This week has been pretty exhausting. The lectures have been filled with information, so the days have felt longer than our previous couple lecture weeks. I think it is due to the sheer amount of complexity in engine design, and it is a huge amount to cover in a week. I suspect next week Vehicle Dynamics will be the same way. I have enjoyed the week greatly though, well especially after I figured out that it wasn't necessary to spend all Wednesday night playing with the simulation software like some of us did. I had to take the bus back home and get dinner, but some guys stayed until 3-4 in the morning. The thing is though, the assignment wasn't at all to optimize the given engine, it was to make some changes and talk about why they helped or hurt given performance parameters. So my frustration Wednesday night was not really needed :)
Today's lectures are on turbo and supercharging and transmissions. I do find it odd that the module is "Powertrain Design" yet only one part of a lecture is dealing with transmissions! We will have a bit of time today with the dyno, running some tests on the University's Formula Ford. That will be good to be out of the lecture room for sure!
I did buy a TV to use as a monitor yesterday. It will let me play PS3 in some downtime, it has a DVD player so I can rent movies if I want, and it should also be helpful studying to use as a second screen.
Another American here that I met at the wind tunnel (he's doing an Aerodynamics MSc) is organizing a Thanksgiving dinner for next Friday night, so that should be enjoyable. I'm going to attempt to cook a sweet potato casserole, so if any of you have favorite recipes, please send them my way!
No comments:
Post a Comment