April 18, 2005
Hello everyone, I hope you all are doing great!!!
Ok, I will start with today. Couple of friends and I have got into this
habit of playing volleyball and the more we play, the more I like the game;
I was horrible when we started playing but now I am getting good at it. Yesterday
we played it for three hours and today for two hours and we play it in one
of the sand court by Doolittle hall. Today we had six people on each side
for three games and later on four people on each side for another three games,
it was absolute fun!! I have decided to play it often.
The Badminton club has organized its internal singles and doubles tournament
first time in the history of Riddle; they are this weekend and the next weekend.
I am glad I will be part of this event; I love playing badminton as a recreational
sport. There are more than 20 members taking part in this tournament. And
one more thing, I am the Public Relations Officer of badminton club. So I
am really looking forward in publicizing the club and make it a successful
one. So this is to all the future students, come and check us out!!!
I ran for the elections in Indian Student Association as a treasurer but
luck didn't favor and I lost. Even though I had a great speech and I interacted
with members greatly; my counterpart who was a complete failure and had no
sense whatsoever of the whole process, won. The rest of the executive board
looks fine and I think they will balance out the things. But I have sincerely
decided that I will drill the executive board this year and attend every
meeting so that ISA could achieve substantial progress in this year. The
main problem with students at Riddle is they keep studying and don't participate
in good stuff. I mean we are in college and we are supposed to have fun,
I know school is important but that does not mean...blah...blah...blah...I
don't want to bore you all.
The research paper I did for my SS 325, Eastern European Studies class got
me a good 'A'. It was about Terrorism in Eastern Europe and my professor
wrote that it was the best paper he received on that topic. So I was quite
happy with that remark. In my technical writing class our group was doing
a research paper on 'Laser Propelled Space Travel', but later we realized
that it was too narrow for three people to work on, so we decided to change
our topic to 'Alternative to Rocket Propelled Space Travel', I did a independent
research on StarTram System, a propulsion method in which a space ship is
propelled to an orbital speed of 8 kilometer/sec using Maglev (magnetic levitation)
technology which is used in Japan for trains. Then it is released into space
using a launch tube which can elevate 20 kilometers high from earth's surface.
The maximum speed achieved by trains in Japan using Maglev technology is
350 kilometer/hour, any speeds faster than this is physically impossible
in atmosphere so to deal with this impasse researchers have come up with
vacuum acceleration tunnel and launch tube for space craft. If the system
is adopted then it would cut the cost of space explorations from $10,000
/kilogram to $30 / kilogram. The other group member did it on Space Elevator
and Solar Sails, they're interesting too, check it out.
As you guys know I am staying here for summer, I have already registered
for summer classes and completed my housing formalities. I have guaranteed
housing in summer because not many people stay here.
I will write back soon. Good luck to everyone for their final exams.
OVER & OUT!!!
March 31, 2005
Hello everyone, I hope you all had a great spring break! I did too, but
the weather didn't work along with me I guess.
When the break started most of my friends left for back home and only a
couple of us were left here, but that didn't bring me down. Friday night
we went to watch the movie Hostage, great movie. Bruce Willis was great performing
as a hostage negotiator and later on, police chief. Thumbs up for Bruce Willis!!
Later in the week we went to beach, and it was great. A1A was overflowing
with people and it was easy to spot spring breakers. I think hanging out
with friends on A1A is the best thing to do during spring break. It was more
like Mardi Grass kind of atmosphere and slow traffic moving along A1A and
other stuff you all know what I mean. Once we went there in the evening and
stayed there till two in the morning, it was simply amazing, actually it
was more fun because for some reason A1A comes to life late night. There
is a lot to do - especially in spring break, make new friends, go to the
beach, go to clubs and much more. I didn't get a chance to go to the beach
a lot because of muggy weather later in the week. But that's fine I will
make it up in summer. Oh I watched the movie BE COOL, and I am sad to say
it but I wasted my six dollars.
Back to school - The school is almost coming to an end now, one more month
and then I will be free for only a week until the summer A starts. I have
a long year to go until Christmas. From fall I will be taking my engineering
level classes, commonly known as AE-level courses and I am so glad that I
will be done with all of the prerequisite courses and then ready to dive
into actual engineering science. I am desperately waiting for it because
that is the stuff that interests me more. I have heard it from some seniors
that the labs for engineering science are awesome and I am really looking
forward to it, especially wind tunnel lab, in other universities one can
see those lab in graduate studies, but at Riddle, I will be able to have
hands on experience during undergraduate studies.
The elections for Indian Student Association, YUVA are next week and I am
running for treasurer. I am suppose to give a speech but at this point I
have not prepared anything and to be honest I don't believe in preparing
speeches for any kind of election. God knows if I will win or not, YUVA really
needs some good executive board members if not then the chances are the club
will close soon.
Right now, it's 2:12 am on Monday the 28th and I have to get up at 7 to
attend my EGR 115 class so I better get going. For those who have some questions
and wondering how to contact me, my email is vyas85a@erau.edu and you can
also buzz me on AIM at m100584m.
So until next time, chillax!! (chill + relax)
OVER & OUT!!!
March 17, 2005
Hello everyone, I hope you all are doing great! So, where should I start...uummm?
Alright, last night (3/13) I went to a concert at the House of Blues, Orlando.
It was my friends and I and let me tell you we had a blast. It was Strata,
Future Leaders of World, Crossfade, Helmet and Chevelle. They all were good
but Crossfade was one of the best and Chevelle was simply amazing. To give
you all the basic idea; at the end of the concert I was soaking wet from
head to toe, just think about the kind of fun we had.
Since I don't have a car we hired one from those cheap rental places and
we were on road at around three. We got there in approximately one hour and
after a long wait in the line the show started at around six, by the time
we got out it was midnight. Chevelle was the last one to play and he rocked
the place.
The day before (3/12), I went skydiving with the club called AIAA, American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, usually it costs $ 169 but because
I was a member of AIAA it cost me $ 90. This is for everyone, try it, it
is very addicting. The feeling of falling 110 miles/hour is amazing. We jumped
from 13,000 feet and we were down on the ground in less than six minutes;
the free fall for first minute was just breathtaking. Even though I was really
nervous about the whole thing, I think I will do the course and get my license.
And the day before (3/11, the Friday of the bike week), my friends and I
went to check out bikes. The atmosphere in the downtown was simply amazing;
bikes were lined up on the both curbs, open bars, clubs were packed. It was
girls and bikes everywhere. Bikers came from all over the country and they
put on a good show.
On the school front I have three tests this week, one on Thursday (EGR 120)
and two on Friday (ES 201 & SS 325). It is rough but in a way it is nice,
I will be able to enjoy the spring break to its full content. Although I
am doing really well in all my class, the EGR 115, C programming class is
giving me some trouble but I know that if I spent some time reading then
I will get it surely.
EGR 120 class is getting really interesting as we are learning more new
techniques to make our engineering drawings precise. The key to that class
is a skill of visualizing objects in a definitive manner. In yesterday's
class our teacher had brought in a blue print of a rocket and I was amazed
with the precise graphical design (blue print); it was scaled to fit on one
sheet but every single detail was taken in account while making that blue
print.
The spring break starts at the end of this week, most of my friends are
going out but some of us are staying back. I can't comprehend the fact that
people come to Daytona Beach from all over the country for spring break and
some 'Riddleians' leave Daytona for spring break. I just can't get it. But
before the break starts I have to make sure that I do well in my three exams...so
with that hope. I will write back later; you all have a wonderful spring
break.
OVER & OUT!!!
March 3, 2005
Hello everyone - I hope everyone is doing great!!
So let me start with my new laptop, I just got it today. I am so happy.
I had placed my order with Dell on Jan. 28, and I got it today - its quite
late but I got it for a great price. Initially I was mad with them, but today
when I saw my laptop, I forgot all about it. I am happy I wont have to run
to 24 hour lab any more.
School is coming along great. While picking the classes for this semester
I avoided those classes in which I have to write papers or some kind of projects,
but to my surprise I have to do it in three of my classes out of five. Aahhh
well........
Let me explain what I am doing in those papers, for SS 325 (Eastern Europe)
I am writing a research paper on Islamic Terrorism in Bosnia and Chechnya,
I will have to focus on different aspects and factors leading to terrorism
in the Eastern European area. The most important is the involvement of Al-Qaeda
and their supporters working hard to exploit the youth of these two regions
by misleading them.
In my COM 221 class, I am (my group) writing a technical report on the feasibility
of laser propelled space travel. The problem our scientific community faces
today is research and development of economic and fuel efficient technology
which will grant us a permanent access to space. We have a way, the rocket
propelled by fuel, which is highly expensive and not fuel efficient so the
researchers are at work in developing these giant elevators which will make
the travel from the Earth to space simple. These elevators are powered by
high intensity lasers. Interesting right?!
And I am really looking forward to this one because we are working in a
group of four persons, and each one of us will examine the feasibility of
this new idea with respect to economic, environmental, technological and
safety aspects. The project is really interesting because each person in
the group has his/her own role; like editor, second editor, secretary, research
manager and public relations manager. I am feeling like I am a professional
doing an actual research.
The last but not the least is my C programming project where we are designing
an actual program which we will use in the future, hopefully. I had my first
exam for C programming today and I was up early-early morning preparing for
it. I think I did ok in it. Last week I had my Static exam and I did great
on it, got an "A."
The spring break is just around the corner and I can't wait for it. Officially
we will have a week of spring break but unofficially eight (8) weeks, as
schools from all around the country comes down for their breaks one after
another, Riddleians will enjoy it all. How about you guys???
Leaving you all with that thought...peace.
OVER and OUT!
February 17, 2005
I hope everyone is doing great! Let's start from Rolex 24; it is a 24 hour
continuous endurance race for two classes of cars, Daytona Prototype and
Grand Touring. We went there at around 6:00 on Saturday (already six hours
in race) evening with an intention of coming back late night, but we ended
up staying on ground and sleeping in our sleeping bags. The atmosphere was
amazing, people were "grillin and chillin" in the infield. I personally
saw two crashed and one burned car. By the way the winner was # 10, SunTrust
Group racing their Pontiac Riley Prototype. The most amazing part of this
adventure was that my friends and I were able to sneak in the pit road area
where the cars come for refueling and tire change. I had seen it on TV before,
the way pit crew waits for their car and as soon as it pulls they jump on
it and get it going in few (12 to 18) seconds, I actually saw it and believe
me, the scene was incredible. We also saw the place where the mechanical
geniuses work on the engines and test that everything works precisely faultless
before the race starts. The ticket was $10 with Riddle ID card.
The race was over on Sunday, noon. I was almost deaf after staying there
nearly 15 hours but I surely enjoyed it, enjoyed the roaring of those prototype
engines which were doing 180 miles an hour.
On Monday morning it finally happened, I missed my programming class, this
time I woke up at 8:19. I was lucky that my professor didn't take roll or
any pop quiz. He posts his notes on web so I was able to look it up and study
it by myself.
VERY IMPORTANT: Before I came here (I was kind of expecting it as Riddle
is primarily an engineering school) everyone was complaining that the girl
to boy ratio at campus is very thin (1:8), but now that I am here and school
has started I don't thing it is that bad. There are some decent good looking
girls on campus.
Oh! One more thing I found a new job on campus. The office of records and
registration is going paperless and every document is going on server, so
for doing that they needed some students, so I applied and got the job. I
will be able to work on it through summer. By the way, did I tell you that
I am staying over here for entire summer and fall, then going back home in
Christmas break - sounds great right??
We finally started working with Catia (in EGR 120 Graphical Representation),
a program used by engineers to draw engineering drawings. The program is
remarkable, one can virtually draw (design) anything with it. I think we
will have great time learning it.
My COM 221 technical writing class is very interesting, currently we are
working on a project where we have to design a pamphlet or an instruction
manual on "How to wash dishes?" It is typically meant for Aliens
who have just landed and have very little or no knowledge of what things
is like on Earth. The document ought to be very technical and it should contain
every detail avoiding any confusing text which might lead to lawsuits and
loss to the company. In addition to that it should include visual aid, effective
technical text, easy to understand language and user friendly format. Did
I mention we are working in groups?? I will leave the rest on you.
Stay well and see you next time!
OVER AND OUT!!
February 3, 2005
All right everyone get ready for a ride!!
Last night we went to watch the movie Hide and Seek, this is to everyone;
WATCH IT!! Dakota Fanning, the little girl looks scary and spooky and her
dad De Niro was superb. The movie was extremely scary but I noticed a very
different behavior from audience, during every scary scene people would laugh
to hide their fear, to hide it from the person sitting next. I did the same,
lol. Go and watch the movie in the theater to check it out.
Earlier this week on Monday I almost missed my C programming class which
is at eight in the morning. Even though I knew that, I was up late and guess
what happened, I woke up at eight thirteen and I decided to go to sleep as
my next class was at ten thirty but a thought of guilt ran through my brain
and I jumped out of my bed and ran straight to my class. And I thank myself
for that.
On Wednesday we had students Activity Fair, and that was what I was precisely
waiting for. I joined Badminton Club, Indian student Association, American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Avion Newspaper and the Task
Force a part of Student Government. Yes there are a lot of fraternities here
but I am not a fan of it. We also had a demonstration of skydiving, the members
of skydiving club had taken off from Atlanta, GA and they dived on campus
where the fair was taking place and I think that was amazing. A week before
Riddle was tranquil but now suddenly everything is moving at fast pace. A
lot of homework, club meetings, research papers, sports and sleeping are
taking all my time up now.
It snowed 12 inches in New Jersey last week and I really miss it. I miss
the part where I have to shovel snow three times a day. I still remember
my sister and me playing in snow last year and the year before that. I felt
like flying back to Jersey for a weekend but it was not possible.
I ordered a new dell notebook this week, completely customized by me and
I got it for a great price. I saved around three hundred dollars because
Riddle has an affiliation with dell. This is how it works; while you order
give them Riddle's member number, and you get instant members discount because
you are a student at Riddle.
So this was it for now, the time is 11:34 pm. Goodnight, and until next
time.
OVER AND OUT!!
January 20, 2005
Finally, I am a student journal writer. Hurray!! Until today I was just reading
these journals, but now I will be writing too. And it happened in a great fashion.
She (supervisor) wrote me in the morning and asked a few question. I replied
back with all the answer, not really expecting to get in. By the way, the name
of my supervisor is Jill Meridith, a lovely lady with warm personality. I had
some chore to be taken care of at undergraduate admissions office and I was
waiting there for my turn when a lady asked me if she can help me. Her name
was Jill Meridith; I saw that on her name tag. Later I realized that she was
Jill Meridith, the lady who I was supposed to see for journal writing thing.
So I went to see her in her office and that's it. Everything happened so fast
that I didn't realize and now that I have it feels great.
My name is Manan Vyas. I am from Clifton, New Jersey but originally, I am
from India. As we all know Embry-Riddle is ranked #1 for its Aerospace Engineering
program, so that's how I ended by being here. I turned in my application in
September last year, got accepted and was ready to (impatient) move down to
Daytona Beach.
Day-1
I arrived to Daytona Beach on 10th of this month; I had never before visited
here, so things were very new to me. But it all came good. Everyone on campus
is very friendly and specially the administrative staff. I attended the student
orientation and I recommend it for every incoming student. It was simply great.
We went back to our dorms at around 6:00 pm after which I organized my room.
Later that evening I made a lot of friends in my dorm and not to my surprise
we went to sleep at 2:00 in the morning.
Day-2
I went for Air force ROTC meeting, as I am interested in serving Air Force
after I graduate but due to some technicalities I will have to wait till next
fall to join ROTC. Later that day we were helped to pick our classes by academic
advisors and the process went smooth. I am taking EGR 115 (programming class),
EGR 120 (graphical representation class), ES 201 (statics), COM 221 (technical
writing), and SS 325 (studies of Eastern Europe). Then later that day I made
other new friends and we all went to eat together.
Day-3 and afterwards
Things are getting better every day. Now I know quite a lot people around
here and in this short period we went out to eat at Hooters, Olive Gardens,
a pizza place, went to mall, and went to Orlando. And believe me or not we
have a group of 14 people now and we always hang out together. Its pure fun!!
A week and a half has passed since the school started so there is not much
covered in class, but things are catching up fast. Professors are really
good and always ready to help. So this was it for now and I will keep you
all posted with future development. If you have questions, mail it to vyas85a@erau.edu.
CATCH YOU LATER,
OVER AND OUT!!!
|
Name: Manan 