How to Get Back on Track

Following the past week of internet problems and other difficulties, I was ready to get back to the regularly scheduled school and back on track with my mentor meetings and research. However, we had to suffer through another week of asynchronous learning. I had adequate internet and power during the week, and was able to get some good research done on improving energy efficiency in steel production facilities. For right now, it’s pretty tedious to continue doing research and taking notes, but I’m learning a lot about civil engineering and construction, and I know that this knowledge will help me create an all-encompassing report for my final original work product.

I met with my mentor today, and discussed not only my research, but the reasons that the winter storm in Texas was so devastating - I figured this was somewhat influenced by civil engineering and the state’s infrastructure. My mentor told me about frost lines that dictate how deep pipes should be buried, and how there is no set line here in Texas. A main cause for the huge impact of the storm was the power grids and infrastructure - Texas is not on the national power grid, so we were unprepared for the storm.

My plans for the coming week are to continue my research. I’ll be meeting with my mentor early next week to go over a few questions I had today.