Thursday, September 30, 2010

GBM#2: Bjorn Johnson to speak on Artificially Intelligent Robots



Next week we're having our second General Body Meeting of the semester. It will take place on Thursday, 10/7 at 12:30 pm in room E-423B. You can expect free food and a couple announcements, followed by guest speaker Bjorn Johnson.

Mr. Johnson graduated from SDSU with his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. in 2004 before continuing on to complete his M.S. in Computer Science. He is currently working towards his Ph.D. in Computer Science while also operating as Owner and Chief Scientist of his company, Johnson Engineering Solutions, LLC. Last time, Mr. Johnson spoke about the science and manufacturing process of semiconductors - this time, he will speak about robotics and artificial intelligence (AKA, more really cool stuff!).

Specifically, Mr. Johnson will address:
    - State of the art progress towards AI-enhanced autonomous robots
    - Requirements and components (ACO, Neural nets, Fuzzy logic) needed for a swarm system of UAVs
    - A short intro to how one can get started with robotics and AI research pretty cheaply

    So there you have it! Stop by for free food and leave with a full brain. We'll see you next week.

      Career Networking Events in October

       
      SDSU's Career Services Department has declared October to be STEM Month. To us engineering students, that means there are a ton of career networking events coming up very soon! Some of these big events will require you to RSVP online - and be sure you do, because they are going to fill up fast!

      A quick listing of the big STEM Month events is given below. For more info, please see the Career Services Website or the associated flyers (Flyer 1, Flyer 2)

      > WISE University Seminar and Engineering Learning Community Coffee Hour
      Thurs, Oct-7th, SSE-1200, 9 am

      > Graduate and Professional School Day
      Thurs, Oct-14, Centennial Walkway, 10 am - 2 pm
       
      > Careers in STEM Employer Exchange
      Weds, Oct-20, Montezuma Hall, 11 am

      > Speed Networking for the College of Engineering
      Fri, Oct-22, Casa Real (Aztec Center), 10 am - 1 pm


      > Engineering & Sciences Career Fair
      Fri, Oct-29, Montezuma Hall, 10 am - 2 pm

      > Mr. Hinkle's World Famous Resume Workshop*
      Tues, Oct-19, E-423B, 11 am - 12 pm and 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm (same workshop twice)

      * This event is actually being put on by ASME, just for you! This resume workshop, offered by Mr. Larry Hinkle, Assistant Dean of Engineering Student Affairs, is amazing. It is truly invaluable for any students who ever wish to get a job in engineering (hopefully all of you!). And because we believe this workshop is so important, we've tricked bribed convinced Mr. Hinkle to offer this workshop TWICE, in back-to-back sessions, so that students who might have class conflicts can now attend.

      Two important notes about this event: 
      1. You MUST bring a current copy of your resume

      2. Any students who attend and improve their resume will be eligible to have their resume featured on our ASME Resume CD, which will be distributed to local engineering corporations this Winter. (Great opportunity for you!)

       As always, email us with your questions at sdsu.asme@gmail.com.

      Wednesday, September 29, 2010

      Chiller Plant Tour: October 12 and 15




      For those who don't already know, SDSU's on-campus chilled water plant (aka, the Chiller) does the cooling work for almost 90% of the buildings on campus. If you've been to the west side of campus, you may have seen water vapor blowing from the big rectangular building next to West Commons.

      We know you're all interested in touring this place, so meet us on Tuesday, 10/12 or Friday, 10/15 in front of the Engineering Building at 10:30 am, where we'll sign in and awkwardly congregate. Then we'll walk over together at 10:45. The tour will go from 11 am to 1 pm and will involve a lot of walking, so we've been advised to dress "comfortably." If you're interested, just show up! Or if you have questions, shoot us an email at sdsu.asme@gmail.com

      Monday, September 27, 2010

      Seektech Facility Tour!


      For our first facility tour of the semester, we had the honor of visiting Seektech. Seektech is a local engineering-design and manufacturing firm that specializes in the production of utility detecting and video pipe inspection products. Our tour guide Ryan, who happens to also be a ME student at SDSU gave us a detailed look inside of his company. ASME members lucky enough to take the tour were able to witness the entire product development process; From initial designs created on SolidWorks, all the way to parts manufacturing and assembly.

      The tour was a tremendous success and we are incredibly thankful to Seektech for letting us tour their amazing facility!

      Friday, September 17, 2010

      Fall Kickoff GBM Was a Huge Success!



      We had our first general body meeting last Thursday, and there was a huge turnout!

      Dr. Mehrabadi, our ME Department Chair came and spoke about some academic programs and course-related changes in the department, and handed out the new ME Information Guides (email us if you want one!). Next we went through a bunch of announcements, including upcoming events, design project teams, and open officer positions. Then we had an impromptu design competition to build the tallest structure that would support a 1-L water bottle using only popsicle sticks and a very limited supply of glue. Finally we had a raffle, and ended up giving away seven t-shirts and a wireless printer!

      Agenda & Announcements:

      Wednesday, September 15, 2010

      Pics up from Taylor Guitar tour last spring...



      Now that our blog is finally up, we can add pictures! Here are some from the Taylor Guitar tour we went on last spring. We're considering doing this again, so let us know if you want to go!