Antjuan Buffett

Cumulative Reflection

1) How do you think ISU has prepared you:

ISU through course work, clubs and projects has prepared me in many aspects for design
processes, problem solving, and the impact of engineering solutions on a societal level. The open
ended projects that teachers have assigned as capstone projects have allowed me to explore many
problems that would arise in a normal work setting in terms of problem solving and figuring out
what the actual problem is.

All of the labs and projects from IEEE and other clubs have always been hand on and very
innovatory. I have learned a lot about engineering new ways around problems that arise and
being able to stretch the knowledge I do have into covering a vast area of concern.

2) What things have you done at ISU to prepare you to: work in groups, recognize contemporary
issues, and understand professional and ethical responsibilities?

Group work is very important in industry and for a healthy workplace and Iowa State has
recognized this and made almost every lab I have had in my course work group work. We also
have our senior design projects and proposals for our technical communication class which are in
large groups. This same technical communication class had us delve into the contemporary
issues of our field and society in general. Overall course work and our 294, 394 and 494 classes
have showed us the importance professional ethics and have given us prompts to read about
current ethical issues.

3) In class projects & problem solving tasks, did you draw upon information, research or
experiences beyond what was provided in class to successfully complete your work? Please state
which resources here and how they helped you to complete work (e.g. library resources, specific
professional journals, experts in field, other students).

One great thing about Iowa States electrical program is that almost all of the higher level
teachers are doing research in the field that they are teaching. I found this very helpful because
whenever we had questions about the more intricate or in depth parts of the subject our teacher
would actually know the answers or we could go to them later and find them out. I found this
very helpful when I was learning about solar cells and the silicon wafer process. Without the
help of the teacher whom is an expert in the field my research would have fell short.

4) How did learning activities outside of the classroom (required 127.5 credits), such as F.A.N.,
Student Orgs, Career or Study Abroad Fairs, Undergraduate Research Experience (REU), or
other university programs help you to understand the importance of Lifelong Learning?

From joining a fraternity that strives at lifelong learning, friendship and devotion to the
community I will always hold these values above all. I have learned that no matter how much we
know there is always more to learn and more people to assist in which you can gain new skills or
friendships from. Through my co-ops I have learned the importance of an ever evolving future of
methods and ideologies that will always take what we have in use and know now and make it
obsolete. Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets.
Leonardo Da Vinci

5) Have you started to undertake any new learning to improve your ability to apply skills or
knowledge to new problems and to develop confidence in taking risks? Please explain.

I have grown very fond of programming and have changed both coursework and independent
research into looking into a more computer orientated career. The fact that machines can
complete task and run a schedule with 100% accuracy is wildy attractive to me and I find this
field way ahead of its time. Technology has always interested me and I feel like this field has an
abundance of problems to solve.

6) In the context of the first four questions, if you were to do your undergraduate work again,
what things would you change?

If I was to redo my undergraduate program I would have been involved in as many clubs as
possible because they are where you can excel in and do the most learning outside of the class
room. I always wanted to work on the solar car team and maybe a robotics team at the school but
never did which I regret.