GRE - check, Dovercourt - check, end of summer - ...check

After much procrastination throughout, I finally studied and wrote the GRE exam in order to apply to American graduate schools. I have been talking about doing this for a while mainly because everyone I've talked to has always been late themselves and have suggested to me to start early. The reason why I chose to write the GRE now is that since the GRE is being significantly revised (even in the marking scheme), the test was being offered at 50% of the price. I'm assuming the new test would be a deterrant for those inclined to treat it like the SAT and study for a year. I commend anyone who would do this for their patience, I could not do this.

This Saturday was Jack Layton's funeral at Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto at 2:30, which meant my travels to Toronto had to factor this in. The test centre is at Bloor and Sherbourne, so I figured avoiding the Gardiner and just taking the 401 to the DVP was the best option. Leaving at 10 am, I got super lucky and got there at 11:20, the test being at 12:30. I had brought snacks for the road because the test centre didn't allow food/drink, which for a 4 hour exam is pretty cruel. I also had the Kaplan book (for the old GRE), in the car with me, but I wasn't compelled to read any more, 'whatever happens, happens' I thought. Sitting in the Timothy's on the ground floor of the building, I Facebook my friends online to let out my nervous energy through typing. At noon, I popped on the internet and signed up for Followlogie, a follow-centric workshop in Montreal at the end of January. I went last year and I was very happy with my time there. It was also my first major out-of-town workshop. I'm not sure if I'm going to sign up for the solo charleston competition, very likely though. I definitely signed up with Jo Hoffberg's performance team class, who's style I really like because it's fun and quirky (As seen in this year's ILHC performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT2h5WiJ7Qc&feature=related).

Now about the exam, I don't know how much I've agreed not to disclose, which is kinda funny. It started with the issue essay, a bit of a slog right at the beginning but looking back it's the best choice. It was about technology in schools, which was pretty solid. The argument essay was about replacing butter with margarine in restaurants...it felt so weird to write about this for half an hour. So I think I started writing a bit sarcastically, I hope the markers enjoy the break from mundanity. Next was the verbal analysis, oh no! This is my most dreaded section, some fill in the blanks I was like 'what?', some I saw words that the GRE's known to use and I thought 'ha! I was ready for you!'. Next was the math section, I had 35 minutes, I totally finished with 17 minutes to spare :D. Another verbal section, 30 minutes of slight uncertainty and just generally being blazé by this point. Another math section, yay I feel better about myself, starting to wonder how my score's shaping up and when I get to leave. The test has 2 math and 2 verbal sections that counts, but they toss either 1 verbal or math section where they test questions out, doesn't count but they don't tell you which one (obviously). My last section, verbal again, .___. but whatever, I don't bother checking my answers and I'm done. I go through 4 screens of clicking 'Yes, don't cancel my marks and please grade me', I guess if people know they didn't do well and they don't want Harvard to see. They report it was an approximate grade according to the old system (new marking scheme not ready yet). With a possibility from 200 to 800, my verbal was 450 - 550, and math was 750 - 800 (the writing needs someone to actually read it, though I bet a dart board is involved. Kidding.)

Enthralled with my results, I go to the Eaton's centre, walk around for a bit, I go to Martha's house, have sushi and dance at Dovercourt where the night concluded with fried chicken and vegan jambalaya.


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First day of work today as a research assistant. The morning started off with a bang because I guess my alarm clock wasn't set and last night was a fun (but late) night watching Doctor Who, playing Mario Kart, and watching the stars. Then I realized...I can work from home. So I install OpenSees, an open-source earthquake dynamic analysis software that I'll be using for the existing bridge modelling project. In the afternoon I picked up the ABAQUS DVD I'll need for the subway vibration project, but I do not have a PC for that yet, therefore no static registered IP, therefore no installing the software yet. So today was a bunch of reading of manuals, reading through the original drawings of the bridge, shop drawing-level of rebar detailing and all. OpenSees can be see here. It's finite element analysis with special features for dynamic analysis of structures, it's like a structural engineer just decided, ok I'm going to share the code that I used to augment the basic finite element analysis so that other people can get to work faster. It just makes sense.

I have to say the oddest thing about today was its happily productive and comfortable pace. I corresponded with everyone I needed to, I got lots done, I understand way more about my projects. Normally the first day on the job in the industry involves an office tour, signing a bunch of agreements, the tax papers, a bare desk, sometimes a pile of drawings in order to understand the way they operate, and trying to meet a bunch of people. No suits, no pretentiousness, no HR. Sure, I don't have my PC yet, but I have other stuff to work on. The masters and PhD students that I'm working with (Maria and Asim) are nice and helpful. I don't know, I was worried about like, making sure I show that I'm working, but I suppose that's all based on what you produce, the kind of format I appreciate (I find some industry jobs too stiffling and not concerned with end product). I think I will enjoy this term. A lot.

Now off to dry cleaners, then Maxwell's Music House.

Waterloo dancing, Hamilton dancing, GRE, and Toronto dancing

My dancing shoes and new crinolin for my swing dress

Waterloo dancing
This past Monday was the first dance at the Button Factory in a while. Though it's more work than the pre-setup Maxwell's, that's the new location of the weekly dances starting in September. We get one more dance at Mxwell's music house so that we can hug our favourite bartender Brandon one last time. I had a couple of great dances that night and the ever-growing trend of Pepi's Pizza afterwards with Turlough, Dean, Eva, and John.

Monday also included a small lesson for new masters student at Perimeter Institute all thanks to Luca's organization. The squash court was full and the sound bounced off of the slick white walls like there's no tomorrow. It was brilliant fun. I hope it gets people out to the park on Thursdays, Monday nights, or UW swing club. If they are all like Anna, Giulio, and Luca, this city just got 10 times happier.

Hamilton dancing
It's been too long since I've been to the Hamilton monthly dances. Something called law for civil engineers had an evening class this summer on Tuesdays. It was really fun, danced and socialized with those that I haven't see in ages, also I'm a huge fan of the London Tap House, it's a very neat building. After driving home with Jimmy and Turlough, the night concluded with watching Doctor Who, how awesome.

GRE
This Saturday I write the GRE in hopes to be free to apply to American universities like Cornell and Berkley (my two top US picks). The reason why I picked now to do it (other than the fact that the application deadlines are fast approaching), is that the revised GRE came out in August, and they're offered 50% off for attempting it in August. I figured, why not try? Best of all, the silly language questions like the analogies have been scrapped, and they now have the ability to skip over and come back to questions. After the 3 and something hours writing the exam, I have a bit of time to grab some food then off to...


Toronto dancing
Dovercourt week 3 of 3. It is very obvious that I am no longer in classes given how much I am able to do during the week and the amount of Toronto travelling I get to do.

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I other news I am off to Vancouver on the weekend of September 23rd to visit profs at UBC and for the Rhythm City Mess Around 2011 (with Thomas Blacharz, Alice Mei, Peter Strom and Naomi Uyama). The weekend after is ULHS that will be fantastic. Southwestern Ontario people, among others, include Steve and Caitlin, Dean, Anna (and ex-Ontarian), John, and myself.

Uniaxial compression test on magnesium crystal

Below is the sample speciment that I worked with for my URA this past term. The video is of a 50x50x50 A specimen being loaded at a strain increment of 0.006. The specimen was also normalized to a temperature of 300 K (standard testing temperature). The colours indicate the distance of the atom to its neighbours, blue being the closest distance and red being the farthest.

The goal of this test is to observe dislocation patterns, that will arise as isolated pockets of atoms with a different number of neighbours.

The arrangement of HCP magnesium crytal was done using a geometry-generating MatLab code where the dimensions were inputted along with the rotational angle of pi/3 in order to more easily find the shear planes in the crystal.

LAMMPS is an open-source code that uses the geometric data and manipulates the structure as per the code (in this cade, relaxing then compressing).

AtomEye was then used to read these timestep intervals and transform them into the visual model below.

4A, 4B, fall RA, grad studies, blogs, and more dancing

Having my last final on the 9th, it was a while until I started getting the marks back, and all is well! The only one to have not updated yet is law (typical :P). What I proved is that I could totally overload my schedule and still keep on top of everything. By no means am I doing this ever again. Managing six courses, part-time research, swing club, concrete toboggan, and travelling to Miami and Chicago were more than enough, but it was a really fun summer. If I am tempted to make a third term with a sixth course, for my sanity and yours, please stop me :).

The next academic term is shaping up to be

• CIVE 401 - Project course 2
• CIVE 405 - Structural dynamics
• CIVE 415 - Structural systems
• CIVE 422 - Finite element analysis
• CIVE 460 - Engineering biomechanics

The last one is the most iffy, it will be either biomechanics or geotech III, both of which are nice but I'm not overly thrown one way or the other. The term will be very structural based (more than enough courses for the structural certificate), and very math heavy. Due to the high level of interest in the topic though, it should be an interesting and perhaps even fun term. Seeing as this will be the standard course load, it might be a nice break (plus once the Iron Ring Ceremony comes in February, the tone will totally change).

I met with Dr. Narasimhan today to figure out what I'll be doing this upcoming term, and it looks interesting. The two projects lined up are:

1. FEM modelling in Open-Sees of existing MTO highway bridge (either steel or reinforced concrete in Ottawa or Toronto). Later in the term, the team will collect dynamical data and compare it to the models.
2. Modelling of soil-structure interaction using ABACUS from dynamic vibrations of subways or light rail in the sonic frequencies.

The first month will be starting to dig into the software, the topics, and find reading material to get my foot in the door.

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One thing I noticed recently is the explosion of blogs in my close circle of friends. Chantelle made a blog to recount her experiences in St. John's, Nfld for her masters. Mike has had and is currently improving his site. John is also totally revamping his blog site by hand without templates. Turlough is interested in a blog as well. I guess we've all hit points in our lives where experiences are worth noting, be it school, work, or hobbies.

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Recently, I decided that with my work keeping me in Waterloo, I will have time for my hobbies (even moreso than if I was in Toronto). This definitely includes curling and swing dancing. In particular, I decided to really step up the dancing. My aspirations are to gain the experience to teach and to maybe try competing someday. I suppose I miss part of that from figure skating where it was a reoccurring goal. So while maintaining the president position at the UW Swing Club, I'll hope to work more with John, Krister, and Dave/Amanda (through the Hep Cat Hoppers). I also got asked by Turlough if I'd work with him as my dance partner, which sounds like a great idea. I'm very excited! I've got some ideas for this term's upcoming UW Swing Club for fun lessons, cool moves (and maybe an event?). There'll also be beginner lessons for the UW frosh week Variety Night which should be fun and a whole bunch of socializing :).

Next dancing workshop in the wings (still deciding) is the Nick Williams and Sylvia Sykes balboa workshop in Montreal on the weekend of September 24th. Another one for sure is Followlogie in Montreal on the weekend of January 20th. I went last year with Martha, Dave, Amanda, Charlie, Kathleen, and Phil and it was tons of fun.

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As a side note, I really miss Anna and Chantelle, I got too used to them being around, in particular during the summer.

Square-to-Square in Uptown Waterloo

Square-to-Square, a monthly event this summer in Waterloo, closes King St. in Uptown Waterloo and Downtown Kitchener. A bunch of local swing dancers got some space on the street and danced for the afternoon. Thanks to Krister Shalm, the afternoon was recorded in a time-lapse video and posted on his blog, Quantum Pie. Frequenters of the video are Krister Shalm, Jaime Almond, David Trinh, and Turlough Myers.

The fastest and most efficient book review ever

Below is a picture of some of the books on my shelf, with the exception of the Tolkien works and some of the textbooks, the rest are just this year's additions. If you have any questions, let me know!

Not pictured:

Law of Dreams by Peter Behrens - 3
A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander - 9
No Contest by Alfie Kohn - 8
Blue Nile by Alan Moorehead - 7
Poland by James A. Mitchner - 10
Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed - 10

TARDIS and Kitchener Bluesfest

Finding the TARDIS

While on a excursion to C&D while studying law, we were told there was a TARDIS on the lower floor of EIT. All excited, I grabbed the only decent camera I had (ipod) and went looking for it with Kristine and Tim. We found it.

Kitchener Blues Festival

Last evening and night was full of great free blues music, dancing, and a late night party to continue the dancing. Running into Arianne, Melanie, Alex, and bunch of others, we ended up super close for the Jimmy Vaughan concert at the main stage. Finding dancers later, it was great to see some faces that have been gone for a while like Chris and Jillian.

[Photo credit: Arianne Villa]

Collection of dancing pictures from this past year...

 Waterloo Uptown Jazz Festival. Turlough and I dancing to 'Sing sing sing'

 'Dancing in the Park' @ Waterloo Park, summer 2011. Turlough and I being silly.

  'Dancing in the Park' @ Waterloo Park, summer 2011. Krister and I.

  'Dancing in the Park' @ Waterloo Park, summer 2011. Me with my umbrella

  'Dancing in the Park' @ Waterloo Park, summer 2011. Dancing with an umbrella

  'Dancing in the Park' @ Waterloo Park, summer 2011. Leads are not always male, follows are not always female.

 TUX 4D, Toronto, fall 2010.

TUX 4D, Toronto, fall 2010.

 TUX 4D, Toronto, fall 2010.

Lindy Hop Under the Big Top (UW Swing club), Waterloo winter 2010.

The end is nigh!

This morning marks my second-to-last set of finals for my undergrad. Steel design, concrete design, law, timber design, all in a week. Then it's done, well, onto more studying for the GRE and figuring out what the heck I'm doing with myself after April 2012.

It's a great feeling, provided I'm ready. I remember starting university and some of my friends telling me of their last year and how mentalities change, which I see it as partially true. I feel it's because the nature of the courses narrow in scope and become more practical. There were some people that I didn't see other than in law (if that) because we actually do have options for specialization. On the other hand, there are some people you see for 10 hours a day (luckily they're nice people).

This weekend I got my event and plane tickets to New Orleans for the Ultimately Lindy Hop Showdown which is September 29th to October 3rd. So far it's just Dean and I but we hope to accrue more people. 3+ days of entirely dancing to New Orleans jazz with some of the funnest people around? Count me in!

In other news, two University of Waterloo engineering teams are starting up. The first is the Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race 2012 to be held in Calgary, Alberta. It's a weekend of meeting other university teams, games, themed teams, races, and general nonsense. For more info contact uw-gnctr-2012@googlegroups.com.

The second is the Troitsky Bridge Building Competition, held at Concordia University in Montreal. Check out our Facebook Group!