Another Semester at WPI: Spring 2006

Last Monday was my first day of graduate classes for the Spring 2006 semester. My plan for the semester was to take a class in Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) and to do three credits of directed research work. So, on Monday I left work early to drive down to WPI for my first MEMS class. I get there, I’m a little confused at first because the room number given for the course turns out to be the computer lab, but other students show up so I figure I have the right place and find a seat. About 10 minutes after the class is scheduled to start a professor type person walks to the front of the computer lab, asks if anyone is here for the MEMS course and then proceeds to tell us that the professor is not in today, so we have no class. Well that was a great, worthwhile hour drive down to Worcester! Thanks for the heads up professor!

While I’m at campus, I figure I’ll make good use of my time. I buy the book for the course ($135!), and setup my WPI computer account at the computer center. I assume that since the course meets in the computer lab, I’ll probably have to log in to the computer at some point.

Thursday rolls around and back down to WPI I go for the second, but really the first MEMS class. I’ll also be meeting with my professor to start the directed research afterward. The MEMS professor shows up on time and mentions he was out on Monday, but doesn’t offer any sort of apology. He proceeds to handout approximately a hundred pages of notes that are relevant to the first two class lectures. He then proceeds to go through the first two classes worth of PowerPoint slides (we wouldn’t want to be behind schedule so early in the semester). We never once touch the computers in front of us, nor does he mention them. The professor does interrupt lecture a couple times to chastise the other students in the computer lab for talking quietly. These other students are actually trying to get some work done. I can’t figure out why the professor would hold the lecture in the computer lab other than the fact there is a projector screen for his PowerPoint slides. There are screens in other classrooms, though maybe not quite as big a screen as the one in the computer lab. Anyway, I find the computer lab a very distracting environment for a class. People are coming and going all the time, there are keyboard/mouse noises, and not too mention the much more interesting material a few clicks away on the Internet.

Overall, I’m not impressed with the course or the professor. The class will have homework for every lecture, two exams, a project, multiple laboratories, and mandatory seminars in addition to class time. It looks like a lot of work, and potentially additional trips to campus other than scheduled class times, for a subject that is not that interesting to me. I should have known to drop the class on Monday when he didn’t show up and never told us beforehand.

One of the sheets the professor gave to us in his handouts was a sheet outlining his Homework and Exam Requirements (HER). This sheet lists sixteen items about the required formatting of homework assignments. “Points will be taken off during the evaluations for not satisfying these requirements”. My favorite one is number fifteen. “15. Staple (no folded corners, no paper clips, or other separable fasteners) all sheets for specific homework set (or exam, or report) in the upper left corner – do not staple more than one homework set at a time; make certain that the staple has a positive slope of approximately 45º”.

Thankfully, my directed research meeting when a lot better. I am going to be studying Biodiesel fuel and assessing its “cradle to grave” environmental effects. I think it will be very interesting and somewhat fun.

I’ve decided to drop the MEMS course and add the Advanced Dynamics and Vibrations course instead. I was originally going to take the Adv Dynamics and Vib class, but I had the professor last semester for graduate level dynamics and wasn’t too impressed. I’ve heard this advanced class will be spending a lot more time on random vibrations, which is a topic we deal with a lot at work.