week 2: reflection and time management, capstones, and how the week went

Part 1

When it comes to study skills, I feel that I'm strong in some areas, and definitely weak in others.

3 strengths:

• Using a schedule: currently, I use a to-do list for work, personal tasks, and schoolwork. I use both a to-do list and a calendar to organize all of my tasks, and check off tasks as I finish them. I also enjoy time blocking my assignments, so I complete a small section each day, instead of cramming them all in one day.
• Deciding where to study: I'm fortunate and lucky to have a dedicated desk and room for working. I do my best to do my classwork and study in my dedicated space. I find that when I work in my bedroom or on the couch, I don't get as much done.
• Taking notes: I currently use my iPad and pencil to write notes, and I use those same notes to study. It's a habit I carried over from community college, and it's been helping me a lot when it comes time to taking tests and exams.

3 weaknesses:

• Reading aloud to myself: I tend to read aloud to myself, and I didn't know until today that it's not a more effective way to study. It's actually better to read faster, so you can retain more knowledge, so this is something I will try to continue to do.
• Not extracting important details: I tend to skim over small details pretty easily, but this is a good reminder to pay attention to the questions being asked, the prompts needing to be answered, and all of the small details.
• Not answering easy questions first: I tend to answer questions in order, but answering easy questions first can help with studying, and also when taking exams. This is because it's possible to get stuck on tough questions, and not finish the test.

Part 2

My weekly schedule is mostly consumed by working my 8-5pm job, but I dedicate time 5 days a week to study and do homework for CSUMB.

Part 3

Project management is a new but familiar concept for me. This is because I project manage my own life, but not a lot with other people or coworkers.

Project Management

From this video, I learned that a project is a way to achieve a specific goal, which typically involves creating a product or service. Projects are assessed by 3 factors: time, cost, and scope. Businesses often have to make challenging decisions to prioritize or deprioritize projects to address things like product market fit, keep up with the advancements of technology, or even appease board members and investors. Project managers are crucial in this process, because they develop skills in leadership, workflow management, and strategy, all to make sure that the projects are going well and being executed on time. They are often single handedly responsible for the outcomes of projects overall. Project management has evolved over time, specifically with the creation of the Gantt chart in the 20th century. Nowadays, project management involves managing stakeholders and coordinating multiple projects within several different products or organizations.

Work Breakdown

Prior to watching this video, I didn't know what the work breakdown structure was. However, I learned that this is a great way for leadership to help describe and communicate the deliverables needed to finish a project successfully. There are multiple levels, and this can be visualized as a tree, very similar to the data. structure in programming. Similarly, each of these nodes in the tree are referred to as deliverables. The nodes represent different aspects of the project, and these are all divided into levels. As these levels progress further and further, the deliverables change to more granular and lower level (major deliverable -> sub deliverable -> sub deliverable). This ensures that all of the steps and tasks needed to complete a project are clear and concrete, and that steps don't repeat each other.

Gantt Chart

In this video, I learned that a Gantt Chart is a project planning tool that is widely used. Some people even claim that it's the best project management tool. This is named after Henry Gantt, but invented by Karol Adameicki (harmonograph). This chart is also sometimes known as a bar chart, and has both an x and y axis (horizontal and vertical). Tasks are then plotted out, as a bar, and this allows for a visual representation of what tasks need to be completed in the time frame. This type of organization ensures that all team members are able to visualize what needs to be done in a timely manner.

Part 4

• Ottersoft
• Type of project: This project is made out of Python, and allows key information from resumes to be parsed out to alleviate human effort. This project was built using Machine Learning, and segmenting the information, then sorted and annotated information using a service called Prodigy.
• Was the project well done?: This project was really well done. There were a lot of advanced topics and techniques used to build these models, and implemented Python really well.
• How did I like the presentation?: I really liked the visual aspect of the presentation. It helped me understand how this was built, even though I'm not familiar with these tools.
• Can the project and presentation be improved?: Personally, I really liked it, but one way it could be improved is to explain a bit more about how the annotation models were built.
• Security Scan Summary
• Type of project: This project focuses on building a tool that analyzes security risks in code. I thought that this was a really cool project, because as a developer, you often times might not know that there is a security risk until a breach happens.
• Was the project well done?: Yes, I believe this project was done really well. I am really amazed by how well the team worked together, and addressed all of the challenges.
• How did I like the presentation?: I liked this presentation a lot. There was a clear understanding of what the project was, and the problem that they were addressing. There was a lot of emphasis on accessibility for working with non-technical and technical employees together, which helps teams work more efficiently with each other.
• Can the project and presentation be improved?: The only trouble I had was reading the slides, since it was on a black background.
• dKOMP
• Type of project: This is a knowledge and organizational management tool, which allows managers and business owners to manage their team easily. 
• Was the project well done?: I believe this project was well done, because there were no tools out there that fulfilled this. I also thought that this was a great way to utilize React. It's also great that web sockets allow for instant updates and feedback. 
• How did I like the presentation?: I really liked this presentation because it was really visual, there were a lot of aspects that were shown. They also showed the project management tools and they used.
• Can the project and presentation be improved?: Personally, I felt like they were talking slightly too fast for me, but I believe this is because there is a time constraint, so this is ok and understandable. I really liked the project and presentation overall.

Part 5

This week was really insightful, because most of my time was spent working on my industry analysis essay outline, and peer reviewing my team mates outlines as well. I was doing deeper research than I ever have about this industry, and even got to chat with coworkers that are in this field right now. It was really interesting to hear from their perspectives, and learn more about this industry.

I also read and watched the lectures this week, which were mainly about the speed of evolution in technology, trends in this industry, and project management. 

The Future Is Faster Than You Think

In this video, Diamandis explains how the rate of technological evolution is faster than we've ever seen before. One reason this is happening is because of the ease of access and cost. Materials are far more accessible and affordable than they used to be, and are being produced in masses. Engineers are more knowledgable and efficient, and are able to work with high velocity. There's also a lot of funding from investors, the government, and individuals where technological advances are supported. Because of this, the speaker believes that we're living in a prime time, since technological advances have never been this rapid prior to the 2000's.

The Future of Software Engineering

This article talks about software engineering, the future, the past and present, as well as the well asked question of, will AI replace software engineers? This article did confirm my intuition that even though AI is advanced and helpful, it will serve more as an aid to existing software developers, rather than completely take over and eliminate everyone's jobs. However, as the years go on, it's close to impossible to actually predict where and when engineers are going to be the most impactful and needed in this industry. Additionally, people are needed to have the product and program management touch that AI is not currently able to fulfill.

Introduction to Project Management

(summarized in part 3)