Bailey Akers

EE 494
10/4/2017

Cumulative Reflection
I believe my courses that Ive taken at ISU have impacted the way I solve problems. One major way is
that Ive learned how to use resources like academic papers, videos, and textbooks to understand a
topic. The professors at ISU have impacted me more than the material. Professors like Dr. Randall Geiger
and Dr. Gary Tuttle have challenged me to not only be able to implement hardware, but to understand
the theory behind the operation. (1 and 3)
At ISU I learned the importance of working on a team. Classes like CPRE 288, EE 330, and EE
491/492 show how as a group of engineering students can work together to solve a problem. These
problems were based off of relatable contemporary issues that exist in the world. For example, in CPRE
288 we remotely controlled a robot and navigated it through an obstacle course. This project directly
simulates the Mars Rover mission that NASA achieved in 2004. (1 and 2)
Being an ISU engineering student set me up for four internship experiences. I was able to
achieve these internships by utilizing ISU Engineering Career Services. ISU Engineering Career Services is
a great resource because they give presentations on what companies expect from engineering students
that are looking for internship and full-time opportunities. (2 and 4)
My internships were where I learned the most about myself as an engineer. These experiences
are what allowed me to try different industries and disciplines to solidify what my interests are. I
learned how these industries impact the world, locally and globally. This set me up for knowing exactly
what full-time position I wanted when entering my senior year, Embedded Software Engineer at John
Deere. (1 and 2)
At ISU I was able to participate in IEEE as Membership and Industry Relations Chairs. IEEE has a
large presence in ECPE at ISU. Being able to attend company presentations and Lab Jams along with
volunteering at Ames Elementary Science Nights were my favorite parts of IEEE. Being a part of
extracurricular organizations taught me that not all learning is done in the classroom. In order to
become a lifelong learner, this is an important lesson. (4)
I entered ISU with little to no experience with software design. Being an Electrical Engineering
student, I had the opportunity to focus in the Computer Engineering sequence. This allows me to learn
digital hardware design with Verilog/VHDL. Ive also had the opportunity to learn and practice two
widely respected programming languages, C and Java. Software was outside of my comfort zone before
entering these courses, now it is of my strong suits. (5)
If I had to redo my experience at ISU there are a few things I would change about the Electrical
Engineering program. I would change EE 230 to make the material somewhat uniform from professor to
professor. Specifically, my EE 230 professor only taught op amp circuits and filters. He told us that
transistors werent important. If ABET allows, I would change the EE 491 senior design class. Students
describe the class as bureaucratic due to the excessive amount of reflections and presentations required
during the semester. These reflections are overly concerned with procedure at the expense of efficiency
and common sense. (6)
I believe ISU has prepared me to achieve the professional and ethical responsibilities of an
engineer. Being able to gain experiences from professors, projects, and internships is what has impacted
my development as an engineering student. ISU has provided me the confidence to solve problems with
the skills necessary to do so. (2)