Things have been going well. On Tuesday I had no class, but meetings with both of my independent study professors to discuss those classes. I am taking VLSI Design (Very Large Scale Integrated Circuit Design), which is a 400 level Electrical Engineering class. In many ways, this class is a continuation of a course I took last year called Digital Logic, and it is on the computer engineering side :). VLSI pertains to everything from circuit architecture down to gate logic, transistor routing, then semiconductor tench layout. The professor seems very nice, and my previous courses in computer architecture, transistor theory, and digital logic put in at the right level of knowledge to take this class. The professor posted the lecture slides and assignments online, and said it would be clear which portions of the textbook to read. It is not yet clear which portions of the textbook to read, but I will clarify next week. Since I am quite interested in the subject matter of this course, I’m treating it like a reward, and working on it after I do my other courses.

My other independent study class is Thermodynamics. This is a somewhat foundational Engineering course, usually taken as a sophomore or junior- so I’m a little late. While it traditionally is more in the Mechanical Engineering discipline, I think it has a lot of value for Engineering thinking in general- and should develop some relevant skills for me. In my chemistry courses, I always liked the problems where you calculated gas pressure changes and such, and I expect a decent amount of those problems in this class. The professor has clear info on what chapters to read, but hasn’t provided any assignments. At first he seemed a bit grumpy, but I realized that he’s a philosophical professor, and wants me to ponder the material within a larger context in order to apply it properly. He emphasized how I should have lots of questions, and I think my meetings with him will be abstract discussions about the material.

My Engineering Electromagnetics class was on Wednesday. I thought it was at 3pm but it was actually at 9am. I sent the professor an email, and the lecture was already posted, so I got to work catching up. This class starts off as a continuation of Physics II, which was a course I enjoyed a lot, and one of the reasons I switched my major. It’s strange, because I have not touched this material or these types of problems in 2 years. Thermodynamics is a similar feeling of familiar but rusty. I took my time to really understand the lecture that I missed, and I’m working on how to apply it to the homework problems, but I’m getting the hang of independent learning.

I think it will get tiresome to learn only from the textbooks in these classes, so By next week I’m hoping to have a plan to best utilize my professors in my one on one meetings.

On Tuesday I was able to go out with Demetris for a little more paragliding training. We started looking at and inflating the glider, and going over the controls. We didn’t spend a very long time, as it started to rain. It’s been rainy on and off, but in a few weeks the weather should be much better for flying. The weather right now is the worst part of the year, the locals view it as cold and miserable winter. It’s not WARM, and it’s a little rainy, but I think it’s pretty mild. I was sitting outside of a coffee shop on Tuesday, and someone asked me if I wanted to come inside since it was so cold (45° F).

We are going to Budapest this weekend, and leaving in about 3 hours, so I need to get ready! Will update!