Final ePortfoilio Reflective Letter

 

Many different types of activities reinforced the learning experience in this course. In the classroom Tuesday and Thursday we are taught the theory of heat transfer then immediately practice example problems in class followed by homework assignments. One of the benefits of this class is that all the lectures are recorded therefore students can always re-watch lectures. Throughout the semester we the homework assignments, project, as well as the tests applies the learning for our course objectives:

 

  • Define different modes of heat transfer,
  • Discuss basic laws of conduction, convection and radiation heat transfer.
  • Apply the concept of thermal circuit to solve one-dimensional combined mode of heat transfer problems.
  • Solve steady one-dimensional heat conduction problems, multi-dimensional heat conduction problems, and unsteady heat conduction problems.
  • Explain the physical meaning of dimensionless parameters and their relation to different heat transfer problems.
  • Solve simple convection heat transfer problems.
  • Differentiate between forced and natural convection heat transfer.
  • Solve force convection problems using different experimental correlations.
  • Describe heat transfer through tube banks and packed beds.
  • Use LMTD and Effectiveness methods to analyze heat exchanger.
  • Use commercial computer programs to numerically solve heat transfer

systems.

 

 

Where your learning is demonstrated in the course?

I learned most by practicing homework  and going to lecture as well as re-watching lecture. During lecture we practice problems in class but mostly we try to understand the problem then analyze it before coming up with the solution. Analyzing the problem and what the problem asks is important therefore when in class we spend a lot of time understanding versus plugging in numbers in calculators.

What areas did you feel you were most successful, or improved the most?

I felt most successful in the second to third test where we have to use the numerical method to solve heat transfer problems and we used the program COMSOL. At first I did not feel that comfortable with the program then we practiced more problems and I re-watched lectures on the example problems and that improved my skill with COMSOL. Also for the project, we used excel to help with our calculation and design, this helped my ability to use excel to solve heat transfer problems.

How do you see this course’s content intersecting with your field or career?

Not only is heat transfer a vital field in mechanical engineering but heat transfer is everywhere around us. I can see this course intersecting with any research, project, or even pursuing a more advanced engineering degree. The objectives we learned in this class will also be connected to other disciplines such as thermodynamics and fluid mechanics.

Have you been able to apply concepts you have learned in the course to what you do at work or in other courses?

Yes, I have been able to apply the concepts in this course to do work in other classes and projects. Where we learned to use spreadsheets to help solve problems and iterate I did for other courses such as thermal applications and fluid mechanics. Also spreadsheets while doing labs and lab reports are very vital to analyze different kinds of data.

How, when, where and why you might use this information or skill in the future?

All the objectives that we learned in heat transfer as well as any mechanical discipline course is very important to any field of mechanical engineering. Heat transfer will be involved in many different kinds of work and projects such as designing a heat exchanger which we did in this course. Also heat transfer is one of the subjects in the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, therefore everything we learned in this class will help us during this section of the exam for any student wishing to take the first step in becoming a professional engineer with license.

Do you think what you learn is important for your professional career?

Yes, I believe what we we learned in this course is important for my professional career. The first steps in becoming a Professional Engineer is to pass the Fundamentals of Engineering exam and heat transfer is one of the subjects on the exam.

Where do you think you will be using everything you learned?

I will use everything I learned in any mechanical engineering field whether industry or government career. If I pursue a more advanced diploma in an engineering field of pursue a PE, I will use everything I learned to help me reach these goals.

If you were starting this class again, what advice would you give yourself to ensure that you had a successful semester?

If I were to start this class again, I would advise myself to put more time into learning how to efficiently use spreadsheets to solve problems and iterate to help save time as well as build another useful skill for the future. I am a visual learner so practicing problems is the best way for me to reinforce learning therefore I would always practice more problems. I am part of the Batten College of Engineering Dean’s Ambassadors where we show future engineering students the ODU engineering programs as well as the campus. The question I get the most from these future students is “if I were a freshman all over again, what would I do differently ?” and it is to keep practicing solving problems. Like a sport, the only way to get better at something is to practice, the same concept applies for engineering. The only way to get better at engineering subjects like heat transfer is to keep practicing solving problems.