Ramblings of a Melvin...

Its got to that point, 11 weeks into Uni Term of Final year that our lecturers start talking about what we are going to do \"AFTER\" we graduate.

I\\\'ve been planning on this for several years. Ever since I first came to Swansea in 2006. The EngD, a Research Based Doctorate Program.

In particular I am now looking at the Steel Technology EngD. Initially when I was looking when I came in 2006 I saw posters for a Power/Aerospace EngD, but now I actually get into learning more about Steels and Aero Alloys I find that Steels interest me more.

Steel theory we\'ve been taught in Physical Metallurgy can be transposed to different Alloy systems therefore while my doctorate could well be in \"Steel Technology\". I could use the transferable skills found and take them to loads of different jobs.

The fact that we get paid for doing the EngD is just a bit of a bonus really. £16.5-18.5k Stipend, tax free.. Equivalent of a £24k starting Salary. As borat would say.. \"That\'s Niice\".

They also have a number of other benefits as well - from the Swansea Uni EngD page ->

General Information for 2009 Entry *not yet updated for 2010*

The four-year EngD programme includes:

*A taught-course component, covering technical subjects as well as development of personal, professional, business and managerial skills, and an industry-based research project, guided by academic and industrial supervisors.

*Ten funded places are available each year. In addition to having all fees paid, graduates selected for the EngD programme receive:

*A tax-free stipend, currently rising from £13,000 in Year 1 to £14,200 in Year 4.
*A stipend supplement from the industry partners, currently rising from £3,600 in Year 1 to £4,100 in Year 4
*A travel/subsistence expenses allowance, currently totalling £600 over the four-year period, plus a contribution of up to £600 for approved attendance at an international conference.

The benefit package (including fees) is equivalent to taxable earned income from employment of over £24,000 per annum. Moreover, other all-expenses-paid activities enjoyed by research engineers appointed to the EngD include:

*A five day tour of Corus plants in Wales and a five day tour of other manufacturing plants across the UK in Year 1
*A five day tour of metal intensive manufacturing plants in Europe (e.g. Holland, France and Germany) in Years 2 and 3
*An Annual Seminar and Dinner attended by senior industrialists and academics at which research engineers present research highlights of their work

I\'m just gonna need to ensure I get that 2.i or higher now :)

Well here we go... My 3rd Blog of 2009!  ooo... Shiny, not really but I've realised just how insignificant i really am in the grand scheme of things..

Anyhow, back onto the Blogging.

Had Exams 2 and 3 today.  Physical Properties was not too bad.  I already had 19.5% in the Module from the class test we did last year.  The exam itself wasn't too bad.  There was a 25mark Multiple Choice section in which i am 99% sure that i have at least 20 marks in on top of the several marks i picked up in other sections I think I'm looking at a 2-1 at minimum ^^

Microstructures...  Now this was a module i was dreading.  I utterly flunked it this year and I think I passed this module.  I'm pretty sure i would have at least 40% in it but knowing my luck it'll be weighted down a lot :/

In other news - SUCS have a event to go to Swansea Playzone in 2 weeks time.  If people are interested we'll be booking it next week sometime.  If you leave me a message then I'll make a note and email exec[at]sucs[dot]org about it ^^

 

Hope everyone is doing well & good luck for anyone still with exams to do!

Well its come to that time of year... Having to Choose what project is going to have me pulling my hair our all of next year.

 After some deliberation and reading through the ones on offer I've come up with 8 possible candidates that I will be submitting as my choicelist.

 Number 1:

"Learning Programming with Python" for Engineers

Description: This project will continue a previous project that answered the question "Which is the Most Appropriate First Programming Language for an Engineer" with a recommendation to evaluate Python. In this project you will develop a portfolio of suitable programming examples for a level one course in programming for engineers. The examples will be based on courses given at UC Berkeley and other prestigious US institutions (for which course materials are publicly available) and in some cases will require the translation of examples from Java, C, C++ and Fortran. They project will also evaluate suitable delivery methods (e.g. Web based presentation) and programming tools suitable for engineering use.

As a student interested in a number of languages and generally in how things work this appealed to me on what it is about.

 Number 2:

Atomistic Metropolis Monte Carlo (MMC) Studies for Spongy Catalyst Materials

Description: A review of existing MMC models will be carried out plus numerical experimentation using existing FORTRAN MMC codes. In particular, Ni_xAl_1-x alloys will be studied with special reference to their surface composition.

 

I'm interested in modelling materials modules that I've done so far this year hence why I chose this module as number 2.

Number 3: 

Combining Self-Organizing Maps and Minimum Spanning Trees

Description: Understanding complicated multivariable industrial process data and using it to provide guidance to operators is a challenging task. This project will investigate two related techniques, generate a computer model and apply it to existing process data. Programming will be done using Visual FORTRAN90.

This is interesting as to how Fortran is actually used in the workplace and also will give me a firm basis of how these types of things work. 

Number 4:

Undergraduate Project Manager on Rails

Description: The aim of this project is to develop a browser-based application to help with the management of undergraduate projects. It will provide an easy to use interface by which staff can create their undergraduate project descriptions, students can browse the list of projects to select their project nominations, the project coordinators can allocate projects to students and then manage the day-to-day running of the project, e.g, sending output emails at suitable times, provide automated tracking and submission of milestones such as project planning statements, risk assessments, progress reports and extended abstracts.

The Project will be hosted at Google Code as an open source project and the student will have access to (and be expected to use) a professional quality project web site, revision control, issue tracker, mailing list, blog, and Wiki.

This module seems to be quite similar to other things I have used in the past and I'd like to actually work to construct one myself :) 

 Number 5:

Carbon fibre mechanical properties (experimental)

Description: Carbon fibre composites are gaining increasing market penetration in applications in which their low density and high stiffness and strength hold sway despite the high costs. Areas such as aerospace, racing cars and sports equipment are particular examples. The increased usage, environmental concerns and legislation have led to problems when they reach their end-of-service life, since composite materials can be more difficult to recycle. This project will look at the issues associated with recycling the carbon fibres by burning off the resin. This can cause oxidation and hence weakening of the fibres. The plan is to assess the properties of carbon fibres following various heat treatments. Mechanical testing and microscopy will be carried out on single carbon fibres of varying lengths to determine the effects of degradation.

 As a racing enthusiast I keep on hearing about Carbon Fibres.  I'd love to get to know how these types of things work and what things affect their properties.

 Number 6: 

LCA Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Description: This project will involve a very limited Life Cycle Analysis of a selection of existing Hydrogen Fuel Cell technologies. Previous LCA work is available to provide a starting framework for the project.

I'm interested in learning about how these types of things work,  Hydrogen Fuel Cells are one of the Technologies we should really be looking at in terms of powering electric cars of the future. 

  Number 7:

Multiscale Computational Materials Science

Description: This project will mainly entail a general review of all published strategies relating to multiscale numerical simulation. Time permitting; a simple demonstrator code using a selected methodology may be attempted by the student.

While this isn't really a hands on practical I'm interested in the methodology of how this type of thing works.

 

 I've yet to actually make my final decision however so drop me an email cp[dot]melvin[at]gmail[dot]com to discuss.