I am one year from graduating RIT in electrical engineering technology. I have noticed that throughout the United States there is a lack of interest in STEM type majors. Even within my major, the general mood of my classes do not seem as serious as they should be
Most of the people that come to me for study help are the oriental students, those from China, India, Kazakhstan, and other Asian and middle eastern nations. I seem to attract them like a magnet for some reason. It seems to me that the immigrant students sent from their homelands to study abroad are more serious than us Americans. I do not think they are any smarter, I just think they are more serious I even hear of tales that due to our STEM shortages, employers are looking offshore for work.
I frankly do not feel entirely satisfied with the quality of education RIT provides. A main issue is critical thinking. Instead of encouraging to students think about a problem, professors just deliver "canned" labs, multiple choice exams, and dull homework problems out of a textbook. A real engineer can think flexibly, apply knowledge in vast arrays of situations, and patiently see his/her project through to its end, no matter how long it takes. Consequently, my GPA is a little below a 3.0. I am reduced to turning to my electronics hobby to gain critical thinking skills. There is only one other student in the engineering technology department that I can name that recognized the merits of an electronics hobby to gain a critical thinking skill set. Everyone else just seems to complain and socialize with their friends, rather than making up for the shortcomings in their education and bettering themselves in their fields
Many individuals have asked me why I elected to work with tubes. For me its not as much the audiophile factor, but the engineering challenge. Tube amps are simple, but I have found through experience that there are more variables that need to be accounted for. Serious critical thinking is necessary to cope with the shortcomings and pitfalls of tube technology. The reward is better critical thinking skills and amplifiers that sounds subjectively superior to solid state technology.
So my questions to you all are
- Why do you think the serious, patient oriental and middle eastern students are attracted to me? American students seem to write me off more.
- What is up with the lack of critical thinking teaching? RIT is considered a top notch school for engineering.
I also was recently awarded a patent for some smart grid technology I helped develop. This came about because RIT has what they call a co-op program. A co-op is basically a full-time job that a student must have for one academic term (an internship, but a full-time job). My degree program requires five of them (I completed all five). My last co-op was a startup venture run by RIT students where we pioneered a new concept with smart electric grid technology. How I got involved with them is kind of a long story.
- Was anyone else here awarded a patent whilst an undergraduate in college? My department said they could not remember it happening to anyone else at RIT.