Month 2 Study Update

We’re now a little over two months into my BSc in Combined STEM, and the initial optimism of “once I submit this TMA I can finally breathe” has been replaced with the crushing realisation that time rolls on regardless of my feelings. No sooner did one assignment vanish than another appeared, creepily waving at me from the horizon. November has been busy: new topics, some revision, and a frankly excessive amount of line drawings.

Engineering: Materials and Electricity

This month’s engineering content began with materials: iron, steel, cast versus wrought, aluminium, and even slag. I love the word slag. To bring theory to life, we watched a documentary on building a McLaren supercar, which, while outside my area of professional interest, was still fascinating. The MP4-12C, built beside actual Formula 1 cars, uses carbon fibre for its chassis after aluminium proved a little too flexible for high-performance demands. Carbon fibre offered the stiffness and lightness needed, and once woven, layered, and infused with resin in an Austrian facility, a complete chassis, monocoque and all, can be produced in around four hours. After that come the crash structures, the hand-finished body panels, the paintwork, and a wiring system involving two kilometres of cabling. If nothing else, the documentary confirmed that engineering is an intricate mix of precision, creativity, and hoping nothing delaminates at the wrong moment.

Beyond supercars, we also explored domestic energy topics, including EPCs and the complex interplay of variables that determine a home’s efficiency. Tools for modelling improvements showed just how strongly insulation, heating choices, and ventilation influence annual energy use and overall rating. We also looked at research on using surplus solar PV energy to charge electric vehicles, a method that can significantly reduce costs and improve the return on renewable installations, especially in sunny, spacious regions, so perhaps not central Paris.

Electricity rounded out the module: circuits in series and parallel, resistance, voltage, current, and the usual parade of French scientists who apparently enjoyed experimenting with wires more than is reasonable. I also explored the OU’s online library, an excellent resource that does not require getting lost between the shelves, or having another student take out the exact book you need the week you need it.

Maths: triangles!

Mathematically speaking, November was a trigonometric journey. We revisited the unit circle, the relationships between sine, cosine and tangent, and the classic right-angled triangle before shifting into radians, sine and cosine rules, and the full family of angle-sum, angle-difference, double-angle and half-angle identities, blah blah blah. (Side note: I need to find someone who writes about maths well.) There were wave functions reminiscent of ECGs, and even the perimeter of Pac-Man using radians. Some of this was revision, some brand new, and all of it deeply committed to triangles. And I discovered a new personal nemesis in “derive this” questions.

Life goes on

Looking back on Month 2, I’m realising just how many skills I’ve already sharpened. I’m building competence in materials science, energy systems, circuit theory, and trigonometry (even if the “derive this” questions are still a personal attack). And the grades are reflecting the effort so far: recent assessments have come back looking pretty good, if I may say so myself. It’s reassuring to see the hard work paying off, even when it feels like my brain is a browser with too many tabs open.

But beyond the content, I’m developing far more: discipline, analytical thinking, reflective learning, time management under pressure, and the ability to absorb complex information while juggling two jobs and the occasional American holiday celebration. It’s been chaotic, challenging, and genuinely rewarding. If nothing else, this month proved that I’m capable of a lot more than I give myself credit for, and that I can thrive academically while balancing real life at full tilt.

Engineering may not always be graceful, but I’m moving forward with determination, curiosity, and a growing toolkit of skills that I’m pretty proud of.

Christmas is coming. Time to don the elf outfit. Plenty of triangles there.

What should I get my special angles table for Christmas? A pi! Hahaha. Ha.