XLIX

Engineering Design Firm

9201 University City Blvd
Charlotte, NC 28223

Transmittal
Date:
Section:
To:

1201 005
Chris McDaniel
Suzana Nesic

From:

Austin Sisbarro

Subject:

Whole Life Concept Report

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submitting:

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Memorandum

Design Package

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Report - Draft
Report - Final

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Description
Whole Life Concept Report
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Individual Assignment

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Team Assignment -- Team No.

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WHOLE LIFE CONCEPT REPORT

Austin Sisbarro
ENGR 1201- 005
November 7 2015

I have neither given nor received any unauthorized help on this assignment, nor witnessed any violation
of the UNC Charlotte Code of Academic Integrity.
- Austin Sisbarro

Date: 11/7/15

The purpose of this project is to develop a personal education and professional development
career plan. By using the Whole Life Concept Model with detail I will have all the topics (passion,
impact, knowledge, and application) needed to complete my personal education and professional
development career plan. I have researched the academic schedule to graduate as a computer engineer as
well as the job description and community impact of a computer engineer. The preferred professional
outcome Im looking for is to graduate from Charlotte as a computer engineer working for a company
involved in creating and innovating household items.
As of right now my passion in life is seeking out probable solutions to everyday problems. I have
always liked the idea of being able to innovate and innovate household items in order to make life
simpler. My passion for wanting to invent and innovate new household items derived as a little kid, the
day my father bought a refrigerator with a button you could press in order to change the outcome from
crush/cubed ice to automatically filtered water I was instantly amazed. As a computer engineer I would be
involved in the computer side of appliances and would be able to help develop and design the computer
components responsible for the rapidly increasing technological advances. My father was an enormous
influence on my passion as he is just as curious about household technology as I am. My father read his
Consumer Reports magazine every month and would show me the new technological advances in every
type of household item. From new microwaves that had preset cooking options for different types of food,
to the refrigerator with the option to change from ice to filtered water that we would later buy, I was
completely hooked. There was also the experience with the dishwasher, where I was relieved from my
duties as the dish cleaner. By experiencing first hand the simplicity of life as house hold technology
advanced I was able to view the affect those advances had on the people using it. My mother, the mother
of four kids, who had a brain tumor and refuses to stop doing chores, could just throw laundry in a washer
and dryer and be done with all of it in less than 2 hours. With that experience, I am able to understand and
express my passion to make life in a house simpler than it already is. My experiences differ from others
because I have witnessed a woman work as hard as she can even after her brain surgery. Unlike some
others I understand the meaning of wanting simplicity in a household and will be able to use my
experience in order to key in on the audience my household items will benefit. My values differ from
most others because I value my parents and with their growing age in mind my value will help me push to
create items to help simplify my parents lives as well as others. My strengths are different from others
because I am very social and accepting of ideas as well as innovative when it comes to solutions. My
research habit has been prominent ever since I was a little kid looking up new inventions and ideas.
After graduating from The University of Charlotte with a degree in Computer Engineering I have
three specific goals and impacts I would like to achieve. I want to help cure the trouble that is experienced
by every other teenager in this world, the life of the quickly diminishing iPhone battery. I am not aware of
a solution that has efficiently and noticeably decreased the rate at which the battery life declines. The
frustration I have with the battery life within an IPhone entices me to make a difference that will please an
enormous amount of individuals that experience the same pain. You can have a full charge and within
three hours that battery life will be diminished to nothing. With the progression I will endure in the field
of computers and hardware, I will be able to understand the components surrounding the issue. With the
understanding of the components I will be able to apply my knowledge with my creativity to hopefully
achieve my goal in successfully creating a battery or program that will produce a longer lasting lifespan.
The impacts that I want to have on this society derive from my want for efficiency and simplicity.
Another one of my goals is to have an impact on the way technology communicates with the world. I
would like to see myself be a part of the project that gives elderly individuals the power to control every

single aspect of their house without even moving their legs an inch. They would be able to turn a stove on
and off with the touch of a screen the size of their hand. This is the type of influence I want my career to
have on the advancement of technology. Another way I could express my passion for solving everyday
problems could be by simply creating a machine that would be able to wash, dry, and fold laundry so that
no mother would ever have to go through what my mother went through with a family of six. It would be
a system where kids would throw their laundry on a scale, once it reached the limit the doors would open
up and the laundry would fall into the washer. With the correct weight inside of the washer the system
would continue and turn on the washer. Once the washing was complete the clothes would be transported
to the dryer, dried, and taken out. The laundry would then be put on a system that would separate the
clothes and fold accordingly to what it was. In my journey to achieve my goals and impacts there will be
some contemporary issues that may form as problems around my field as a computer engineer. With the
rapid advancement of technology and materials, the introduction of a more efficient and innovative
material such as Graphene1 will completely change the process of creating electronic devices. Another
issue surrounding the development of new materials and electronic devices is the environmental effects
that these devices will give off. The safety factor of making sure users/environment will not be negatively
affected by a device. The last major contemporary issue that I will face as a computer engineer will be an
economic standpoint. Every project that is handed to me will have a certain budget that will need to
suffice for the work and result coming from it.
As my research has only begun there is very little when it comes to subject areas I have already
researched. When it comes to subject areas that will be researched in order to achieve my goal it could
vary from economics to the communication of technology and the environment. In order to achieve my
goal with solving the cellular phone battery lifespan I will have to have a solid understanding of how
economics play a role in resources and equipment. Another area that will have to be researched is
electrical engineering as I will need to know what batteries consist of and what could possibly help
contribute to the progression of the battery lifespan. A subject area that is very important to my goal as an
engineer as a whole is communication. This will be the subject area that I will have to research the most
because I can have the ideas and understanding, but that doesnt mean that my boss will know what the
difference between a byte and terabyte is. The ability to convey my ideas and beliefs dealing with my
career will rely heavily on my soft skills. The soft skills required to succeed in my career would be the
ability to communicate, collaborate, and adapt. It is essential that I am efficient in these soft skills in order
to be a productive engineer. These skills will be researched and practiced daily through the mandatory
introductory engineering courses at The University of Carolina at Charlotte. In order to further my soft
skills, I could get involved with Goodwill, Inc., which will allow me to work on my communication and
interaction with with individuals from all different types of backgrounds. In order to better my
collaboration skills, I could acquire a job with Auto Bell Washing, Inc., that way I am working at a job
where teamwork is used everyday in order to get cars moved out in a sufficient amount of time. I could
join to Charlotte Improvisation Group; this would help me develop my skill of adaption. By joining an
improve group I would have to adapt to different scenarios which would ultimately train my mind to be
able to adapt at any given second. The students in these introductory classes will be given team
assignments which will be pass or fail based on the incorporation of those soft skills into the assignment.
As I progress into 1202 I will be placed with fellow electrical and computer engineers, which, will allow
myself to interact with others that share similar goals and impacts major wise. Computer engineering
seems to be the academic major that will get me to the goal I desire. The introduction of engineering
courses will help reassure me that computer engineering will guide me to my career goals. One concern I
have about majoring in computer engineering is the workload. I believe I can my brain will be able to
comprehend the ideas and abstract methods in computer engineering, but as most kids in college I am
struggling with money. This will force me to pick up a job that will most likely interfere with my
commitment to my major in the next few years. The ability of being able to balance work and school is
one of my biggest concerns. I plan on working for the best GPA in the next couple years to earn potential
scholarships/money to compensate for the money needed. I question whether I will be able to actually

acquire a job where I help create household items as a computer engineer. I do not know if computer
engineering is the correct major to match that goal but as I progress into my specialized courses with a
better understanding of computer engineering as a whole Im sure I will be able to answer that question.
Other than that I am pretty set and comfortable following this career as a computer engineer. My passion
in life of creating simple ideas/household items that will help simplify life around the house can be
achieved by following my career as a computer engineer by working on the technological and computer
side of electronics. The technological side is the side that continues to amaze me. The Introduction the
Engineering: Practices and Principles II is a class that will allow me to focus on projects centered around
my major. This class will provide me with the experience and electrical computer knowledge needed in
my specialized classes. I will also have experience being in a group of other computer/electrical engineers
in order to complete a project. Physics II will be a course that will have an immense affect on my career.
As a computer engineer physics will help me understand the electromagnetics part of electronics. I will
use physics and physics II through-out my entire career as I build circuits and create circuit boards. By
taking these courses, my academic plan will feed me the knowledge of electronics needed to innovate and
create household devices in my future job. I will take a course in computer science to further understand
how the software communicates with the computer hardware as a whole. I will most likely take a course
in economics in order to understand the price management of projects that will come up in the future.
The passion I have had ever since I was a little kid was solving everyday problems. With a
computer engineering degree, I will be able to follow through with my passion by innovating and
inventing new household devices to make like simpler for people that need it the most. At this stage in
my life the Whole Life Concept Model is important to me because it is my turn to determine the direction
of my career and aspirations as I begin my journey as a computer engineer. It is important to write out the
potential impacts you would like to have on the world to ensure that your major fits your hopeful impacts.
By researching my academic plan, I will be able to plan out how I would like to plan out my classes per
semester. By developing my whole life model I will be able to specify on goals and specific tasks that can
help me get there. This assignment has pushed me to sincerely consider the work that will need to be
shown in order to successfully graduate. This assignment gave me the ability to extensively research the
meaning and responsibility of becoming a computer engineer. This project has assured me that I want to
have the global affect of creating and innovating household items that will simplify life for those in need.
By precisely planning on my career I believe that I have become more dedicated to achieving my short
and medium term goals. Seeing the impact that computer engineers have on life as a whole, there is
nothing I would rather do than to put everything I have into something I undoubtedly want to be.

Reference Page

1.The Guardian. Five wonder materials that could change the world. Last modified April 15, 2014
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/apr/15/five-wonder-materials-graphene-shrilk-spider-silkstanene-could-change-world