Blog Assignment #6

       Before I took this course, I had no idea how technical writing is different from the rest of writing styles. Therefore, as a student majoring in mechanical engineering, I was really motivated to to learn new concepts and methods that distinguish technical writing, simply because I'm going to be using this style for the rest of my life.
 
       First, I built a huge vocabulary of technical terms. These terms are very important to use in a technical document. Also, I learned how to construct a coherent technical essays by implementing the right transitions between ideas, and dividing the essay into specific parts that develops certain idea. Moreover, I discovered new genres of essays that can be used for specific objectives such as Memo ( convincing essay), technical description ( descriptive essay) and recommendation report ( both convincing and descriptive essay). More Importantly, over this course, I understood that my language should be clear and simple, because we're most likely addressing our documents to non-specialist audience.

     Second, we went over techniques that help us to conduct efficient research and look for reliable sources. For example, www.Sciencedirect.com  is one of the data bases that is widely used by technical writers to find trustworthy sources for their research. I extensively used this database and other sources this semester, and I was impressed by the amount of scholarly papers available in it. 

    Finally, I definitely learned numerous techniques that well help me to be a better technical writer.  Besides the things that I've already mention, we emphasized the importance of giving credit to whoever provided data for us in order to avoid plagiarism. We went over the format that must be followed to write a good APA citations and the importance of paraphrasing. Therefore, my writing improved so much through all the assignments that we had during this course.
   

Assignment #5

    Considering professional reviews for specific products before purchasing them is definitely a good method to build an idea about it. However, normal users can provide some good opinions that based on hands on testing. Personally, I usually look for either sort of reviews before buying anything. Nevertheless, in this post, I'll be analyzing two  reviews about two of the most sold cars in the market: 2013 Ford fusion hybrid vs 2013 BMW X1.

http://reviews.cnet.com/suv/2013-bmw-x1-xdrive28i/4505-10868_7-35602742.html

      First, I'll start with the review of Jjacobus who criticized the "premium" interior of the car. He said, "It was sparse and felt more like a Honda than a BMW" (Jjacobus, 2013). Moreover, he didn't appreciate the price of the BMW X1, considering that it is just few thousands cheaper than the full-option X3. In contrast,  Avanbeek emphasized the positive things of the car. He stated that the car is very stable in turns, and it makes negligible noise. He also said that the space inside the car is well used and the its size is just about right (Avanbeek, 2013).


http://reviews.cnet.com/sedan/2013-ford-fusion-hybrid/4505-10865_7-35430050.html

      On one hand, The first comment that I'm going to go over first is Cbscowards's. He actually appreciated that such a powerful car uses as less as 45 MPG. However, he demonstrated that this is a normal thing for a car that uses hybridization technology. More importantly, he didn't understand why the it consumes a big amount of gas when the car pulls away (Cbscowards, 2013). On the other hand, Kdc174 claimed that the biggest problem that this car has is the temperature adaptation of the car. He argued that the car takes long time recover its normal temperature during the cold weather, so it needs a relatively long time to kick in compare to other hybrid cars (Kdc174, 2013). 

 

Blog Assignment #4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8bqzjZvSmc

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL.Science&userGroupName=cuny_laguardia&tabID=T003&searchId=R3&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=4&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3463000012&&docId=GALE|CX3463000012&docType=GALE

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL.Science&userGroupName=cuny_laguardia&tabID=T003&searchId=R3&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=2&contentSet=GALE%7CCX2275200056&&docId=GALE|CX2275200056&docType=GALE

       The video for nao robot technology that I chose is accessible through the link above. This video chose some nao robots playing soccer the most popular game in the world. More importantly, it demonstrates the ability of a nao robot to locate the ball through very advanced precise sensors. In addition, it shows their ability to move toward the ball and kick toward the goal considering the existence of the opponent robots that will prevent them from heading to the goal. All these things are not easy to program and build it in a robot. Further, what struck me most was their ability to stand up after falling down. It was just amazing how developed these robots are. I believe this video is very optimistic, because it not only show the incredible features of these robots, but it also suggest that this technology is still in its beginning, and it’ll definitely move forward. Who knows, this technology may change our relationship with robots in the future. This video was published by a fan of robotics and the new technology called SuperRoboHead. In my opinion, this does not affect the reliability of the video, because even if there are commercialization purposes, I’m convinced that this is an amazing technology.

        According to Michael Bandele (2010), artificial intelligence is machine that can be programmed in a way, so it can be implemented somewhere to handle certain mission.  He also declares that AI main purpose is to develop the functioning of certain object in an intelligent manner for the good of humans and the society.  Moreover, he stated that, “The goal of computer simulations is to develop programs that take into consideration the constraints of how humans perform various cognitive tasks and incorporate these constraints into a program” ( Bandele, 2010).

       Peggy Thomas affirms that Machine learning is highly difficult. That’s because building a good model is really a creative act. As an analogy, consider what it takes to design a robot. You’re balancing lots of constraints such as budget, usage requirements, space limitations, etc. However, trying to create the most precise and beautiful artificial intelligence you can. A creative engineer will find a great solution. Mathematically speaking engineering is solving an optimization problem and creativity can be thought of as the ability to come up with a good solution given an objective and constraints (Peggy, 2005). Furthermore, He said that, “In the 1960s AI experts promised a robotic maid in every home. That has not happened, but AI experts are optimistic that it will” (Peggy, 2005). 

References:

Bendele, Michael S. "Artificial Intelligence." Salem Health: Psychology & Mental Health. Ed. Nancy A. Piotrowski. Vol. 1. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2010. 184-188. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 4 June 2013.

"Everyday AI." Artificial Intelligence. Ed. Peggy Thomas. San Diego: Lucent Books, 2005. 41-53. Lucent Library of Science and Technology. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 4 June 2013.

  SuperRoboHead(2011, November 5). NAO Robot Is Amazing Soccer Player. Retrieved  May 28,2013, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8bqzjZvSmc.

Blog Assignment #3

       In this post, I will be conducting a brief analysis of my professional memo where I talked about my

company's need of a robot. I actually chose this scenario, because it is related to my field of interest which is

mechanical engineering, so I couldn't find a better scenario to explore my knowledge about robots and their

benefits.  This is a piece chosen from my memo:


On one hand, human worker will cost the company more 50 grants a year excluding bonuses and 

health insurance expenses. Moreover, the technician who will do the job won’t be required to work 

more than 40 hours a week with two weeks off each year during the first five years and three weeks 

after that. In addition, human worker must be trained in the beginning. On the other hand, two 

lifetime arc welding robots will not cost us as much as a technician costs for two years. Furthermore, 

Robots can run for almost all day with preferable breaks.

       In my professional memo, I urged our factory executive managers to think of a robot to do the work 

instead of a human worker, because my research shows that human worker is more expensive and less 

productive than a robot.  



       Before I started writing, I spent few hours doing research on arc welding robots, their efficiency and  

cost. Then, I tried to organize my thoughts by noting ideas and classifying them. Next, I began writing my 

introduction where I explained the situation to the readers. Finally,  I continued writing using the 

information that I collected from my research.

       In fact, this genre of writing was sort of different, because this is the first time I write something that 

professional where I had to defend my thoughts and try to convince the reader about the importance of 

robots in that company. 

Assingment # 2

         In The post “Manufacturing Processes” published on the blog Engineeringhut, the author

lists the major types of manufacturing processes and describes them. To begin with, he refers to

the manufacturing processes as the changes applied to materials in order to form desired shape or

property. Next, the following types of manufacturing processes were listed:

-         -Casting processes: the processes in which liquids or non-solid materials are poured into a

prepared mould to give a definite form after the solidification is done by either cooling, drying or

chemical reaction. The author affirms that “Casting is the most flexible and cheapest method and

given high strength of rigidity to the parts which are difficult to produce by other manufacturing

processes.” (n.i, 2012).

-         -Forming processes: In this process, and under a high temperature, the size and shape of

materials change, but the volume does not. In forming, force (mechanical force, high air

pressure, etc.) is applied to the material enough to adjust its form without destroying it.

-         -Fabrication process: fabrication is the process of putting parts of a specific product

together.

-         -Material removal processes: This process which is also called separating changes the

shapes and size of materials by removing particles or breaking off pieces using cutting tools

in both cases. Other separating methods have been developed recently. Chemicals, electrical

sparks, heat and lasers are examples of these new methods.

        In summary, this post is very important for mechanical engineering students to clarify a

very important concept which is manufacturing. I decided not to summarize a more advanced

topic, because I believe that I should strengthen my basic knowledge in this field instead of skip

steps. I found this post very beneficial and rich. It basically covers the most important aspects of

manufacturing, and now I’m ready to move forward and discover more advanced engineering

topics.   

engineeringhut.blogspot.com

ENG259: 1st blog post

         Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. My name is Mehdi Lamkies and I’m from Morocco. I’m a student at Laguardia Community College and my major is mechanical engineering. In fact, I chose this major, because I totally believe that it opens up the door for students to demonstrate their skills and explore their creativity. Besides, I can’t hide my passion for anything that is related engineering, because here is  where I can apply my math background, design items that are necessary for life, expect the worse and come up with the solutions to insure a high quality.

         On one hand, My short term objective is to get my associate and bachelor degrees within the next two years and a half. On the other hand, I'm determined to invest and go as far as possible in my career by getting a Phd in aerospace engineering. In order for me to accomplish these "dreams", it's necessary to be closely involved in the field of technology. More specifically, I'm interested in learning different programming languages and designing software. In my opinion not everybody in the U.S share the same passion for technology, simply because each one has different interests. It could be anything such as medicine, literature, art.... However, I strongly believe that the importance of technology is rapidly increasing with all the development that we see everywhere.

        Nowadays, writing and reading are equally important for an engineer to succeed in his career. Ether I like to read or not, looking  things up and learning new materials is a must for engineering students. Actually, I do appreciate reading programming, designing and mechanics books. However, I admit that I don't do formal writing frequently except if I have school assignments.