An update of inner thoughts…

I’ve not blogged in a while, so I figured my poor blog deserves an update just when I need to be studying the most. Go figure. Here are a few (in the words of Bob McLeod) “short snappers” about what’s going on with me right now:

  • First off, I’ve been elected as the new Senior Stick of Engineering. I’m excited, but right now it adds another level of complexity to an already busy life.
  • I also have a job for the summer doing research under an NSERC Student Research Award with Gabe Thomas (he has a beard now and is generally much less serious that than picture would have you believe). I’ll be doing medical image processing of one kind or another, which I’m looking forward to.
  • Thesis idea: real-time, hardware implementation of an encryption algorithm in an inline device for IDE/ATA hard disks. Sounds like fun with FPGAs, discrete math, and key management. Now for a thesis advisor, and partners.
  • Doug Buchanan’s Digital Systems Implementation (DSI) is rocking my socks. It’s amazing that we have high-speed desktop computers at all, given how complicated and error-prone the IC manufacturing process is. And yet we keep asking for more from those poor IC designers, who must curse Moore’s Law every day they arrive at work.
    Corollary: I think I’ve discovered my two loves in Engineering: signal/image processing and VLSI.

  • Speaking of Dr. Buchanan, I’ve created a top five list of my all-time favorite ECE profs. Here they are, in no particular order:
    - Doug Buchanan
    - Gabriel Thomas
    - Dean McNeill
    - Witold Kinsner
    - Joe LoVetri

    Not to be outdone, Trim is in a separate class of favorite non-ECE professors. He’s right up there with H. M. Soliman.

  • Engineering Grad is next Saturday, and I need to write a speech. What would you like to hear me talk about?
  • Finally, SEP2 sucks. That’s what I’m supposed to be studying for right now, but I can’t bring myself to look at the Visitor pattern or other such BS. I hope I don’t have to study comics that somehow represent design patterns. Sigh. This course needs to be put out of it’s misery. Come on, CEAB.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 20th, 2006 at 12:55 am and is filed under Goings On, Random Thoughts, School, UMES. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

5 Responses to “An update of inner thoughts…”

  1. tim Says:
    March 20th, 2006 at 10:24 am

    I knew you were busy, but I never imagined this much.
    Do you like having so much work to do?

  2. Paulo Says:
    March 21st, 2006 at 1:49 pm

    *Sigh* Oh Steve, how I envy you and laugh at you all at once. Sounds like a fun time. You favorite list is close to mine but I would have replaced McNeill with Howie Card (sorry Dean) and LoVetri with Sima Noghanian (Not so sorry JLo). On the topic of your speech I think you should discuss how most students have no idea about what Senior Stick entails and how you won’t either until a year from now ;)
    A tip for SEP2: look into the ability to bring in your slide rule. I remember a distinctly large amount of long division. A letter signed by the Dean saying it’s ok might not be a bad idea. . . I’m serious. . . it was a lot of long division.

  3. Jill Says:
    March 21st, 2006 at 6:44 pm

    Oh Great! So now for sure we will never see you. (just kidding, but not all at the same time).

  4. Joey Coleman Says:
    March 21st, 2006 at 9:40 pm

    Congratulations on being elected Senior Stick!

  5. Dan Says:
    March 24th, 2006 at 7:23 pm

    Oh the memories – I’m going to second some of what Paulo said… don’t worry too much about it… keep it simple and say what you mean and mean what you say (cliche – I know). Maybe say a thing or two about the grads/graduating or what you’re looking forward to in the year ahead (for you, engineering students at the U of M)…

    Enjoy!