Prem Patel's Blog!
Sharing my thoughts on engineering and other cool stuff.
Sharing my thoughts on engineering and other cool stuff.
June 09, 2025
This is a drive of useful resources for engineering students (specifically civil, but other streams will also find this helpful) at the University of Sydney.
This drive was originally compiled for the ENGO mentoring program. It was shared to me by Jonathan Lee, so all credit goes to him. However, I will continue to update the folder as more resources come out.
Included in the folder:
Here is the folder link: ENGG Mentoring Resources
Note: you must be logged into your USYD account (@uni.sydney.edu.au) to access the OneDrive. The reason for this is some of the material belongs to USYD and thus cannot be shared with entities outside of the organisation.
PS: If you have any resources that you think would be helpful to new students/current students and that should be in the folder, feel free to send me an email and I'll add them in.
By Prem Patel at June 09, 2025
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Tags: USYD students
April 17, 2025
So the University of Sydney held a bridge building competition for mainly 1st year undergraduate students. Here's how we won.
Firstly, the aim of the competition was to create the longest bridge that could support the weight of a stack of tape. Hence, this was NOT a strength-based bridge competition. This was basically why we won. Many other groups made bridges that were structurally sound (relatively), but were simply not at long as ours.
My team's approach was to use tape as the bridge. We came to this conclusion based on the materials we were provided. We were given paddle-pop sticks, sticky tape, blu tack, a few thick rubber bands, and 2 Styrofoam balls. Obviously, this means any of the traditional bridges one would build for a competition like this were not feasible. The lack of notching meant that the joints of a Howe or Pratt truss, for example, would simply be too weak. Plus, given this was a length-based competition, a Pratt or Howe truss would take far too many paddle-pop sticks to create a bridge of length.
So this tape bridge was first tested by simply taping between two tables. 2 parallel lengths of tape were used, with a paddle-pop stick platform in the middle to hold the 2 pieces of tape adjacent and for the stack of tape used as weights to sit on.
However, we could not stick the ends of the tape bridge to the actual table (ie. the bridge had to be freely movable). But we did know that to test the bridge, both ends would be placed on a small table. Hence, we could use an 'anchor' to hold the bridge from the opposite end of the table:
The orange circles represent anchors made from paddle-pop sticks sticking out of the 2 styrofoam balls. This was further secured using the thick rubber bands
And so there was a fair amount of tension in the bridge, but it was not physically glued/stuck onto any surface. This was the winning build.
By Prem Patel at April 17, 2025
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Tags: Personal
March 10, 2025
Will AI take over the civil engineering industry in the next 50 years? No. It will not.
Well, it depends what is meant by "take over". Will civil engineers have their jobs replaced by AI? No. Will civil engineers begin to use AI in their daily workflow? Most definitely, yes. Many have probably started using AI to run rudimentary calculations already. But this idea of using AI as a "tool" will become prevalent on every industry on planet earth; from medicine to politics.
However, when it comes to replacing the jobs of actual civil engineers, AI (as we know it) is a long, long way away. Here's why:
If I were the guess which professions are genuinely at risk from AI in the next 50 years, I would guess lawyers, software developers, and analysts. Engineers, and especially civil engineers (the most physical of the engineering disciplines) are a long way away from being replaced by AI.
So sleep well tonight :)
By Prem Patel at March 10, 2025
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Tags: Digital Technology
March 03, 2025
In honour of finally starting my civil engineering degree, I am writing a post on what I believe is the best way to study and note-take as a student. Although this is focused around university, this principles in this system can be applied to real work.
Firstly, this is a no-nonsense system. You will not see any fancy note-taking apps, no fancy note taking strategies or elaborate systems of revision. This entire system is made up of the basics which work. This system is an amalgamation of what has worked for me and what I have seen work for other, very academically successful students.
Now, notes should be written in abbreviations. Replace 'addition' with 'add'. Replace 'and' with '+'. Replace 'because' with 'bc'. This way you have time to write down the more important information, like technical jargon and equations.
Furthermore, use a different colour pen/highlighter to note topics you don't fully understand. For example, if a new term is used, highlight it. Later, review these highlights, and deepen your knowledge by either asking your teacher for clarification or using the internet/online resources. It is crucial this step is completed before the next step below.
The only scenario where hand-written notes are not possible is during programming classes. In this case, notes can be taken via comments in the script.
Obsidian is the single best markdown text editor that is available completely for free, and obsidian sync can either be paid for or set up for free using a service like Syncthing. For those who study subject that rely on markdown for note-taking, like programming or computer science, this is the best option. For less tech-intensive studies, Onenote is the best. It has almost unlimited features, supports handwritten writing, includes syncing, is available for free with student signups and is created and maintained by a reputable and respectable company.
These notes should be typed up based on your lecture and tutorial notes. This also ensures you are revising every lecture/tutorial frequently. I usually do this at home after a day of classes.
Notes should be compiled periodically after lessons, and once the lesson content is fully understood. This compiled notebook serves as a neat display of the main course information and is our main source for exam revision. Note, since this notebook is being used for exam revision, it should ONLY contain the KEY content of the course and should be as minimalist as possible. Practice problems should be done elsewhere. This allows the course content to be reviewed anytime and anywhere; whether your on public transport, eating, or on the toilet.
Finally, make sure to make use of diagrams, tables, equations and code blocks. All of these are features available in Onenote, and flowcharts can be drawn using the built-in drawing feature. This reduces text clutter and organizes information based on subtopics better.
That is it! You now have personalized notes for all your courses in a single place, ready for revision!
By Prem Patel at March 03, 2025
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Tags: USYD students
February 04, 2025
I believe being told to follow your passion is truly horrible advice.
This occurred to me, surprisingly, in a weightlifting context. In weightlifting, and probably every other sport in the world, there are many people who are "passionate" about training. However, they simply do not have the genetic potential or circumstance to actually become international level competitors who can make a living from Olympic weightlifting/playing their sport. As a result, they spend their foundational years training and end up with no qualifications/real work experience, meaning they have to work relatively low paying jobs with no career progression.
This brings me to the fundamental problem of "following your passion". You cannot tell someone to follow their "passion" if you don't know what they're passionate about! Unfortunately, there is a LOT of young people passionate about sport, yet only a very, VERY select few of them will ever make a living playing sport. Similarly, following your passion for gender studies or personal training simply isn't going to make you happy in the long run. Trust me, personal training sounds nice until you have to work with horrible managers and gyms whilst barely being paid 40k a year.
Think of it this way. People only like things they are good at. But to be good at something, you have to start of by being bad at it:
You do something you hate -> you get good at it -> then you begin to enjoy it
Furthermore, when people follow their passion, they miss out on opportunities they didn't even know existed. For example, in Australia, there are plenty of high paying jobs in mining engineering, the skilled trades, or in healthcare, that people don't even know exist because they haven't put in the right research (and some of these qualifications are relatively easy to get).
Hence, my final point. Don't follow your passion, follow opportunity.
- Prem
By Prem Patel at February 04, 2025
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