Month: October 2020

Last week, I mentioned that we were meeting with someone from the Hinsdale Laboratory on the 19th of October. That meeting was had at 9:30 AM and passed without a stitch. Though we had most of the information required of us from the original documentation of the project, we were able to pick up on some extra nuances that were not mentioned prior. We learned that the way the data is captured through a pressure gauge in the lowest point of the reservoir, talking to a machine that is then recording everything seen by it. It is from this machine that we’ll be getting all of our information from to find out the required levels of depth of stopping water flow.

Many in depth group discussions were had this week over Discord on what was to be done with the project, such as the splitting of group focuses and what our plan of attack was going to be for the overall design. Though our attack plan was very surface based, we didn’t go too in depth about it, our discussions about splitting of the work was clear. We divided what we needed into three simple categories: back end, UI, and lab computer setup. I decided to take on the feat of user interface because it is what I am most confident in and what I enjoy most about creating a project. Designing work in such a way that is aesthetically pleasing while being clear and simple for users interaction. Given this projects topic and building off of something that is already made, my job on the UI will be time consuming. The current website we are shooting off of is not very user friendly and is very basic. The added functionality will make it far less of a pain to use. I’m excited to get started.

Last week, a concern of mine was my lack of ability to get into contact with my group mates. This week, we’ve already met three times to brainstorm and work together. We established a server on Discord for quick messages to one another as well as open rooms where we can meet with voice chat to discuss our plans. The project itself went well this week as far as all aspects go. My group and I didn’t face many challenges in terms of working as independents and later bringing what we made together into single cohesive documents. Of everything, the biggest bump in the road was the fact that we all wrote very similar abstracts, so finding a meaningful way to stitch them together was a little on the rougher end without just using one of the abstracts.

We are scheduled to have our first video conversation with the laboratory this Monday the 19th. We’ve been communicating up to this point through email, so it will be good to finally have a face-to-face, taking the knowledge we learned in this last week about how to pose meaningful questions and pull concepts from the individual that are otherwise not thought of being asked. I will be sure to elaborate on this meeting further on next weeks blog post.

As for the class as a whole, I have been enjoying my time in it. When compared to other courses in Computer Science, this one truly does feel like the icing on the cake. It is the time where we are truly introduced to what it is like in the field and are able to take the reigns of a project and see to it being done. We’ve had courses in the past which taught us as an overview what we are learning now, but it feels as if now we are solidifying it and being shown how it attributes to the real world. I am excited to see what else is in store to learn.

Today, I received my group for the Capstone project. The project I signed up for was to create an app to control the water level at Hinsdale Wave Research Lavoratory. As of starting this blog I have gotten no feedback from any of my group members, but I have created a collaboration web document that was forwarded to each of them. It is only a matter of time now before we can all get a more reliable form of communication started between us and get the ball rolling on our project. If I am being honest, I am interested to see how this project turns out. I’m excited to start to get the ball rolling and help to create something that I’d be proud to add to my resume. But before any of that can start, it will be important to get the general presence of my group members and what type of people they are: if they are reliable or flaky. In a perfect world they would all be reliable. Luckily, given the current circumstances, the likelihood of them being more reliable than not is far greater. We all made it this far through the Computer Science program at Oregon State, that alone proves something about each of us. I do not doubt for a minute my fellow group members right to be here. I’m looking forward to next weeks blog post, after I’ve met with my group mates and we’ve started to get some work done. This course provides us with an opportunity to show what we’ve learned throughout our time at Oregon State, equipping us for what’s going to happen in the real world. This project allows us to take that final step on our long journey of formal education, the gateway to the next chapter in a scholars life.

My name is Harrison. This is the first blog I have ever really done, so I am not sure what to expect from it. I’ll start by writing about where I come from and how I got into computer software. I was born in Tigard, Oregon but spent most of my childhood being raised in Lake Oswego, Oregon. That is where I attended schooling from 1st grade through 12th grade before transferring to Portland Community College to begin my life at college. Up until that point, I had never thought about going into software. It wasn’t until my older sister, five years my senior, mentioned it to me that it was even on my radar. Originally, I was in software for the promise of money in the future. It was going to be a safety net for myself such that I could go back to college after I made enough money to get a degree in something I was passionate about. Once I left Portland Community and transferred to Oregon State University, I found a passion in the art of software engineering. Though it took me a while to figure out, I now know that I can use technology to help the world in ways I never thought of before. My passion in life has always been to offer a hand to those in need of it and are deserving of it, giving it to people who aren’t going to use it for nefarious intent. I am looking forward to pushing towards my goal each and every day, doing at least one thing that will help me on my journey. I get excited just thinking about it. Thank you for reading.

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