Blog
Apr. 1st 2017
Today we started learning about parallel computing and did a lot of examples of how it works and is generally more efficient than serial computing. Both follow the same path, but parallel in most cases gets more work done sooner, and better, especially if there are limitations on time and/or memory. Our work today was looking at some different models and thinking about how they could be parallelized.
Mar. 18th 2017
Today we finished up our HLD project and presented it in front of the other apprentices/mentors. Overall it was a success, but we did learn some things about how to make our projects and presentation better. For one, our project was meant to be a reflection on real world scenarios and how our simulations can give us data about it.
Mar. 11th 2017
Today we continued our HLD project to be presented for next week. Sachin didn't get any code done, so I took the disease code that we tweaked last month and modified it to be more fitting as a forest fire model, which has three agents: trees, burning trees, and burnt trees. Trees can get burned, and after a certain period of time they become burnt trees. I modified the description as well, and got started on making the temperature system for the forest. Hopefully our project will be ready to present next weekend.
Mar. 4th 2017
I was out today because of a frisbee tournament over in Charlotte. Today was the start of the HLD group project for this month, where we use a basic disease model with JavaScript, and change it into a forest fire model similar to the one on the Shodor resources. I am partners with Sachin, and he gave me the details over email what we are supposed to do and what our ideas were for the project.
Feb. 18th 2017
Today we finished up altering the Predator-Prey model in Atom and turning it into a Disease model. We learned about changing functions and what forward loops do within a program, as well as how error consoles have a lot of the same functions.
Feb. 11th 2017
I wasn't here this week because I was sick with a fever.
Feb. 4th 2017
This week we started our lesson on Programming Concepts with what we knew as to the materials being used for it. We then got into using a new programming application called Atom, which is technically a better version of TextWrangler. We got started with changing a prewritten Predator-Prey model and turning it into a Disease model with sick and healthy people. We followed Aaron's guidance through this process and are going to work throughout the rest of the month for this transformation.
Jan. 14th 2017
Unfortunately there was heavy snow in North Carolina last week, so we were not able to meet and have the Apprenticeship Program then. Today, Skylar and I finished up our project page and projects, and we finally presented it to the rest of the apprentices and staff. I think it went really well, and it was a fun project to take part in. For the rest of the time, we worked on our websites, and I had a lot of troubleshooting to do. I made it look a lot more concise, as well as adding attachments to my portfolio page. Hopefully I can make it look even better in the near future.
Dec. 17th 2016
Today Skylar and I worked on and finished our Vensim and AgentCubes models. We tweaked the AgentCubes model a lot so that it would be able to function for a long period of time without the people dying out at some point. We started on the webpage for the project but did not get to finish it. We will be ready to present it on January 7th, the next time that we meet.
Dec. 10th 2016
I was not able to come to Shodor today because of a frisbee tournament that my school was holding to fundraise our frisbee teams. We got absolutely railed by the other teams, who were significantly older and much more athletic than we were, but it was fun anyways. Skylar could not come as well, and we were meant to work on the project, which we did at home.
Dec. 3rd 2016
Today we learned about how to implement diffusion into AgentCubes, and how agents can be attracted to a scent being diffused across the world. For the majority of the day we were introduced to our project for this month, which is to use what we learned in Vensim and AgentCubes the past couple of weeks to make a new project in a group. Skylar and I are making a business model which shows the dynamics of unemployed, employed, and employer populations over time. We started by getting a clear picture of what exactly we were going to do and brainstorming on the white board before we put it into the programs. We mainly worked on the Vensim model and completed it, and got started making the model in AgentCubes. We will continue to do this for the next two Saturdays, as well as on our own if necessary. We will have to present our models two Saturdays from today in the afternoon of the class.
Nov. 19th 2016
Today we started off by applying the formula of Have = Had + Change into real world scenarios, such as a bank account or chemical reactions. For the rest of the day, Dr. Panoff introduced us to AgentCubes, which is a modeling program that models individual agents and how they act and interact with other agents. We first made a basic fly model, where the fly moved randomly in the world and if it was next to the window it would escape. After this, for the rest of the time we worked on an SIR Model with only sick and healthy people. They both moved randomly, but the sick people moved slower than the healthy people. If a sick person were to make contact with a healthy person, it has a chance to infect that person. The infected people had a clock where if it took a certain amount of steps, it would change back into a healthy person. Using this population model, we made a graph that showed the population dynamics of the sick and healthy people. It was really cool, and I'm excited to use this knowledge in our project next month.
Nov. 12th 2016
Today we learned an important formula for modeling and computer science: Have = Had + Change. This served as the basis for our lesson today, and we used it when playing around with Excel and a new modeling application called Vensim. We made a rabbit population simulation with a birth rate and death rate, and also made an SIR (Susceptible-Infected-Recovered) Model that was very basic. Dr. Panoff guided us through most of the instruction, but at the end he let us loose to make the SIR Model from an instruction booklet. Lots of work with lots of learning!
Nov. 5th 2016
Today, I got to play around a bunch with Microsoft Excel and the different functions within it. Some of the functions that we got to see include scroll bars, check boxes, naming cells, and much more. Throughout our exploration of Excel, Dr. Panoff taught us the basics of coding and programming, and the language behind it.
Oct. 22nd 2016
I wasn't here today because I was taking the ACT, which was not fun. I listened to the audio files to catch up on what we did this day.
Oct. 15th 2016
Dr. Panoff talked to us for the majority of the day, and he taught us where Shodor got its name from (I'm not gonna put it in here because anyone reading should know it honestly). He challenged our method of thinking, introducing the idea of sufficient versus necessary, and how these terms can be swapped in various situations. We also found out that Google is not the most reliable source of information by searching for the mass of different planets and getting different numbers.
Oct. 8th 2016
Today marked the first day of the Apprenticeship Program. The majority of today was spent setting things up for the rest of the program throughout the year, and the first thing we did introduce ourselves to each other to get to know the other apprentices better. After that, Aaron helped us to set up our Shodor accounts to be used for nearly everything in the program. We got an overview of what we are going to do within the program, and the expectations that the mentors have for us. We emailed our mentors, and this year I am going to have Ernie as my mentor. I am really excited to be a part of the Apprenticeship Program, and can not wait to learn more about programming and modeling, as well as working with the other apprentices.