"Coming in Hot!!!"

Marco, Hunter, Rafe and Andrew nearly took themselves out!

David Kelly (the "IDEO guy") on Human Centered Design

This is ten years old so I'm not sure how good it is... what do you think?

A Millie

We watched the Millie preview during 6th Period. What a show! Nice job to our Engineers that participated in the performance (Chase, Matt, Shana, am I missing anyone else?). Looks like you can catch the show the next two weekends:

Sort It!

Andrew and Connor have figured out an elegant way to seperate their wood and metal marbles from their glass ones:

Influential Architects

In anticipation of our forthcoming "Architecture Project", please take a look at these breif videos:

Influential Architects

Play all:
Click here to watch all the videos in sequence!

Monski Pong!

Niki has integrated some flex sensors (resistors) with an Arduino to control a straightforward "Pong" style game. Nice!:

First!

Sammy showing off his glider, the first one I've seen completed. Nice job!:

Aircraft in Progress

Isreal and Chase papering the wing of their model airplane:

"Pretty much the only way to get an F in the course"

That's what my old West Point room mate told me when he saw this picture of one of our engineers!

Game On!

The FIRST Robotics competative season is underway. CHS has the strongest team yet with a core of seasoned veterans as well as a selection of sharp newcomers.

The team has their own workspace so I enjoyed their suprise visit for a meeting after class on Tuesday.

This year's challenge involves scoring points by putting foam basketballs through baskets. It looks like the team is starting to refine their vision for the project!:

Why is an Integrated Circuit on Google Today?

Click through here to find out why people like Steve Jobs looked to Robert Noyce as a mentor.

6th Period Puzzle Cubes in Progress

Nice Guys Finish First

Congratulations to our Boys Water Polo team for seizing the CIF championships this evening. It was a nail biter of a game! Two periods of overtime followed by a round of sudden death. Good thing we have the week off 'cause I'm too hoarse from yelling to want to do much talking on Monday.

Special congratulations to all of our Engineering Water Polo contingent, in particular Nick, Joe and John.

This game was fun for me to watch. It was hosted at my old stomping grounds, LJHS. I got to watch the game with Dr. Petterson, my childhood buddy who played varsity goalie all four years of our high school era. He really knows his stuff and it was like having my own personal commentator to point out all the intricacies of this gripping match. I learned a lot.

The Bishops and Islanders teams line up to start the game:


Story is the split between expecation and outcome. The Islanders set us up for a great story this evening by letting Bishops take an early lead of 0-3. It was looking grim for some time.

The game was tied up by the fourth quarter and after two periods of overtime, the score was tied up yet again. The game progressed into a final Sudden Death:


Amazing! The Islander's score in sudden death to clench the title!:


How many people can you count in the pool? Yes, that's more than both the teams... extatic Islanders were jumping in from the stands! What an exciting game.

Service

It was thoughtful of the PTO to leave a nice Veteran's Day note for me at yesterday's luncheon they put on for all the CHS teachers. Thank you for the thought and also for the excellent food (apparently catered by Sapori if anyone has the chance to eat there).



It is the spirit of service, and the goal of spreading a design thinking mindset, that has me excited about the courses I'm developing to encourage leadership and innovation. I gained great experience as a servant leader in the Army and am happy to have a chance to put these skills to good use again. With any of my efforts teaching, I have the student's best interests at heart.

I had some amazing adventures when I was in the Army 10+ years ago. Here are a few pictures from that era:

LT Olson as "Apache 16": Platoon Leader 1-A-1-4IN


Preparing to depart on a night infiltration. Last minute coordination at the Tactical Operations Center meant I hadn't camoed up yet.


CPT Olson on the left. One day prior to conducting a Motorized Rifle Regement attack (100+ armored vehicles rolling out). Which piece of equipment that I'm carrying is the most important to this dismounted reconnaissance mission?


Despite being an Infantry Officer, I spent *a lot* of time maneuvering combined arms armored units (Tanks + APCs). Don't let the smile fool you, a few days in the snow in a metal box gets cold fast (although I did love this work!)...

7 Billion Chances to Make a Difference!

It's theorized that the human population reached 7 Billion today. That's a lot of opportunties to design/build solutions to problems.

? - As you move forward in your life, what are some of the challenges listed in the following video that you could participate in solving?



a

? - 7 Billion is a huge number. How can we conceptualize that many people? How many people live in San Diego? How many San Diegos is 7 Billion?

2nd Period Boat Builders!

Design/Build

Jason and Joe make progress on their cardboard canoe build:


Meanwhile, Putnam and John make progress on testing a prototype:




? - Even though this team is already under way with the construction of their boat, how might the prototype support the construction of their project?
? - How effective does their model appear to be? What useful information might the team discover with their test?

Professional Interview

A primary objective of the Principles of Engineering course is to give our students a perspective on the different fields of engineering one could persue beyond High School. What better way to work towards this awareness than to conduct an interview with an engineer?

A selection of interesting people with engineering backgrounds. How many of these people can you name?:




Overview
Conduct a personal interview with a professional in the field of engineering, engineering technology, or another high-tech, high-demand field. Interview documentation must follow the outline format described below and consists of three major components: Professional Background; Interview; Interviewer Reflection. Completed interview documentation must be posted to your online portfolio (blog).


1. Discuss with your instructor who you would like to interview. Obtain instructor approval.

2. Contact the person you will be interviewing and obtain consent.


Professional Background

3. Gather the information below. Use the buddy system for all interviews. No interviews are to be conducted in private

a. Interviewee name:

b. Interviewee’s specific degree:

c. Interviewee’s place of employment:

d. Interviewee’s email address and/or phone:


Professional Interview

4. Ask interviewee the questions listed below and record exact responses in your engineering notebook. If you wish to ask additional questions, seek instructor approval.

· Please describe your engineering field.



· What is your current job title?



· Please describe your particular job and duties.



· What is your average work schedule?



· Starting with high school, describe your educational background chronologically.



· If you had it to do over, related to your career or education, would you do anything differently?



· What advice would you give to me as someone interested in pursuing a career path similar to yours?


Personal Reflection

5. Reflect on your completed interview and answer the following questions. You may also add additional reflections or thoughts.

a. What surprised you the most about the interview?

b. What was the most important piece of information that you learned form the interview?

c. How has this interview influenced your feelings about your future career?

Haze Fest

Wow... I'm glad I wasn't new this year...




Kudos to the new teachers for their bravery! Welcome aboard!

Welcome Back!

How was your summer?

Get ready for a great year :)