My coursework throughout college has been instrumental in shaping both my personal and professional ambitions.
Favorite Classes
ECE 306 — Introduction to Embedded Systems
Embedded systems has been one of the most gratifying courses I've taken. I love how practical and project-based eveything was, and while it was intense, I felt like
I truly learned and gained valuable hand-on experience. The entire class was structured around a smester-long project building an autnomous car you can find
here. What I loved most was the tangible nature of experimenting with how my code affected hardware. Programming
has always been enjoyable for me, but seeing my LCD display change, configuring movement patterns, implementing line-following logic, and even just reading ADC inputs
was addicting.
ECE 585 — Business of the Electric Utility Industry
This course felt like a deeper dive into what I enjoyed most from ES 300. We had numerous guest lecturers from the North Carolina Utilities Commission,
Duke Energy, and other independent power producers. It was amazing tying together all of the various regulatory frameworks that have evolved over the the utility
industry's lifetime.
ECE 550 — Power Systems Operation & Control
This is the class that has given me the most technical knowledge about the energy industry. Learning how power flow analysis, transmission line modeling, and economic dispatch
are done in practice was interesting and rewarding. It also helped me understand pressing issues like interconnection studies, why they're so needed,
and how we can mitigate potential issues. We also had the oppurtunity to gain hands-on experience with PSSE, using it
to complete a contingency analysis study for our term project.
ECE 212 — Fundamentals of Logic Design
Logic design in and of itself was interesting in its puzzle-like nature, but the projects-based approach our teacher utilized excited me the most.
For example, we developed a final project in place of a final exam. It was immensely gratifying laying out my design journal, spending weeks conceptualizing my desired device, crafting truth tables and IC schematics, and
eventually constructing the final product. The most enjoyable parts of the class were just playing around with my circuit, seeing what was cool,
what worked, and what didn't. Read more about the project here.
ES 300 — Energy and Environment
This class is what sparked my interest in the energy industry as a whole. We covered its history, structuring, economcis, and regulation all with the lens of
human and environmental impact. It helped me develop a broader context of the topics and issues I had always been most passionate about, and it led me to better
appreciate the mechanisms by which change is made and implemented.
Timeline
I thought it might be neat to lay out my academic progress so far, as well as what I'm planning on pursuing.
Abbreviations:
BS EE — Electrical Engineering
MS EPSE — Electric Power Systems Engineering
MS NE — Nuclear Engineering
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
BS EE
MS EPSE
MS NE
Degree timeline with completed, current, and planned semester blocks.