Oscar’s Software Saga

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“The wise man is one who knows what he does not know.”

Lao Tzu

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Well, here it is; we’re officially nearing the end of an amazing term. I remember Professor Hedaoo saying many students claim this is their favorite course, and I understand now why that would be the case. It’s been quite a wild experience being turned loose on a software project and just having to figure things out; I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. When I reflect on my successes in this course, two things come to mind. Firstly, client management. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work with an external company, and it’s been a rewarding journey. I often hear that the hardest part of being a software engineer is translating client requirements into software, but it’s actually been one of my favorites (I’m sure it’s client-dependent, Alan is awesome!) So much of my experience at OSU has involved clearly defined assignment specifications, so I haven’t had the opportunity to really take the driver’s seat; it’s been neat, to say the least! Side note: I know I keep referring to my project mentor as a “client”, but I really think that description fits better. Alan owns the business for which we were building the website, and he is not technical at all, so he wasn’t able to be too hands-on as a mentor. It did feel more like an internship or consulting gig than a school project, which I actually preferred.

Secondly, while overall, there are always areas for improvement, I believe both my partner and I did a good job of staying on top of communication with the client and were able to translate some rather vague requirements from a non-technical person into an end product they are happy with, so I consider our project a success! I’m also proud of myself for being able to navigate the ambiguity of the implementation of my work. When we started the project, I encountered a number of roadblocks for the first few weeks while, at Alan’s direction, I was trying to follow in the footsteps of the previous student. The previous approach had a steep learning curve (like trying to learn how to build photorealistic whole-house model in Blender in two weeks as a complete beginner!), was difficult to scale, and required complex software to render (not to mention the resources it consumed once you did!). I proposed a different solution to Alan and met with him to show a demo. While initially reluctant, he came around and is thrilled with the end product, which is music to my ears!

For a SWOT analysis, here are my thoughts:

Strengths: The guardrails are off, and we’re just let loose with this class – I love that! I’ve learned a lot from having the opportunity to make mistakes and figure things out. That being said, while we did have independence, I felt like the instructional staff was still checking in and making their presence known; the balance was just right, in my opinion. Also, a big positive in my book is that we have some projects with external companies.

Weaknesses/Opportunities: I’m grouping these two together as weaknesses could also be considered opportunities for improvement. The main thing for me is that I would like to see more projects with external companies that could lead to job offers after the program. I have a hunch that the few external projects were very competitive, as many OSU post-bacc students can’t get internships due to life obligations outside the program, so it would be great to have more of those.

Threats: The only thing I can think of is having a bad project mentor or group. Look, Alan was fantastic and I certainly wouldn’t consider him a bad mentor, but he isn’t technical, so we had to figure out a lot of things ourselves. I know this is a fine line because you want students to have the experience of doing that exploratory work. However, I think it could have been helpful for instructional staff to meet with Alan to properly scope the project and set realistic expectations of what students could complete in a semester, then leave it up to the students to decide how to implement it. I was also lucky that I had a great teammate in Matt. This would be a tough class if you didn’t have group members that were engaged, invested, and delivering consistently good work.

Overall though, I’ve had fun. Looking forward to wrapping up these last few weeks and getting out there into the world of engineering.

Cheers!

-Oscar

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“Thinking only goes as far as that which it can understand.”

Lao Tzu

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So, we’re about halfway through this last semester, and this is my first chance to really reflect on things. Overall, I would say it’s been an interesting experience; certainly a new one. When I took the project, I didn’t actually know that much about it. The description on the project’s page wasn’t particularly robust, but there was enough to pique my interest. Plus, it was with an external company, which, coming from someone who hasn’t had the opportunity to do internships due to work/life commitments, was something I jumped at!

What I didn’t realize at the time – and would have had no way of knowing – was the task that lay ahead of me: 3D modeling. I can’t get too into the weeds, unfortunately, as I’ve signed an NDA, but it’s safe to say I had absolutely no experience in this area. It’s actually why I chose the above Lao Tzu quote for this blog post, which happens to be one of my favorites – so much of these first few weeks have been spent absorbing what is a complex field, just so that I can conceptualize the best way to go about implementing this project. It’s sort of a one step forward and two steps back situation, but that’s actually what I love about engineering, and i’ve found it rewarding getting to hold the reins and just figure stuff out! So what have I enjoyed the most? Well, again, I can’t talk in too great detail about the project, but I’ve had the opportunity to get my hands on many new software products and libraries. My favorite so far, and probably the hardest to learn, has been Blender. What is Blender? Well, pulled directly from their website: Blender is the free and open source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, even video editing and game creation. If all that isn’t enough, it’s entirely free, and anything you create can be used for any purpose, including commercial projects. One thing you learn fast in the animation/art space is that there are very few genuinely free products that provide an excellent set of tools. But there are no catches with Blender; it’s just free. You just download the software, install it, and it gives you everything you need to create pretty much any 3D objects or animations. It’s been cool to learn, and I hope it’s something I keep working with in the future. I certainly never saw myself being interested in this area of engineering, so it’s been a rewarding experience in that regard.

Outside of the actual day-to-day work, I’ve been fortunate to have an excellent team. The project mentor, Dr. Kadish, is incredibly knowledgeable in their field and passionate about our work. My teammate, Matt Fredericks, has also been a pleasure to work with; responsive, proactive, produces good work, and is always happy to help.

So, to conclude, it’s been a fun and challenging first few weeks. I’m looking forward to the next blog post where I hope to be writing about wrapping up a successful project.

Cheers!

-Oscar

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“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”

Lao Tzu

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It was winter 2022, and I failed CS162. Yes, you read that correctly—I failed out of CS162, an introductory course. I didn’t even make it to week 3 before I threw in the towel. I just didn’t get it; I couldn’t understand, and I was incredibly frustrated. Funnily enough, Professor Hedaoo was the instructor for the course. He probably doesn’t remember, but he was very nice about the whole situation. He spent more time than he probably should have in a 1:1 call with me, stepping through my code for the assignment and trying to give me pointers. I think one thing became fairly obvious to both of us—I had no real idea what I was doing!

You see, I wasn’t a computer person growing up—far from it, actually. I didn’t come into this course with any programming experience; I’d never even written a line of code. I was just someone who enjoyed the problem-solving process and building things, so I figured I might enjoy a career in Software Engineering. To add to this, I had a bad habit of telling myself stories that weren’t true; “you’re not a math guy,” “you’ve always struggled academically,” “other people get this and you don’t”—you get the idea.

Now, before you label this as a doom blog, it’s not. As I’m sure you’ve figured out by my enrollment in the class, my journey didn’t end there. I took a few semesters off and really learnt to code. I spent time each day going over and over the basics. I came back and got through CS162, then the subsequent classes, and now here I am in my final semester! In hindsight, I’m deeply grateful for this early setback because it allowed me to put to bed those negative beliefs I’d held about myself for some time, and perhaps that’s been the most rewarding aspect of my journey at OSU. Am I exactly where I want to be? Not at all. I don’t know if that will ever be the case. However, I’ve let go of what I was, or at least what I thought I was, and I’m moving towards what I might be—a Software Engineer. Hence, the quote for this blog post.

Anyway, before I get too Tony Robbins on you, I’ll try to answer the other prompts and not make it too long. For a future career, I would love to get into Software Engineering after graduation. I don’t have a strong preference for areas. As I mentioned, the problem-solving process is the best part for me, so I think I’ll be able to do that with whatever I’m working on. For projects I’m most interested in, I would say the Fire Department 911 Risk Analysis and the Fire/EMS Visualization Client seem cool. Being able to write code that helps save lives would be very rewarding, and I like the emphasis on looking for team players that are willing to learn. Finally, when I’m not coding, you’ll typically find me spending time with my kids, outside with my chickens, or doing jujitsu—that’s pretty much it.

I’m excited for this class and to bring this rewarding journey to an end.

Best of luck to everyone!

Cheers,

Oscar