Final Presentation

What are people thinking of doing for the final presentation for this class? I am thinking about writing a small rap/poem about the different projects we have completed and what I have learned through them. I am hoping to present today in class, so that I don't have much to worry about this week since finals are next week.

I was just looking to see what other people are doing, so I have a basis on how I should go about doing my presentation.

~Matt

Summer

As we all know summer break is coming up very soon. I was wondering what other people are doing this summer?

As for me, I am still unsure where I am going to be living this summer. Last week I received two summer internship offers. One is with a very small company located in Pittsburgh,PA called Automatika. The other company is a larger company located in Richmond, VA called Genworth Financial. I am in the middle of negotiating, trying to get the best deal out of my situation.

~Matt

EE 210 Lab Project

Over the last three weeks, I have been designing and building a circuit that acts sort of like a mini amp. With this small circuit I can hook up any sort of music media whether it be through an mp3 player, cd player, or any other sort of music player.

With the mini amp I can control the volume level, the treble & bass levels, and the balance (right channel or left channel). This sounds like a complicated task, but after learning how different circuit components work, I was able to design it using resistors, capacitors, op amps, and a speaker. I think it's pretty cool.

~Matt

ENGR 411

I am taking ENGR 411 next semester. I am in section 1. I was wondering who else from this class is taking that section. I'm assuming that most people are in the E-SHIP minor? Also, professor Boyer teaches that class correct? I had him for ENGR 310 last semester and really enjoyed the class. I think that his hands on examples and knowledge of the business world are very helpful and make the class interesting.

Just a few questions about the course that maybe someone knows the answers to.

~Matt

Greek Week

The long and awaited greek week is finally here. Here is the list of events.

Monday:
Day of Service
Canned Food Drive
Kickball Tournament
Tug-of-War
Chariot Building Event

Tuesday:
Greek Week Night Out
Co-ed Flag Football
Showcase of Dance

Wednesday:
Home Run Derby
Greek Pageant

Thursday:
Basketball Competition
Dodgeball Competition
Greek Week Night Out

Friday:
Chariot Races

Sunday:
AIDS Walk
Trophy Ceremony

~ Matt

Los Angeles Angels

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4055343

This is a tragic story. I was in shock when I heard about what happened. RIP Nick Adenhart.

Last Project - Group Money Shots

Our group has the idea of taking the action cameras that you see at amusement parks and set them up at skate & BMX parks along with at ski resorts. I know that in class we had a presentation and everyone evaluated our idea. I thought that it couldn't hurt to post a blog about it and anyone that has a suggestion on how to improve our idea could post. Feel free to post what you think about it; any and all criticism is helpful.

Thanks,
Matt

Videos

Click on the videos and let me know what you think.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2593104/obamas_new_financial_plan/

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2593107/anitgravity/

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2593113/obamas_epic_failure/

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2593117/obama_with_a_soldier_dancing/

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2593122/lil_wayne_lollipop_floating/

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2593127/beyonce_single_ladies_with_floating_obama/

Spring Break

I am sure that everyone is just as excited as I am to take a break from this semester. Although I am not going anywhere this break, it will be nice to just relax at home with high school friends and not worry about projects, exams, and other miscellaneous homework.

So, who is going somewhere other than home and where?

~Matt

eCareer

As of today, I have started to apply for summer internship opportunities. The search for job openings, I found, has taken me a lot more time than last year. I am using the eCareer website for my main search. This website makes searching a lot less stressful than logging onto each companies website individually, setting up a profile, uploading a resume & cover letter, and hope that they have an opening in something that is interesting to you.

With this website, provided by the PSU Coop Program, allows you to set up a profile, upload a resume & cover letter, and search for jobs all on one site. A single job search provides a vast variety of companies that are looking to hire in your desired field of work. If you find a match you like, all it takes is one click and your resume and cover letter is sent to the company's HR representative directly. I feel that this helps narrow down my search to companies that are in fact hiring and also reveals companies I have never heard of before.

~Matt

THON

THON is this weekend. I know I will be there for some/most of it. I hope others are planning on attending as well. FTK!!

Penn State Basketball

Hey everyone,

I am disappointed in the level of performance our basketball team has been showing the last two games. After defeating #9 Michigan State on the road, our chances of making the NCAA National Championship tournament was looking very good. After this big victory our boys went on to lose to unranked Michigan (on the road) and unranked Wisconsin (at home).

This does not mean that our chances are doomed, however, it will definitely make our chances a lot harder.

~Matt

Contact Problem

Hello again.

If you wear, or have ever worn, contact lenses, you most likely have encountered the problem that I faced this morning while getting ready for class. As I picked my right contact lens from its container, I could not tell if I had accidentally reversed it or not. When this happens, the lens will seem to work as it normally would, but as the day goes on the lens will begin to irritate the eye.

As I stood there trying to figure out which side was the correct side, I thought of an easy way to solve this problem. I think that contact lens manufacturers should devise a way that if the lens does in fact reverse sides, the lens should turn a different color. This would make it easy to tell if the lens was flipped to the correct side, because if the lens turned black, for example, it would be impossible to see through it. Although I think this is a good idea and would solve this problem, I am not sure how to manufacture such a product.

That's all I got for now,
~Matt

Introduction

Hey everyone. My name is Matthew Thornton, but I prefer to be called "Matt." In my first post I am going to briefly introduce myself.

Like I said, my name is Matt and I am from Rochester, NY where I was born and raised. I am a sophomore majoring in Computer Engineering and minoring in (as you could have guessed) Engineering Entrepreneurship.

In my free time, which doesn't seem to be much, I enjoy going to Penn State football games, hanging out with my friends, watching sports, and of course sleeping and eating. While speaking of football, my favorite collegiate team is Penn State (obviously); however, on Sunday's I find myself cheering for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Weird, I know, considering I'm from upstate New York and many would think Buffalo or either New York team would be my favorite.

There is a short, but sweet introduction of myself and if you would like to know more please do not hesitate to ask. Thanks for reading.

~Matt