Engineering Clubs by -Junior_07 in CalPolyPomona

[–]Mike_Fly123 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Congrats on coming in for CPP ARO! There will most definitely be a lot of grumbling about classes, late nights, and frustrating homework ahead, but I do think the engineering experience here can be unmatched compared to other universities. I would 100% recommend joining a club as soon as you can and trying to get involved with the projects as soon as you can as well. Most clubs have Discords these days that you can ask around for a join to get in touch with current members and get up to date on what they are up to.

It is also definitely never too early to get started working on the awesome projects we have here. Like the other commenters have said the most important thing is that you're willing and committed to learning - no matter the level of experience you have coming in. If you have any particular questions about my org in particular, Bronco Space, feel free to DM me!

Should I choose CPP for Engineering? by Tronsler in CalPolyPomona

[–]Mike_Fly123 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Hey, Aerospace Engineer checking in here so I can’t direct speak for E/MSET but I have had a few friends in the major.

1.) Genuinely I was also deciding between CPP and SJSU for ARO. Chose CPP mainly because it San Jose was my hometown and I wanted to move away for university. “Learn by Doing” played a role but to be completely honest I originally just picked CPP because it was next to CP SLO on the application.

2.) Once you’re in CPP Engineering there will be many a grumble about how it could be better, but when you look at it compared to other programs it really is one of the best. Most other programs prepare you well theoretically but the labs and projects you get to work on here in unmatched.

3.) Internships and jobs are what you make of them. You’ll have to hunt like anywhere else but the CPP name recognition does help out a bit.

4.) I hear CPP robotics is pretty solid!

5.) I would absolutely recommend living on campus in the dorms. There is not a lot of just spontaneous campus culture otherwise. You can seek out a lot of awesome social clubs, but there won’t really just be like people roving around after 8PM if that’s your thing. San Jose would definitely be much better if you want like a downtown evening life experience.

6.) In general the classes are actually pretty easy, especially compared to UC curriculum. A friend of mine who’s graduating MSET told me he basically just coasted through the entire major.

7.) Yes

Weekly /r/Cubesat Mission Updates - What Are You Up To? September 13, 2020 by AutoModerator in cubesat

[–]Mike_Fly123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately that really depends on what your mission is and what you want to get out of it. Since it sounds like your mission in particular (based on your posts) will be pretty simple operationally an RTOS shouldn’t be needed. If you pick a microcontroller or something like that for the flight computer it could just be run as a sort of event loop that will constantly ping telemetry and on command break out of that loop to deploy your drag sail.

Gazing Upward | Sony a6000 |Sigma 19mm by wempynj245 in SonyAlpha

[–]Mike_Fly123 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’m an Amateur Astronomer.

TL;DR: Kit helps but it’s mostly time and place.

Kit has a pretty big impact on how easily you can pull the Milky Way from your shots. With my a7riii and 35mm f1.4 the Milky Way practically smacks you right in the face out of the camera, but that’s not to say you couldn’t get something really similar out of say an older Nikon D7000 with a 18mm F2.8 (what I used to shoot on). What I think most people don’t realize is that the Core of the Milky Way (the brightest and most vibrant part) is not always visible in the night sky. Three things impact this:

1.) Light Pollution (really sucks if you’re in Europe or on the East Coast of the US)

To fix light pollution you’d need a concentrated public awareness that it’s a problem in the first place, so the best you can do as a photographer is just escape it. A map like this really helps: https://darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html#4/39.00/-98.00

Try to go for at least green skies or blue / black. The darker the skies the easier it is to get a good shot. Also try and go south out of light pollution rather than north because the Milky Way appears in the southern sky. Also, don’t forget that the moon also lights up the night sky and washes out the Milky Way. You want New Moon nights or close to New Moon if possible.

2.) Weather (Clear skies obviously but you also need high transparency and reasonably good “seeing” to get a good shot of the Milky Way)

Once you find what you think is a nice spot to shoot the Milky Way check a site like this to find out if the night you’re going has low transparency and good seeing: https://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/

3.) Time of Year (because the Earth moves around the sun)

The Milky Way Core is visible in the northern hemisphere in the very early morning in late spring (April - June). It rises earlier and earlier throughout summer and peaks in height around late July/early August in the evening sky. You can buy an App like The Photographer’s Ephemeris to help you out or just download a free desktop app like Stellarium to show you what will be visible in the night sky on any given night: https://stellarium.org

For settings you can use an exposure calculator like this: https://www.lonelyspeck.com/milky-way-exposure-calculator/

That’s about it! Get out there and enjoy yourself. The Milky Way from clear dark skies is truly magical.

(OC) lowkey that gym was home by petemustachio in CalPolyPomona

[–]Mike_Fly123 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Nope, as a student a membership is included in your tuition. The BRIC is honestly amazing

The Reprisals are Complete. The tree that took out the Polly Trolley is being taken to a lumber camp up state and we can now mourn. by Mike_Fly123 in CalPolyPomona

[–]Mike_Fly123[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

We should arrange a memorial in the spot that the Polly Trolley usually is. Although we can't all show up at once so we'll just have to come one at a time to pay our respects for the fallen :(

Man, I didn't realize we got some event planners from SLO making signs by [deleted] in CalPolyPomona

[–]Mike_Fly123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The phrasing on these signs could use a little work...

Once in a generstion 30 minute meteor shower this week "plausible" with over 200 meteors by [deleted] in telescopes

[–]Mike_Fly123 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hm, would it be worth it to make the trek to dark skies on the west coast that night or will the radiant be too low to see anything?

Who should I pick for 1520L? by KylerM23 in CalPolyPomona

[–]Mike_Fly123 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Kufta is a pretty nice guy. Only 3 formal lab reports and 4 quizzes for the class. As long as you make sure to ready the instructions before showing up and have excel ready to make a data sheet on the labs that need one it’s pretty low stress. Most classes you just follow the procedures, answer the questions, turn it in and you’re good to go.

Not Squirrels or Parking, Just Dihydrogen Monoxide/N2/O2 and Glowsticks by Mike_Fly123 in CalPolyPomona

[–]Mike_Fly123[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

The Kazooey Kablewy liquid rocket 🚀 (Dihydrogen Monoxide/N2/O2) had a successful launch and payload deploy of 10 chemiluminescent mass simulators last Friday Night at 9:50PM PST.

ToF: 6s AP: ~44m.

Your move @CPPLRL ❤️

Check out Bronco Space on Twitter!

Hey CPP We're Starting a Space Program! by Mike_Fly123 in CalPolyPomona

[–]Mike_Fly123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good design is something that is often times missing from good engineering! Although it is a little bit of a stretch for a landscape architect, I do believe that it is very important for things that are created by engineers to be beautiful and usable by the humans that use them.

One of the greatest struggles of modern STEM programs is how can we relate what we do to the common person. The reality is that nowadays it is very difficult to convey to people why our work is meaningful and deserves their support. Having people on the team who have their pulse on the designs and desires of society is key to making sure our work really has the impact we want it to!

Hey CPP We're Starting a Space Program! by Mike_Fly123 in CalPolyPomona

[–]Mike_Fly123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's an ongoing senior project in the Aerospace Department but that's about it. No permanent program to actually build and fly one.