Field Trip

I must say, it has been years since I've been on a field trip. When applying for the program, the concept of a field trip was furthest from my mind. But here I am and we're going on field trips. The more collegiate or professional term is "plant trek" but I prefer to call them what they are... field trips. It's a day where the class gets on a bus and goes somewhere together to learn and explore new ideas.

Now this is not the freshman high school trip to the Zoo (yes - our entire freshman class had a field trip to the zoo, no - it was not a good idea to send freshman boys in herds to the zoo, yes - our school was asked never to return). Instead we are going to leading LGO partner companies who are on the cutting edge of manufacturing in their discipline.

Our first trip was to Pratt and Whitney, a jet engine manufacturer. My experience in manufacturing has been mostly consumer electronics, and I must say, this was quite a difference. Imagine how big a jet engine is... now imaging how big the machines that make the jet engine have to be. It was amazing! There were so many parts that had to be put in just the right location with incredibly tight tolerances.

One aspect that hit me with surprise was their concern for keeping track of foreign objects... foreign objects in the sense of things that don't belong in the engine. For example, if I leave my pen somewhere in the factory and then someone comes along and accidentally knocks it into the jet engine. The pen could cause some serious issues when the engine is attached to a plane, and then started up. Imagine a plane crash because of a pen I left in a factory. Highly unlikely, but possible. To avoid foreign objects they keep track of every tool, nut, bold, and screw to ensure the highest quality of a product.

The field trip reminded me of these pictures. These were taken out the window of a Boeing 747 over the north pole on my way to Beijing China from Chicago. You can see the plane engines and the polar ice cap. Pretty amazing to see!

It's Official

It's official. I'm a blogger for Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Leaders for Global Operations program (MIT LGO for short). Don't believe me? Check out the list of student blogs for yourself. You'll see me and several of my classmates under LGO '11 student blogs. One entry that has captured my attention is Tye's post regarding internships called Speed Dating.

Not much is going to change, other than the number of visitors. Don't worry, there's room for everyone.

Purdue!

I guess it's picture day. During my post summer/pre fall break, I'm getting together with several college buddies in Nashville. It will be a good time. In preparation, here are some picture of Purdue! These were taken in the Spring of 2009, when visiting my sister for one of her last trips to the famous Neon Cactus.

Materials Science and Electrical Engineering Building
Mechanical Engineering
The Engineering Mall fountain in front of the Hovde Hall, the administration building.
The Boilermaker Special!
The Engineering Mall fountain and the Bell Tower

The Chemical Engineering building.

Pictures from a Plane

I know... I was that guy taking pictures from a plane, like it's the first time I've ever flown. But I couldn't resist. Here are some pictures at about 6am central time above the city of Chicago on my way to China several months ago. I ran across them in my album and thought I should share. Enjoy!

Beach Boys and Crowds

As promised, here are some pictures from the Beach Boys. One Word... crowded!

Beautiful evening none the less. I usually post pictures of Boston from the Cambridge/MIT side of the river. Here's a picture of MIT/Cambridge from the Boston side of the river. The tall building in the picture with the "golf ball" on top is the Earth and Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT, also known as the Green Bulding. It is the tallest building in Cambridge and will serve as a great training ground for a stair race this February.
More crowds!

Everyone Loves the Beach Boys

Last night, I returned to the Esplanade, the famous bandshell on the Charles River in Boston, for another free concert. A local radio station hosted the event that starred the Beach Boys!

As usual, our class had a large representation at the event. A simple email with a few times and location is all it takes, which I took the liberty to compose. When setting the times, I severely miscalculated the popularity of the Beach Boys. I was under the impression that I was the only person in Boston who at the age of 7 thought the Beach Boys were the greatest. However I was wrong. The venue was indescribably packed with fans young and old.

Showing up an hour before the show, we arrived to find the seating area full. Given the size of our group, we didn't even try to squeeze in, instead we sat across a water channel on a small island in the Charles, and attempted to listen and watch the show through trees from about 200 yards away. Needless to say, our ability to actually view the show was rather obstructed, but we could hear it, and that's all that matters. For "a bunch of old guys" they sounded really good.

During the course of the night, I discovered that most of my classmates also shared a similar childhood passion for the Beach Boys. It was fun to hear them live because they hold a special place in my childhood hear. I can clearly remember my sister and I dancing/jumping around the living room until the Beach Boy Endless Summer vinyl album skipped and my dad had to reset the needle only for us to do it again (I'm sure he appreciated the damage to the record and player that our "dancing" was causing).

Catch a wave and your sittin' on top of the world.... pictures to come!

Where Is Brad?

I know that I've been promising pictures of where I live, so here is the first round. I live south of Central Square on Magazine Street in Cambridge Massachusetts. Check it out on the google map.

Here's a picture of the building that I live in:

If you look to the left of the building:

You will see that a section of the building "sticks out" to the left. If you walk down the sidewalk, towards that protrusion, you will find my front door:

My first day of school picture was taken on the other side of this door. As you can see, we are on the "garden level". A fancy realtor name for "basement". The windows are big enough that you don't really feel like you are underground, and it stays nice and cool for the most part.

Here is another picture of our door, looking towards the front of the building (where I was standing to take the first few pictures).

The building is really cool. It's a pre-war building, constructed around 1930. It's 6 stories tall, plus a basment. There are 3 stairwells, one main staircase and two back staircases. The back staircases have a dumbweighter track running up the middle (I said it's an old building). These back staircases also provide a route to the roof from which there is a great view.

Overall, a great apartment in a great location. A big thanks to my brother, Dave, for helping out with the approval process and for all of his extra furniture from when he moved in with his wife.

More pictures of inside of the apartment to come.

Back Home Again In Indiana

Time flies when you are having fun... or when you are in the MIT LGO program. It feels like summer is just getting started (considering it is just getting warm enough to require wearing shorts). I looked at the calendar today and notice that we only have 4 weeks left.

Not that I'm looking forward to the end of summer classes, because it is very nice being here on campus with so few people around. We almost have the run of the place. Empty meeting rooms for class projects are a plenty. When a class is over, we don't have to run across campus to the next class, the next class comes to us - the professors rotate and we just stay in our seat. The classes themselves, overall, are engaging and interesting. Why put an end to a good thing? I guess life is change.

What I am looking forward to is being back home again in Indiana (compliment of Jim Nabors and the Purdue All American Marching Band... HAIL PURDUE!). I'll get to drive my car, visit college friends, visit friends at my previous employer Klipsch, eat at Yats the greatest cajun creole restaurant I have ever experienced, and most importantly spend time with family! And to top it all off... no homework! For those back home in Indiana reading... I'll see you soon!

Nerd Music

Do you like calculus? Do you like the Bohemian Rhapsody? Check out the Calculus Rhapsody. Everyone I've shown it to immediately breaks out into laughter (assuming that they have had calculus).

This video was made by a previous co-worker's son for a high school calculus project. The lyrics, music, vocals, and video were all produced by high school students for the project. Not too bad for kids just learning how to derive.

North End/Big Dig

Tonight I ventured to the north end of Boston, an area of the city famous for italian restaurants and bakeries. Basically, everywhere you look it is either an italian restaurant or bakery, I'm really not exaggerating.

On the way to the North End we walked across this park:

Some of you may have heard about Boston's "Big Dig". The beautiful picture above is a result of it. If you look across the street (past the lovely Rebecca and David who joined me on my quest for an italian dinner)....

You will find the expressway that runs under the park in the first picture.

Quite a pleasant change, but worth over $11 billion? Some say yes, others say no, and since I tend to stray from politics, let's look at the picture I took on the way home:

Once again, interstate 93 is running underneath of all this.

Dinner was delicious. I experienced Gnoochi for the first time thanks to an excellent recommendation by Rebecca. After dinner we walked past Faniel Hall and jumped back on the Red Line subway to head home. Great Success!