Biking is definitely my preferred means of transportation, especially for getting to class. A walk from home to Stocker in the winter took me upwards of 15 minutes. On a bike I can get to class in less than five, with time to get coffee before class.

The best part about having a bike in Athens though, is the bike trail. The “Hockhocking Adena Biketrail” is a 19 mile biketrail stretching from East State Street to Nelsonville. Through town it runs along the Hocking River, through the golf course, and past Union Street towards The Plains. Nelsonville is about 14 miles from my house taking this route, and it took my roommate and me about an hour and 15 minutes each way. It’s perfect if you have friends to visit at Hocking College or if you’re like us and had an afternoon to spend outside.

The picture above shows Lake Snowden which is located 5 miles west of Athens. The lake has great fishing, hiking trails, and boat rentals. That’s what I love about going to OU you can get out of class and be on the water within 10 minutes.

Another activity which many students including myself take advantage of is the Ohio University golf course. The course is a 9 hole course which lies along the Hocking river. It’s a fun course to play, and is fairly cheap for students. It is nice to have finished most of my coursework before my last quarter. I am able to relax and enjoy the few remaining weeks I have in Athens.

After the three days, the group had some free time to explore. Below is a picture of a few of us on the USS Midway, a floating naval aviation museum. The ship was staffed completely by veterans who had served on similar ships. When we told a few of the guides that we were engineers, they were excited and talked with us in depth about the boilers and engines.

Since I was on break, I opted to stay a few extra nights in the city and take the Amtrak back on that Wednesday. This allowed time to do some site seeing that would have been difficult with more people, especially using all public transportation. My friend whom I was staying with did not have to work, so I had a travel buddy that understood the bus and train (CTA) systems. Some cool sites I had not been to before were Millennium Park, The Cultural Center (formerly the main library), China Town, The Chicago Board of Trades, and to the top of the Willis Tower (see the picture below).

I really enjoyed the trip also because I will be living and working in Chicago once I graduate, and being able to see the city from an insider’s perspective like my friend’s made me pretty excited about relocating. Chicago has a lot to offer and seems like a great place to start out my career.

It ended up being beautiful on Saturday, and I got to show them the Ridges and a little driving tour of campus in the car I bought last year for my internship. I got to show them my old houses and dorms, and some of my other favorites around Athens (Miller’s Chicken, OU Golf Course, Haffa’s, The Donkey). It was fun for me too; I don’t often have a reason to venture down to South Green or across the river. I felt like I was reminded of some of the things that drew me here in the first place.

The project involves improving efficiency for the receiving docks; we want to reduce the time it takes for incoming parts to be processed. Right now, the process is very hard to understand since we have only seen it a few times. The key to understanding any process is to break it down into steps, and find the root of the problem. This will be especially challenging due to the high volume of parts Kenworth receives daily for its trucks.

Since the project involves Six Sigma, we follow through a sequence of steps: Design, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. This quarter we primarily focus on the design, measure, and analyze steps. This involves creating how data is to be collected and measured, along with analyzing the system's current capability, and design.

Senior design is the most valuable and challenging class, I have been in thus far. Working for a company provides the real world experience that I need to succeed in my own career. I look forward to providing Kenworth with a valuable solution that can save them money.

My team is working with the Maintenance, Repair, and Operations Manager to optimize their warehouse. The first thing they want us to do is to find the order frequency and fail rate of each part in storage. From that we will determine the economic order quantity for each part. Once we have a better idea of what they have, how much they use it, and how often it needs to be ordered, the second part of our project is to design a new layout in their storage facility and a system of part vending machines throughout the facility. Under the current system workers must leave the line and go to the storage room for parts. With the new vending machine system, the workers will have to travel a shorter distance. And since the machines will be hooked up to the warehouse servers, the machines will keep track of each part in storage and automatically reorder when the stock is low.

While the size of the project was initially intimidating, we have been able to continually measure and get a better understanding of the current situation and how to implement the change. I’ve been waiting for this project for a long time and I’m happy to be working on it now that it’s here.

Wayne National Forest is about 30 minutes northwest of Athens, and boasts 300+ miles of trails (including mountain biking, bridal, and ATV trails). The Burr Oak Trail intercepts the Buckeye trail on the North side, which would offer a 30 mile loop for a good 3-4 day trek. They call this area “the Little Smokies” because of its aesthetic similarity to the much larger National Park. The guy at the P & P warned that the better option would likely be south of Athens though for our quicker weekend trip.

So we are settling on Zaleski State Forest. It covers over 26,000 acres and borders Lake Hope. With the rain we have had lately the trail likely will not be too muddy with good local drainage into the lake. The loop is 26 miles total, but we will be able to cut that in half if need be with a shortcut that is supposedly well-marked. The trailhead is only a 40 minute drive from Athens, ensuring an easy return in time for class on Monday and my brother’s drive home to Cincinnati. The date is set for next weekend—-wish us luck!

Check out the link to Zaleski’s website (+ free downloadable maps): http://www.zaleskistateforest.com/

This weekend Theta Tau will be hosting its annual chili cook off for Dad’s Weekend. Teams of three will compete to concoct the best pot of chili. Everything from the traditional to the bizarre has made it to the judges table. College dads taste each recipe and pick a favorite. Last year’s winner won a small trophy and year-long bragging rights. In three days those bragging rights will expire. Hopefully this time around my team will be able to produce a better pot of beans than last year and bring home the trophy (fingers crossed).

In a few weeks the winter rush will begin. We will be setting out our rush tables in Stocker and the ARC for students who are interested in joining. Some of the aspects of Theta Tau include community service, an emphasis on professional development, outdoor and group activities, social events, and help with classwork. I’ve been in OT since my freshman year and have enjoyed the experience.

This past weekend the group traveled to Lexington, Kentucky to visit two companies: Toyota, and Makers Mark. Toyota was a completely new experience for me; I have never been to a manufacturing plant where so many IE lessons are practiced. We saw assembly lines, robots, AGV’s (Automatic Guided Vehicles), Kanban usage, and Six Sigma techniques. These examples are just a few practices that Toyota has instituted to improve efficiency, reduce costs, improve quality, and most importantly improve customer and worker satisfaction. I am glad we are able to go on these tours because it really gives real world knowledge of things we learn every day; it allows me to understand these lessons better and offer insight to problems.

I would really recommend joining any of the engineering organizations to all the incoming students. It is a great way to meet those people you share class with every day. It also gives you a great opportunity to network; I have met members from other schools around the country.