General Reflection

During my undergrad at Iowa State University, I took a number of general education classes as a
part of my degree. These courses allowed me to alter my view of the world and the issues it faces
today. Engineering requires an overview of a variety of aspects in order to create a good solution
to a problem. Classes like the ones described below have made me a better engineer because of
the insight they have given to both engineering and non-engineering related fields.

One general elective I took, called Energy and the Environment, looked at various ways we
harvest energy for our uses in society. It was very interesting to me to learn about some of the
modern ways, both sustainable and finite, that our world uses to meet its needs. Clean energy is
becoming more of a priority for many societies, and as a result, forces us to consider energy
usage in many of our engineering problems. More and more we want to make sure we are using
energy efficiently and thinking of ways to harvest it safely and sustainability from our
surroundings. This class helped me think of the energy footprint of a solution and how it could
function in different places around the world.

In a similar way, I have also gained insights from an economics class I took freshman. ECON
101, Principles of Microeconomics, examines the basics of a market system and various aspects
of resources, cost, etc. It was here when I started to consider the economic impact of engineering
problems and solutions I encounter. It is important to consider the cost impact of any project,
large or small. When creating a solution, it may be even be apart of the requirements to make
something under X amount of dollars, especially a consumer product. This in turn will influence
the design, hardware, and other aspects of said product.

When creating a solution, it is important to consider the global use and the impact it could have
in other countries. In my Russian culture class, we looked that the history of the Soviet Union
it’s society, culture, and government. Russia today is a minefield of government oversight and
digital espionage. With this in mind, I learned that the security of the software and hardware that
I work on should be sufficient to withstand real world attacks used by individuals and groups
alike. In a world that relies on electronics and digital data, software needs to meet security
standards that protect people’s data.
The general education courses I have enrolled in have allowed me to look at engineering
problems from a variety of different viewpoints. Besides the technical, I have seen the different
contexts a problem or solution can reside in, and it is important to take these into account when
designing in the real world. I hope to take the knowledge and concepts I have learned in these
classes and apply them to my future endeavors to create better solutions for the world.