Kasey Kellogg

EE 494

9 October 2021

Cumulative Reflection

When I first began my journey at Iowa State it was not as an electrical engineering

student, but as a computer engineering student. As such it has given me a little more time at Iowa

State than most and given me the opportunity to experience courses from two different majors. I

believe that to learn it is important to be challenged and I believe that Iowa State did just that.

Much of the coursework at Iowa State is what I would call project based. Much of the

semester would be spent learning and mastering the material and at the end we would use the

knowledge and skills obtained to complete a group project. It was through these projects that I

learned to apply my knowledge and design systems to solve the problem presented as well as

how to effectively work as a group and communicate with my team members.

So far at Iowa State one of the most influential classes I have taken and am currently

taking is Senior Design. Senior Design allows students to work on real-world problems utilizing

the skills and knowledge we have obtained thus far. The course essentially simulates what a

group project will look like in the job field. Since our project is dealing with a new technology in

power systems, we get to work closely with a variety of experts such as Professor Dobson our

faculty advisor who spent most of his career in the power systems field and more recently

working with the director of utilities at the university to discuss potential installation locations.

The course has taught me much about working towards a common goal as well as given me a

sample of what my work will entail at my future workplace.

 My success at Iowa State wouldn’t be possible without the help of the university’s

dedicated professors, TAs. and students. I often found myself utilizing campus resources to

better understand material. I attended TA office hours, professor office hours, and SI sessions

throughout my time at Iowa State. While these services were influential in my success one of the

biggest factors was the students. I would like to thank Professor Mani Mina for pushing us to

form work groups of other students because it was through groups like these that I was able to

grasp almost any material. Asking fellow students questions when you are unsure or even

answering their questions helped me to gain a better understanding of the material I was learning.

One of the biggest hiccups in my time at Iowa State was the transition to online learning

due to COVID. This new challenge forced me to learn new skills and changed my way of

learning. As a result of moving online many labs now required me to learn new software such as

Quartus Prime and LTSpice and I found myself struggling to retain material without an in-person

format. I think this situation is indicative of lifelong learning in that the engineering world is

going to continue to evolve and new problems are going to rise so it is important that we

continue to obtain new skills and expand our knowledge base.

I truly believe that Iowa State did an excellent job providing me with the skills and

knowledge I will need to be a successful engineer and person. However, if I were to do it again, I

would participate in more clubs and other activities offered to engineers here at Iowa State. I

think it would have been beneficial to do more things outside my comfort zone and expand my

horizons whether that be participating in undergraduate research or the hackathon or joining one

of the hundreds of campus clubs such as Engineers for a Sustainable World.