Rhetorical Analysis

The articles that I read were written similar to a lab report. They were very structured articles that included an abstract, introduction, test plans and procedures, data, results, and conclusions. According to Linton these articles have conventions of structure, reference, and language. They provide cues to the readers about what is being tested and expected in the introduction.  They used strategic use of citations it referring to work or research that was previously done in their field. With engineering and really any other science research with never stop so really every engineering article has conventions of reference. All of these articles describe a method or procedure that was done by someone else earlier.

According to the Swales’s genre model the first move is established in the abstract and introduction of these article when they identify what the research is, previous research, and the method that are going to be used. The articles establish a niche, move 2, by either raising a question about previous research or continuing on a previous research. Move 3, occupying the niche is established in all these articles with the announcing of the findings.

I actually do not mind reading things like these because having to write several articles it makes it easier to reading and understand what is going on.

Core Elements of Construction Engineering

This week I read the article Core Elements of Construction Engineering Knowledge for Project and Career Success, which is located at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) website. This article first discusses how the design and construction markets are increasing the requirements for the final constructed project. They mention how the market is making a big move towards sustainable construction and how this is becoming more and more important to construction engineering. The article then describes four core elements of construction engineering that are essential to having a successful projects and careers. These four elements are technical fundamentals, materials of construction, construction-applied resources, and field construction operations. This article also makes a big push for construction degree programs to put a bigger importance on the construction engineering aspect of the degree and the four core elements.

I like this article because as an engineer I like to see when people want to see more importance put on the engineering aspect of the job rather than just focusing on management. My theory is it doesn’t matter if you have great management if the building is designed properly or doesn’t do its intended job. I believe that if these four core elements of construction engineering are implemented then the project will be successful and could lead the designers and contractors to having successful careers.

Risks of Analytical Models in the Bidding Process

This week I read the article Risk and Price in the Bidding Process of Contractors, which is located at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) website. This article discusses the differences between the analytical models of the bidding process and the actual processes. In order to generate real data one person observed the biding process of new of the leading construction firms in the UK.  There were significant differences found in the study between actual bidding process and a modeled bidding process. Basically what was determined was that the analytical model does not generate a very accurate model of what actually happens in the pricing of construction bids.

This was an interesting article for me because I use to work for a contractor and was actually a part of several bidding processes. From experience I know that there is a lot of time, organization, and number crunching that goes into make a bid that will benefit you, but be high enough to get the job. I just thought I was interesting to see how people are resorting back to using the old fashion hand calculations and flow diagrams for pricing jobs instead of the computer technology.

Sturtural Analysis of Aluminum in a Fire

I read the article, Structural Analysis of Compression Deformation and Failure of Aluminum in Fire, which is located at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) website. This article is basically a lab report for the testing of aluminum as if it were subjected to temperatures within in a fire. The article describes how the aluminum will be tested. The will be several test runs on one specific type of aluminum alloy (5083 AL). First, a specimen will be tested while subjected to only compression loads. Then, there will several specimens subjected to the same compression loads as the first test, but heat that is representative of a fire will also be added in as a factor. There will also be different levels of heat applied to each specimen that is representative of different types of fires.  This allows engineering to model how the strength of the aluminum, as well as it’s physical properties are changed when subjected to different levels of radiant heat. It was determined from these tests that yielding strength properties of the aluminum were reduced with heat was added into the equation. By using the modeling approach, realistic deformations of the aluminum specimens were obtained and can be used in structural analysis of buildings.

Since I am getting an emphasis in Structural Engineering, this article was very interesting to me. Having to take several structures classes with similar labs to this one, I was able to understand not only what their results meant in general, but what their results meant to engineering and design. Civil engineering is the oldest engineering discipline studied today and everyday there a new discoveries being made about the materials used in design. It is cool to see how all the classes and labs that we do in college are being done everywhere around the world by professionals. It makes me think that I am actually going to use a great deal of knowledge that I have gained while in college when I start my career.

Sustainable Construction

I read the article Costs and Benefits of IEQ Improvements in LEED Office Building, which is located on the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) website. The article discusses the positive economical improvements that can be made by improving the indoor environmental quality (IEQ). Leadership in Energy and Environmental Designs (LEED) certified buildings were the type of buildings studied for this article. The research was done in order to determine if there would be a significant difference in the occupant’s well-being and productivity if these LEED certified buildings improved their indoor environmental quality (IEQ). The research was conducted by surveying employees that work at such LEED certified buildings. It was found that there would be a potential economic gains by improving the IEQ in each of the buildings studied.

Since I have been in engineering at Clemson there has been a strong push for us to take several class in this LEED certified and sustainability field. Basically all this means is that the building are being built more environmental friendly by the type of materials used to build the buildings and the actual appliances within the building. For example, using tempered and tented glass for all the windows, heavy duty spay in installation, and water saving toilets. It may not seem like much but just by making these improvements to buildings they will cut down significantly on the operating costs of the building, such as power, heating and cooling systems, and water.

I know that the latest buildings constructed on campus have been LEED certified and I am sure that there will be more to come in the future. I believe that this is the way that many engineers and architects are being to design their buildings and within ten years or so all new building will be design in this way. It is simply more economical for the owners and better for the environment, how could you go wrong with that.

Wikipedia

As you all know Wikipedia is looked down upon by most of our professors and they will even punish you for using it. I think that is ridiculous of them because I'm sure at some point in there career they've used wikipedia for something or they might even use it all the time. As they said in the video we watched in class the other day Wikipedia has less errors than most other reference materials. This just puzzles me as to why professors and teachers are so harsh about Wikipedia when it really is probably the best referencing source avaliable to us as students. We are all in college now and most of us can determine what in wikipedia is correct and what is not. So, I believe that Wikipedia should be the most used resource in projects.

Group Project.

Last class we read an article about typical types of people that are in group projects. I hate group projects as well. It seems like every time I was given a group project I always ended up being the one to organize everything and make sure the job gets done. I do not think I did this because I'm a controller, I simply did it because if didn't it felt like nobody would and I'm not trying to get a bad grade due to everyone else slacking. What I hated the most about having to do all the work is that the one who did nothing still got a good grade because of me. Does anybody know what I'm talking about?

Absolute Meanings?

We talked in the last class about whether or not there is anything in this world that is absolute.  I would have to say there might be a few things that are absolute just to America, such as STOP signs, but I do not believe that there is anything that is absolute to the world. There is just no possible way for something to have 1 and only 1 absolute meaning/purpose in the world. A person’s country, religion, ethnicity, and/or culture determine how they think and live their lives. That is why I believe there is nothing absolute in this world, it just simply impossible for it to happen when there are over 6 billion people in the world coming from thousands of different places.

Obama's Speech.

I think that the Obama speech that we discussed in class on Tuesday was a good example of how rhetoric is used today. The speech does a very good job of addressing all the different audiences that might be listening. The way that it is written makes it feel like he is addressing everyone no matter what their religion maybe, or if they even have one. Also, I believe that the speech does a good job of using recent historical events that have been conducted by past presidents, such as Thomas Jefferson and the constitution. That helps take some of the pressure off the issue of the Mosque because similar things have been done in the past, so it makes it not as big of a deal as everyone is making it to be.


Secondly, Is that the speech, in my opinion, clearly does its job because it worked on me(a little). When I first heard about the Mosque going near the Ground Zero of 9/11 I was shocked. I felt like that would be a complete slap in the face, but after reading this speech my views towards this are not as harsh. That’s why I believe this is a good example of rhetoric today. It was a strategically planned speech that key on certain points in order to change the minds of how people are thinking, and it worked on me.

Rhetoric?

In the previous class we were talking about what we thought the meaning of rhetoric was, and I just wanted to add some thoughts. Everyone was saying that rhetoric was planned, strategic, and persuasive. I agree with all of those things, but I believe that it can be some what misleading and sometimes even wrong in a sense. People using rhetoric tend to use their words in a way that makes the other person think differently than they normally would. The way a person ask questions and answers questions with a question causes the other to have to think more about the conversation, and when you have to think more about something your mind tends to jumble around, which then leads to you questioning your own self about your thoughts. That's why I think the main goal of rhetoric is to try and change the way people think, and ultimately get them to think in the way they do.