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Cumulative Reflection

Michael Petersen reflects on his time at Iowa State University where he has learned to work well with other students through group projects, overcome challenges, and be accommodating and trusting of his coworkers. During an internship at Cisco, he had to problem solve and communicate effectively with his peers to create an app within the technical limitations of the Amazon Echo. Studying computer engineering alongside other disciplines has improved his communication and view of lifelong learning as using peers' skills and knowledge to further goals both in school and professionally. Lifelong learning involves pursuing his own interests like personal projects inspired by friends' hobbies and using resources like graduate students to further his engineering skills and understanding.

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55 views2 pages

Cumulative Reflection

Michael Petersen reflects on his time at Iowa State University where he has learned to work well with other students through group projects, overcome challenges, and be accommodating and trusting of his coworkers. During an internship at Cisco, he had to problem solve and communicate effectively with his peers to create an app within the technical limitations of the Amazon Echo. Studying computer engineering alongside other disciplines has improved his communication and view of lifelong learning as using peers' skills and knowledge to further goals both in school and professionally. Lifelong learning involves pursuing his own interests like personal projects inspired by friends' hobbies and using resources like graduate students to further his engineering skills and understanding.

Uploaded by

api-484635226
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Michael Petersen

Cumulative Reflection

In my time at Iowa State University I have sat in class with many of the same people as I
did the year before. Despite attending a fairly large university, I have come to know many of the
students within my major. Throughout all the projects and group work I have done, I have
learned to work well with other students, listen to their ideas, overcome difficult challenges.
One of the non-academic challenges is working each other’s schedules and trusting a group
member to complete their part of the project under the trust that I will complete mine. In a
professional environment doing the best work with your coworkers often involves being
accommodating and trusting. During my internship at Cisco, I was tasked with creating an app
for the Amazon Echo for use by my fellow employees. Being a new technology, I found one my
problems being the technical limitations of the device in relation to the features that my peers
wanted. I overcame this with alternative problem solving and communicating with my peers.
This involved explaining how the device worked, and the possibilities of the device, without
creating an inferior product. Being a student of Computer Engineering, and working with people
studying Electrical, Software, and Cyber-Security disciplines has made me aware of the different
skill sets that people possess. This has improved my communication skills from a technical
standpoint, as well as, developing the idea of lifelong learning as a skill. In a team-based
environment, it has become evident that using my peers as a resource to further our overall
goal, while also furthering my own studies is what lifelong learning means outside of the
classroom, and into the professional world.
One of the biggest resources at Iowa State is my fellow students. At my time at Iowa
State, I have worked with a variety of people and many have their own interests and why they
are involved in Computer Engineering, or one of the similar fields. From this, I have discovered
the many applications of my skillset through my peers’ hobbies and personal projects.
Consequentially, I have taken their inspiration, and found uses to pursue some of my own
projects. The importance of lifelong learning isn’t something I take with me in my day-to-day
life but is something I subconsciously display through my own passion for technology, and
computer engineering. Sharing this passion and ideas with friends and other like-minded
individuals, makes engineering more than just a degree or a job. Lifelong learning for me is
pursuing whatever piques my interest and using it to better myself, as a person and an
engineer.
Another resource I take advantage of often is the ability to meet with teaching
assistants or other graduate students to get help with classwork or to discuss a project. Part of
Lifelong Learning is learning from others and acting as a teacher. Graduate students are a great
example of furthering their studies into a field of research and reaching conclusions that aren’t
necessarily found in a textbook. As a part of my Senior Design project, I was given the
opportunity to work with a graduate student and explore their research. In an effort to further
Michael Petersen
Cumulative Reflection

the idea of Lifelong Learning, our Senior design project and working with graduate students has
given me the opportunity to observe the approach and methodology to their research, as well
as discovering why their research is important to them. In this scenario, Lifelong Learning is
exhibited by furthering my engineering process and seeking advice from beyond technical skills.

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