Natalia Bourg Post #1

I'm doing my internship with Professor Jovanovich, who is a professor of electrical engineering and the Interim Associate Dean at UNO. So far, I have absolutely loved it, and I'm so thankful for this experience! I had wanted to do this internship because of my interest in electrical engineering, robotics, and computer science, and my experience thus far has definitely strengthened these interests. On the first day, after talking with Professor Jovanovich and learning we had much in common, I was first given a tour of UNO's engineering building. I got to see the towing tank, which is an indoor wave pool used for testing models of ships and other platforms. Mr. Thiel, an electrical engineer at UNO, showed me different wave patterns they had programmed. My favorite one was a series of increasingly tall waves that eventually all caught up to each other and then rolled as one wave for a moment before again splitting into several waves. I learned that the larger waves actually move faster than the small ones! In that area, I also got to see several wooden ship models used for testing in the towing tank, as well as the machinery used to stabilize, move, and record data on the models. One such device used lasers and mirrors to test the velocity of the water "particles" in the model's wake. (It is not actually looking at microscopic particles, but rather chunks of water that are called particles in naval engineering.)
Here is a picture of me standing above the towing tank as we looked at different waves.

I also got to see different labs, including an electrical engineering lab area. In here, Mr. Thiel showed me their various iterations of a robotic eel. The goal of that project is to maximize movement efficiency and not create vortices while going through the water; they are testing data gathered by another scientist that suggests the eel-like movement is optimal for this. I really enjoyed watching videos of the eel move through the towing tank, seeing it move on the table top, talking about its different parts, and talking about the learning process behind making it. On Wednesday and Thursday, in this same lab, I got to help Mr. Thiel find a way to put together RJ50 cables. They may look relatively simple, but they're very difficult to put together! Through making several cables, I eventually put together a procedure for how to most efficiently make the cables. I realized that the way of thinking I had learned in AP Computer Science this year, using "if then statements" and such, was very helpful in writing the procedure. It was successful, and he will use the procedure in his up coming projects, which makes me really happy! I also conducted continuity and resistance tests on one such cable, took down the data, and wrote a procedure for each test. This was so much fun! When I looked at my hands at the end of the day and saw they were kind of smudged from working with all the equipment and wires, I felt so excited to be able to be a part of an engineering activity, and it made me even more excited for the future.

Here's a picture of the first complete RJ45 cable I made, followed by the first RJ50 cable I was able to put together successfully. I got to keep the first one, and I think it's funny I can now actually use it at home!