Class, 3/5

1/1,000,000,000 of an actual chip (like in your pc)

Cake Making—In class

In my microelectronics class on Thursday we modeled the building of a transistor using cakes.  My team consisted of a Danish student whom I’ve grown close with and a couple of American students.   The exercise was done to help us understand the many processes in building a single transistor of a semiconductor. 

I’ve realized it is amazing what we can do with technology today.  For instance, the semiconductors in our laptops today can contain upwards of 1 BILLION transistors.  That is in a space of maybe one square inch.  We used entire cakes to represent one transistor. 

It was a good exercise.  I do not think they do this exercise at RPI, but, now I think they should.  I plan on sending some of my professor’s details about this lesson.  Not only was it fun, but, if you take it seriously like my group did, you can learn a lot. Most groups did take it very seriously.  I’m not sure if it would work the same way at RPI because you need to find a large kitchen to do this.  We needed a means of heating chocolate as well as bowls and mixing tools/forks/knives to complete the cake.  I’m not sure we have a kitchen available.

The tools we used to create our “transistor” was layers of cake to represent the silicon; the main ingredient.  Then, we used strawberry and vanilla icing to represent p type or n type doping. Chocolate was the metal and chocolate also represented the connections.  In our case, we decided to build a CMOS inverting circuit.  That is the most basic/fundamental circuits you can build.  It turned out really well.  I did most of the planning, along with the other Danish student.  The other two Americans in our group were clueless. 

At the end, we got to eat the cake and it was really good.  It gave me a nice sugar high before leaving for London.

We used overhead sheets to design the "mask," which defines what to cut out.

We cut out and filled our "N Wells" with strawberry jelly.  Then used liquid nigtrogen to cool it.

You can see the transistors now.  The chocolate is the metal of the transistor and the vanilla pudding is the "P Well."  Again, using liquid Nitrogen.

After another layer of cake, we used chocolate powder and chocolate syrup to make the connections to the layers below.

We ate it.  It was good.  

I've been busy

I had a test today, a dinner to prepare for 15 on Sunday, and I'm leaving for London tomorrow after class.  Needless to say, I've been busy.

Today was my first graded assignment of any sort, a test in Planetary Physics.  I thought it was easy.  It is a remarkably different class style, however, from classes at RPI.  In Denmark, there is no mandatory homework and only two of my four classes have a test outside of the final.  I can't believe that.  In a way, it makes it really hard to stay up to date; let alone go to class.  Most professors just upload the slideshow they present to the internet after they present it.  If you can look at it in your room at your convenience, why go to class? 

Most of the time, you go to class because the professor verbally includes much more information than what is on the slides.  There is one of my classes that is a complete joke though.  It is interesting, but, there are no assignments and all the professor does is lecture for all four hours. This class kills me.

I've been preparing to leave for London as well.  That doesn't take much time, but, I'm arriving in England and have to find my way to Whit's hotel on my own.  I want to be sure I'm fully prepared.  Thankfully there won't be a language barrier.  

On Sunday, upon returning at 11am, I need to get ready to cook for about 15 people.  They are the group from my introduction week.  I went out today and bought groceries.  The whole riding your bike thing to the grocery store is getting to me.  That is probably because this is the second day in a row I've done it.  I've bought groceries enough to make 2 bacon explosions, a chicken, and make apple crisp for dessert.  Sunday will be consumed by cooking, but, I like to cook.

Class tomorrow should be really cool.  This is one of my favorite classes.  We are learning about semiconductor physics (quantum physics) and the process of making semiconductors. Tomorrow, there is no lecture, but, we do have a lab.  To demonstrate the step by step process of making semiconductors, we are baking a cake.  Each layer of the cake represents something different.  At the end we get to eat the cake.  It is supposed to be a really good exercise... I'll let you know how it turns out.

Right after that, I get on the bus, to the train, to the airport, to leave for London.  Sweet.

Whit's Here

Whit also came on Friday night.  Everything worked out really well.  I went to a concert at a bar on campus where a famous Danish band was playing.  Their music was in English so I understood it.  It was really good.  Just after then ended, Whit gave me a call and I met him at like midnight.  We stayed on campus that night and get this.  The ONE person Whit knows in Denmark, calls Whit out at the bar we are at.  Apparently, this girl had stayed with Whit a couple months ago for a few nights.  She was a friend of a friend or something.  They didn’t contact each other beforehand either.  That was pretty crazy.  It turned out to be a late night, but, it was fun.

 On Saturday, we got up late, had a quick breakfast and met Sara to go into the city.  One of the Danish students from my hall went with us.  We took the bus to the city and did a self guided tour.  The tour was nice and you definitely see the hot spots, however, you need someone there for some commentary.  

Free Ice Cream Day!  We got some.

For dinner, we ate at a great little restaurant in the basement of a hotel that Sara had read was cheap with good, authentic Danish food.  I would definitely go back there.  This gave me a good idea of what I want to do when I have my family visit in April.

The restaurant bar.

Whit and Sara.  Whit got a "sausage plate" and Sara got the "famous chicken sandwich."

Alex got a hamburger.

My dinner.  It was tuna and qual eggs over a sald with some vinagrette dressing.  It was good.

After dinner, we went back home, took a nap and stayed on campus again that night.  Whit left on Sunday at noon, but, not before I made plans to visit him this Thursday.

Friday Nights of Bacon

First off, you must go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWIUcoVH3e4 in order to understand the inspiration for "Friday Nights of Bacon." 

I had brought up the Bacon Xplosion a week or so ago and the guys really like the idea.  Since we had to do it on a Friday (because of the song), we decided the 27th was good.  Actually, we cook together often.  When someone wants to cook together, they put up their dish idea on a list and you are free to join.  On Thursday, Julie organized a meatball dinner.  You cook it together and clean up together.  The organizer is only responsible for getting the supplies.  

Getting the supplies...that was a task.  I didn't want the meal to be too expensive so I did homework in terms of shopping.  I looked up all the local supermarkets and found their online catalogues to see where I could get deals.  In the end, I bought most of my supplies from Netto, but, I used 2 other supermarkets for some small things.

 At around 5pm we started making it.  It was awesome.  We were all inspired by how epic the bacon explosion is.  First, we weaved the bacon together to form a mat.  Then, you add barbecue sauce and spices.  On top of that goes the meat.  In this case it was a mix of ground beef and sausage meat (taken out of the tube).  Then, more barbecues sauce/spices.  On top of the meat layer, we put a mix of peppers, onions and fried bacon; topped all that with slices of cheese.  Finally, you roll up the meat into a log and then roll the bacon around the meat.  It was the coolest thing I’ve ever made. 

Not to mention, everyone thinks it’s awful for you, but, I don’t believe that.  It is pretty much all meat and if I could have bought organic, grass fed meat, I can’t see anything wrong with it.  It is a lot of calories because of the fat, but, natural animal fat is good for you.  I’m more worried about the sugar in the bbq sauce we used.

We cooked it after that and the smell was amazing.  It looked delicious in the oven.  About halfway through, we pulled them out and added the remaining bbq sauce to the outsides.  When it was finally ready, everyone was in the kitchen and could not wait to eat it.  Martin sliced it up and we were ready to eat.  The 9 of us sat down and enjoyed.  Some people chose to eat it on a hamburger roll, in which case it is like a bacon burger.  I ate my first slice alone; to get the full flavor.  Everyone agreed it was delicious.  It was a great dinner.

REACH

One of the brothers from my house contacted me because he has the opportunit to come to Denmark, like me.  I've included our conversation because I thought you may like to read my response.  

Yo Kloepfer,

 I just accepted into the REACH program and I’m looking to probably go to Denmark next semester. I was just wondering how things are there and if it’s worth pursuing? 

I know it’s probably a huge change but I just wanted to get a feel for what I’d be in for before I actually send in my final application. You can either call me (518-567-7037) or just email me when you get the time. Thanks man

 -C

And my response:

Yo man.  Just got some time and wanted to update you. 

First of all, I've never been to Europe, so I didn't really know what to expect.  I just went in with an open mind and so far it has been a blast.  DTU in general, reminds me of RPI.  My classes are about the same difficulty except no homework.  Most classes have a final exam as the only grade.  There may be some project work, but, not much.  The scheduling works differently.  Each class is a max of 4 hrs.  I'll attach my schedule so you can see.  Most classes are only lecture 2 hrs, then the next 2 hrs are for classwork.  This is not mandatory work.  I guess it replaces homework, which is kinda nice.  Overall, I haven't thought classes are very hard.  The 4 teachers I've had I like a lot.  They all speak really good English.  The language barrier is not even a problem here.  Everyone speaks English, no joke. 

Living on campus is great.  I live in a hall of 17 (2 girls) Danes and the kitchen is great.  It is fully stocked and works really well.  Everyone does their own cooking and dishes and occasionally we cook together (see bacon explosion on facebook).  My room is really nice.  It is much bigger than I expected.  It is perfect.  The kids I live with in this kitchen are GREAT.  I guess I got lucky because I have a really sweet kitchen.  They are very social.  Some kitchens are not as social.  Everyone has been really nice to me and helped me out a lot.  In fact, if you were to come here, I would recommend you take my room.  I would send out some emails to get you in here.  That may work because the guys here are concerned that someone lame will move in when I leave.  I'll look into it if you're down.

The social scene on campus is pretty good.  It would be great, except they have a male/female ration of 80/20.  That is a shame because the campus is set up to party.  For example, in our dorm complex is a popular bar, at a different bar on campus I went to two concerts last week, etc.  There are a total of 6 bars on campus, not to mention each major has a "happy hour" every Friday.  However, outside of campus, there is not too much, party wise at least.  You need to go to the city of Copenhagen.  There are some awesome clubs/bars there.  One of my favorites is La Hacienda.  It is 35USD to get in, but, free beer the entire night.  It doesn't get much better than that.  One downside to partying in the city is the trains shut down from 12:30am to 5:30am, which means you have to take a night bus to get home between those hours.  However, between those hours, the night bus is 2x as expensive.  If a normal bus ride is 5USD for the 40 minute ride home, it is now 10USD.  As a result, most stay out until at least 5:30am.  This is something I've had trouble adjusting to.  You can stay out all night every night if you wanted to, but, I find it hard.  I seem to hit a wall when it gets past like 4.  I think I need to begin pregaming later in the night.  
The city is expensive, like the entire country.  Quickly, you will learn where to shop for groceries and stuff.  You've just got to accept that you are going to spend a lot of money.  That is the only way you can justify it.  If you travel, you should plan your trips in advance.  It is easy to get a group together that wants to travel.  Traveling from Denmark is easy.  Denmark is practically in the center of Europe and you can go anywhere.  I have plans of visiting London later this week for a couple of nights; easy as that. 

I would definitely recommend coming to Denmark.  I feel very cultured and I'm making a ton of new friends.  I've made a ton of danish friends, not to mention all the other international students that I hang out with often (they have a great introduction week for international students).  Now, I have friends from all over the world, how cool is that?  It is a nice change from RPI too.  I believe that you need to take a semester off from RPI somehow, either co-op or study abroad; everyone should do one of those two.  I'm sure you know what I mean. 

The decision is yours.  I don't regret mine; not one bit.  If you have any other questions, let me know.  Take care,

Matt

Old Bike

Here is a picture of my old bike.  I wanted to get a photo of it before it got stolen because there is no lock on it.  I don't think anyone would steal it anyway...But, even though the gears didn't work and the seat was too low, the handlebars were falling apart and the front tire kinda wobbled, I grew attached to this bike.  I planned on using it and selling the other one pictured from the other day.  That was, until, it got a flat rear tire.  A flat front tire I may have replaced, but, a rear tire on this bike, no way.  That would require too much work.  Not to mention all the screws are completely rusted, I don't think I could get them off.

In other news, I went grocery shopping today with a kid from my hall, Tyce.  He has a car, so I gladly went with him.  It is a treat to ride in a car and not bike, not to mention you can buy more because you don't have to worry about carrying it back with you. 

Here is a list of some things I bought so you can compare some prices:

2.2 lbs precooked ham (not sliced) = $12.5 USD

3 lbs grnd beef (16-20% fat.  I don't mind) = $12 USD

30 large eggs = $5.5 USD

1 can tomato sauce =  $.66USD

1 store brand deoderant = $5.5USD

3 avacado =  $2.67USD

Saving money by shopping at one of the farthest grocery stores and buying no-name products, only to blow any saved money away during a night in Copenhagen..............priceless.

Keep in mind that I do shop at the cheapest grocery store around.  This is the cheapest you can buy any of these products.

To be honest though