team cooperation. I also want to thank the entire interns in the engineering program for taking the time to share their expertise and knowledge of the field. It was through these times that I felt I was able to learn and grow the most in developing my professional skills over the course of the summer. The interns were most responsive to my requests and always made me feel like a full-time member of the group.
I really had a good time with our mentor Cici and other interns. It was fun getting to know everybody's personality and getting close to them, because it helps me better learn how to work in a group with positive attitude. If you work as a team, you will get the complicated tasks done more effective and quicker. More importantly, the internship program shows me how to pursue my career dreams and to become a better participant in the team.

Thank all the interns, mentor and program coordinators once again!

Sincerely,

Shequanah Anderson

We are being Interviewed

2009-08-05T08:56:00.000-07:00

Today our group had an interview with Philly Green. We told them a lot about our work and about the Alaska project. We discussed how we use the rock samples to determine the permeability, about the huge oil spill that happened in Alaska in 1989 which approximately15,000 to 30,000 gallons of oil was spilled, and how they are trying to find a solution by using microorganisms to help degrade the oil. The microorganisms are used to protect the beaches and solid surfaces against oil contamination. Philly Green walk around Temple College campus and interview different internship groups and then post the information they received on twitter. Once the information is on twitter Philly Green receive feedback from people world wide about what they think and how they feel about the blog they have posted.

Sieve Analysis - Step One

2009-08-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

This video is showing the process of the Alaskan Project sieve analysis step one.

Professional Life

2009-07-28T11:49:00.001-07:00

We experienced a team of economist breaking down life to us. They gave us a visit to see what we were doing. Of course our amazing team explained very well what we were doing, and the purpose for which we were doing it. They seemed to be a forged interest in what we were talking about, rather than their interest in our ability to understand what we were doing. They really did not care for what we were saying, though very polite to seem interested. They actually cared about the fact that we were learning to do the things that we set out to learn. They also cared about our professional approach to the whole situation, and cared about what we were doing after the program. Just to know that we are trying were somethings that they wanted to know. We learned as a group that we need to have a professional outlook on life to get ahead in the professional world. We realized that day that networking is a very important part of getting into schools, and even getting jobs. We thank them very much, and will never forget some of the life lessons that we learned that day.

Alaskan Project

2009-07-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

Alaska's Prince William Island is a great place to do research on the sieve analysis. As you can see, it takes a dedicated group of professionals to do this line of work.

To determine the permeability of the beach, there had to be digging at different depths. To the right are a couple of graduate students and professors digging at different sections of the beach at different depths.

The reason for the whole project is to change the environment in a better way. To the left is a photo showing the immense amounts of oil the is trapped on the beach. The oil is the reason that the sediment is not permeable. Through the outcome of the project the students and professors will determine what microorganism can be put back into the ground to help break down the oil.
This process is called bio-degradation. The microorganism can not do this at this time because there is no oxygen.

Parking Lot Design with Professor Awada

2009-07-22T15:32:00.000-07:00

Mike: first i would like to say that i am having a great time here with cici and she is a great mentor and teacher. so far we've learned about Storm water management and how to keep our water clean.We went out in the field and conducted some test about the draining systems in parking lots around the campus.We did the PH testing with soda,water,chips and peanuts.wed we did our first creative brief which was a little difficult for me so i might do mine over.this upcoming week is the one.i hope we do more hands on projects and i honestly look forward to learning some more about everything our teachers want to teach us.none of this stuff is easy or simple but its not hard no matter how old you are learning is always new.Thanks CiCi

Marianne: This week we started to get to know about engineering. On Monday we were introduced to a lot of people who are taking up engineering. They showed us their labs and and told us about their college. On Tuesday we walked around with professor Awada to learn about storm water. We walked to 4 to 5 different parking lots to see where the storm water goes. On Wednesday we were in the lab and we did an experiment on doritos and peanuts. We were determining were the calories come from and how to find out how many calories are in the bag of chip and peanuts.

Shequannah: I want to say that i enjoy that i' am learning many things about are water and there were many things i didn't know and i; m glad i know i learn and i;m glad i came:) When it rains water washes over roofs.street,driveways, sidewalks, parking lots,and land surface along the way it can be pick up a variety of chemical and soil this polluted storm water drains in to are rivers and streams the pollutant can endanger the waterways making then unhealthy for people.

Brandon: Storm Water Management is a problem in many large cities. The precipitation falls and makes it way to a gutter or man hole and along the way picks up harmful materials for the rivers, and lakes that the water eventually ends up in. In the process of the storm water making it to the gutters everything that is picked up is harmful to the environment and lowers the quality of the lake and water and other water that will become drinking water. There are three acts in place that help to provide guidelines for cities to build on. The Clean Water Act of 1972, the Safe Drinking Water Act 1974, and the Endangered Species Act 1973. These acts have improved the well being of the habitats of surrounding rivers ,lakes, and even the Ocean. These acts allow for there to be permits in place to build lots in the United States, and very strict guidelines.

Carole: I learned if there is know place for the rain to go then it can really harm our o-zone layer. There for if should be some type of grass where there is to much cement. During my research I've learned that storm water has two components. These components are the increased volume and rate of runoff from imperious surfaces and the concentration of pollutants in the runoff. Both components are directly related to development in urban and urbanizing areas. The websites also mentioned what the storm water pollutants can include. The storm water pollutants can include trash,debris,nutrients causing eutrophication of lakes,sediment,,paint and other hazardous substances and oil.

Battling Through Adversity

2009-07-22T00:40:00.000-07:00

"We simply complicate, the simple"-Brandon Vinson.

Just a stupid quote that i created over the years. I think that sometimes the hardest things are the things that exist in mere simplicity. The work that we do is very easy and simple but very redundant. And in its redundancy and simplicity we create errors. In our effortless exertion through faulty teamwork or communication we spoil the data. Then in turn it is a domino effect and everything is messed up from there. Personally I think we can easily fix the problem, as we have already started to. As we strengthen our team work, and fortify our communicative pathways we will complete the tasks as it was asked of us. I am pleased with the progress that we are making in the project and the bonds that we are creating as a team. To truly create a magnificent team we must not only know each others weaknesses, but understand them. Through this internship I have learned to be a good teammate, but more importantly I have learned what makes a team great.

Keeping you updated

2009-07-14T11:11:00.001-07:00

Monday was an exciting day.We started portfolio training with another group.Our group as always shined like the stars we all are.Zack was our teacher and he was pretty cool.He taught us how to use certain words that we might use on our job applications and how to perform at an interview.I was reading my intern handbook and I saw a quote by Theodore Roosevelt and it stated "Whenever you are asked if you can do a job,tell' em, 'certainly I can.' Then get busy and find out how to do it."I think if people did that with confidence in themselves that more people would have jobs.If the task is too much don't dig yourself into a hole,but if you believe that you can go for it. It wont hurt to try.But back to the portfolio,a portfolio is a place where you store products and other items related to your training,work experience,and special accomplishments.It is the place to document all of your work-related talents and accomplishments so that you have a tangible products that represents your 'assets' including the things you like and do best. Today we separated rocks and dirt which was cool in its own way.

Meeting New People

2009-07-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

It was great meeting all the new people that we met yesterday. I learned what the proper way to go to an interview is. I also brainstormed about how a group communicates and works together. Today we did more of the Alaskan sieve analysis and completed more graph. I think it is great how we are learning the whole way through. I truely think that we are the best group and at the same time we are having loads of fun.

Sieve Analysis Training

2009-07-14T11:10:00.002-07:00

Today we had measured more of the rock with the sieves and we had a little fun we did more graph i really like my group and it getting to know everybody and i wont forget nobody and i hope they wont forget me:)

The Engineering Squad

2009-07-14T11:10:00.001-07:00

On the day of July 13, 2009 the engineering team grouped up with Rita's group to attend a portfolio class with a guy named Zack. This class was designed to teach us how to create a portfolio. This class taught us about what should be placed in a portfolio and the importance of a portfolio. I would say the class was very useful and that I would enjoy attending each Monday. Today at work my team and I took the weight of the rocks that were collected by some Temple students during their travels to Alaska. The project was fun but it can get a little messy at times.

My Way to an Engineer

2009-07-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

Today we continued the rock separation and it was a lot of fun. We are finding out the weight of the rocks from Alaska. The students here go to Alaska to collect rock samples from the beaches. We determined eight different rock weights and still have more to go. After we are finished we have to put the data into the Excel. Hopefully tomorrow it will be a lot of fun because we are actually learning what an engineer does.

Rock Shaker

2009-07-09T12:05:00.001-07:00

Today I learned how to use a machine that separates the biggest rocks to the smallest rocks. It was very interesting and I believe it will be a lot of fun working with the machines. Also today we were in the lab and the people talked to us about ozone, contaminated water supply, and how they are trying to find a solution to solve the problem.

My First Training Day

2009-07-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

When we shook the sieves in a rock shaker and weighed them, I like the whole process. Then we put the sieves back to the rock shaker and added the rocks. After that, we put the lid on each sample so that rocks won't come out. We let the machine shake for about 2 minutes. At last, we took the sieves off one by one, and we weighed the sieves to get the last result. It was fun to learn new things!

cool stuff

2009-07-09T12:04:00.001-07:00

I enjoy being an intern here at temple.Everyday we learn something new,like today we found out more about Storm Water Management and the procedure it takes to get the water clean in our city.I cant remember everything right at this moment.I guess that's why i should have took notes.Friday i shall be better be prepared.

Rocky Separation

2009-07-09T12:04:00.000-07:00

I loved the rock separation training it was exciting.
We are now prepared for the lab for tomorrow.
We created resumes and participated in a water purification lab.
The samples that we will use in the next lab are samples from Alaska.
Then we will take our data and put it all together in a spreadsheet.
This step in the process is an important part of the whole research project.