David Hammond Capstone

Posted by David Hammond in CTE Senior Capstone · Kamal/Ugworji · Wed on Thursday, June 4, 2020 at 9:06 am

For my capstone, I wanted to use the engineering skills I’ve learned over the years to create a product that has an impact on our communities. This came in the form of a drone that assists firefighters in high priority responses, specifically with intel gathering and communication before anyone arrives on site. It was important that I researched every aspect of this project including drone mechanics, drone modification, thermal imaging, and firefighting protocol. I made sure I was talking with experts in different fields such as the manufacturer of the drone I was planning on using, a photographer who flies drones for a living, and a fire marshal. The final product is a dual intel gathering and communication system connected to a drone with a modified thermal camera, giving firefighters the essential information they need before they show up one site. I created a detailed conceptual design for my project with the plan of completing it over the summer.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BlNiBojTmLO0S4YjYemnKusUlW6E43ehC_pIvquhmsY/edit?usp=sharing

Advanced Essay #3

Posted by David Hammond in English 3 · Block/Harmon · Y Band on Wednesday, May 8, 2019 at 5:04 pm

There are many forms this illness can take, and it is irresponsible to suggest otherwise. There are many theories about what PTSD is and its effects on the people that suffer from it. However, some people in Eastern culture insist that this is not a viable diagnosis of the issue. Instead, they suggest that some peoples lives are simply worse than others, therefore it is their reality and not an extreme disorder. PTSD, however, is a real issue in all areas of the world, not simply a western invention to dramatize a situation. It eats away at a person, rips apart relationships, and can ruin lives when gone untreated. These all point towards a severe issue that demands immediate attention.
Many studies have been conducted about emotional trauma and the responses to these traumas. One of the most significant of these was done about implicit emotions that are not registered consciously. This study showed that we do not know about all of the damages our brain receives in high-stress situations. Psychologists Kirsten Ruys and Diedrick Stapel found in their study that “Humans do not need to be aware of the event that caused their mood or feelings in order to be affected by it… humans have evolved to respond quickly and unconsciously to stimuli, they should be able to react to an emotional event without full awareness.” With this new information, it can be concluded that trauma can be experienced without being fully comprehended. This would allow for surface level tests to come back inconclusive, leading people to believe there is no reason for a person to experience PTSD. However, this does not mean that a person doesn’t have PTSD, it simply means that the stressor is subconscious. This internal reaction could be fairly common in a culture where emotional expression is not very important, but it does not make the reaction any less valid or important than anywhere else in the world.
PTSD takes many forms and is caused by numerous factors. There are five specific types of PTSD widely accepted by the field of psychology, these include Victim-related trauma, Natural-disaster trauma, Survivor trauma, Perpetrator guilt, and PTSD not otherwise specified. All of these different sub-categories of the disorder are unique in their own ways and require different forms of treatment. One of the leading PTSD recovery facilities, Sunrise House, goes on to say, “People with PTSD might have some or all of the symptoms, but the PTSD they have might not be similar. Medical professionals believe these specific subtypes of PTSD impact people differently. Those subtypes need different treatments or therapies in order to get better.” These recovery centers recognize the causes of this disease and approach it accordingly. Places like Sunrise House’s purpose is to ensure that people there receive the treatment they deserve and serve to get people who have experienced extreme trauma back on their feet. Not only do countries in Eastern Culture deny the existence of PTSD but they deny the people suffering from it help. It’s estimated that 23% of people in Palestine suffer from some form of PTSD, however, due to the ignorance of people in positions of power, there is no way for them to get better. This seems more like government skirting responsibility than a made up disorder.
Recently the head of mental health for Palestine, Samah Jabr, has said that PTSD is a western concept. A large number of people in this country, whose psychological welfare Samah Jabr is supposed to be looking out for, are currently suffering from the illness she denies the existence of. Jabr was quoted saying, “A Palestinian in Gaza whose home was bombarded, the threat of having another bombardment is a very real one. It’s not imaginary… There is no ‘post’ because the trauma is repetitive and ongoing and continuous. I think we need to be authentic about our experiences and not to try to impose on ourselves experiences that are not ours.” The idea that there is no “post” in the situation she describes takes an extremely broad view. There may be a general threat in that area at the current time, but people are not under constant attack. If someone encounters a scenario, such as the one described, there is time before another similar experience would be had. Emotional trauma is registered very quickly after it is inflicted, causing the “post” part of PTSD to happen very quickly. People can start to suffer from PTSD as soon as they are away from what caused the trauma. Is it realistic to say that there is no way PTSD can be experienced if there is any possibility of that event occurring again? The answer is no, it isn’t.
PTSD is an illness that does not care what part of the world you are from. It creeps into the mind of anyone who has been through real trauma. It is not exclusive to one country or one demographic. It does not only affect a battered US veteran. PTSD is a real problem for countless people across a global population, and we can not continue to only serve people from one section of it. A greater effort must be put forward to address this problem and get help for the people who need it most.

Advanced Essay #2: Steer Clear of the Herd

Posted by David Hammond in English 3 · Block/Harmon · Y Band on Thursday, January 17, 2019 at 11:00 pm

Intro: This essay was written with the purpose of exploring the reasons behind group identity, and how I personally have tried to separate myself from that. I opened up a lot during this essay and talked about things that I normally would not want to talk about. However, since the the topic was so personal I felt a compulsion to speak openly and honestly. I definitely will run my next essay by more people and make the most out of the peer review phase.

Identity is an extremely powerful concept. People fight every day for their identity and their right to be themselves. However, there are other people that choose to stick with the heard and do not separate themselves as an individual. This is one of the biggest tragedies that can happen to someone. Everyone should be given the opportunity to grow as their own person and create their own set of values.

My parents have always had a huge impact on me. The way I speak, the way I present myself, and the opinions I have. However, it was very important to me to have my own opinions and my own thoughts, and not just regurgitate what my parents were saying. This happens most frequently in the realm of politics, which can make things a bit heated at times. My parents lean towards the left, and can sometimes add to the idea of having beliefs just based on party lines. So when I started to question some of the ideas that have always been presented to be in my household it wasn’t received very well. I’m not saying I’m a republican though, not even close, however, I wouldn’t vote for a reality TV personality if they decided to run on the Democratic ballot either. The ideals and values that I have about this make an impact on my identity.

These values are what makes up the majority of who we are. Kwame Anthony Appiah, author of The Lies That Bind, wrote that “having these ideas at hand will help us chart our way through religion, nation, race, class, and culture as sources of identity” (Appiah, 31). Being able to successfully sort through our identities is the only way we can truly be 100% ourselves. Appiah points out that in order to truly be confident in who we are we have to thoroughly investigate our values and how they tie together. This quote ties directly into my ability to differentiate my own opinions and ideas from my parents and be my own person. I was able to do this because I took the time to go through all of the sources of my identity. This is something everyone should be able to do in order to be more confident about the things that make them up.

There was one night where we were sitting in the living room and were watching the news. And there was a reporter that brought forward a point that was borderline conservative. As soon as the words left the woman’s mouth, my parents were going crazy. Immediately were upset and started to attack the point, as if trying to beat it out of existence. I was taken aback at first. I didn’t realize that it didn’t have anything to do with the actual point that was made but instead the side that was presenting the point. That didn’t sit well with me and I began to question why one side was automatically right, and the other didn't deserve to be listened to. This experience stuck with me whenever I was confronted with an idea that simply followed a group mentality.

A sense of personal identity is one of the greatest things someone can have. The ability to know who you are apart from everyone else is something that everyone should try to achieve. I have spent a majority of my recent years trying to become my own person, separate from the hurricane of ideas and beliefs swirling around me, and I believe I am better for it. It’s because of this firsthand that I believe separation from group identity is necessary.

Advanced Essay #1: Coaching Kills

Posted by David Hammond in English 3 · Block/Harmon · Y Band on Sunday, September 16, 2018 at 8:00 pm

Youth sports is at an all time low in participation, and is only projected to dip lower and lower. This is primarily due to the way coaches are taking kids' health into their own hands. I have been on the receiving end of a coaches irresponsibility, and I will share both my story and my thoughts on this unfortunate situation.

I showed up to the field, finally, about 10 minutes before the game started. This wasn’t good, seeing as how it was the first game of the fall season. I grabbed my bag and ran down to the cluster of fields below the parking lot. When I got there my coach looked somewhat relieved.

He clasped my shoulder and said, “You’re starting today.”

I looked at him with wide eyes and replied, “Sure coach, whatever you need.” From there, I had about 7 minutes to get ready to start the first game of the season. There were a handful of college scouts behind the dugout waiting to watch the game, to see who they would recruit in the future. After I threw a little and got somewhat loose we had to take the field. I felt alright, but I took my time with my warmup pitches just to be cautious.

However, as soon as the game started, the pressure of the college coaches started to reach me. I felt like I had to throw the ball through the catcher's glove in order to impress. This extra exertion only wore me down quicker. During the third inning, I could tell that I was starting to fade. My mechanics were getting sloppy, but I couldn’t tell my coach. Then the worst thing that could happen happened. I went into motion, whipped my arm forward, and released the ball. I could feel tingles start in my elbow and slowly crawl towards my fingertips. My arm felt like it was on fire. Everything slowed down, and I knew it was bad. It’s amazing the impact one pitch can have on your entire trajectory.

Unfortunately this is the way of youth sports nowadays. Overuse is one of the most common reasons for serious sports injuries, and it isn’t going to stop anytime soon. Many coaches of youth teams prioritize winning over player development and health. My coach made the decision to start me and try to put the team at an advantage, but put my health and safety at a disadvantage. This is a problem that starts and ends with coaches caring about their players. It is the responsibility of the adult managing the children, however this power of coach is often abused, and the kids pay the price.

Another reason that is causing these serious youth sports injuries is the unnecessary competitiveness from youth coaches. Once you get to a high enough level in your sport coaches will do anything to win and gain some recognition for themselves. I have been on the receiving end of this competitiveness, and it stunted my growth as a player.

If these coaches can not find a balance between winning and developing youth players. Unfortunately the only way to make this happen would be to enforce even more regulations into these games. This is a shame as it doesn’t allow the kids to just play the sports they love to play, but it is necessary if coaches do not change their actions on the field.

Final Print

Posted by David Hammond in Art - Freshman · Hull · c1 Band on Wednesday, June 14, 2017 at 9:56 pm

My element is Uranium. Its atomic number is 92. Uranium was found by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, who named the new element after the planet Uranus. In 1939, the first proven nuclear fission was performed in Germany. The nuclear fission of uranium resulted in the first nuclear explosion at the Trinity test site in New Mexico in July 1945. Uranium is also used by the military to power nuclear submarines and in nuclear weapons. Depleted uranium is a dense metal that can be used as ballast for ships and counterweights for aircraft. It is also used a lot in creating nuclear fuel. It is also used in ammunition and armour. I got the idea for the glass pretty easily. Uranium glass is very popular. It to me was a reminder that this element can create something extremely beautiful as well. The explosion coming out of the glass was due to the fact that countries learned how to exploit uranium, and turn it into a weapon of mass destruction. The reason why there is a second bomb is a little less obvious, this is because there were two bombs dropped on japan in 1945. I wanted to put this in here because it was really when people saw just how dangerous uranium could be. The last image is the planet in the top right corner. This is because the element was named after the planet. I started of the process by sketching some ideas of how I wanted to present my element. I the chose the sketch that I liked best and traced it as a final sketch. With my final sketch I traced it onto the foam we were using to print. I had to make sure it was backwards so that when I printed it it would come out with the correct orientation. The I took a roller and put paint on it. I then rolled the roller over my foam drawing. We made sure it was 4 by 6 inches and centered in the 6 by 8 matt. Next time I would definitely take more time to print, so that it would come out neater. If I would have done this it would have taken me less tries to get it right. What part of the project did you enjoy the most? Describe the step and what you liked so much about it. The part of the project that I enjoyed the most was drawing my ideas down. I just think that it is so important to make sure that your ideas are fleshed out as much as possible before you move on the the next step. I loved that we had so much freedom in these first steps.

Final Stamp Design

Posted by David Hammond in Art - Freshman · Hull · c1 Band on Tuesday, May 16, 2017 at 10:46 am

Our class spent most of the fourth quarter learning about positive and negative space. In this assignment we were asked to create a stamp that represented us best. The first thing in my stamp that is important to me is baseball. This is represented by the baseball. I have been playing this sport for as long as I can remember, and it has helped shape who I am today. The second image, is the hat. Hats are very important to my sense of fashion, and has become a part of me. The last image is actually the hat and ball together. This symbolizes unity and togetherness. These are two of my most important values. I wanted to represent that by leaving no space in between them. All of these things shape who I am today, I wouldn't be the same without them.

Negative Space Reflection

Posted by David Hammond in Art - Freshman · Hull · c1 Band on Tuesday, May 16, 2017 at 10:39 am

Negative space is the space around and between the subjects of an image. Negative space may be most evident when the space around a subject, forms an interesting or artistically relevant shape. Such space occasionally is used to as the subject of an image.

I found negative space by, first, cutting everything out. Then I took the background and the wing of the owl, and flipped them to the other side. This created a coherent image. The positive space is the purple, and the negative space is the black.

Seeing in negative space can help an artist make the image focused on one thing. Negative space can be helpful for making the subject a specific size or distance away. It can also allow for a more interesting design.

Yes, negative space does enhance the drawing. This is because without negative space there would be no subject. Without a subject the piece would have no meaning. Also negative space makes the image clearer.

Printmaking

Posted by David Hammond in Art - Freshman · Hull · c1 Band on Thursday, April 27, 2017 at 8:45 am

Printmaking is a form of art that dates back to 105 CE, in china. It was made possible by the invention of paper, which the chinese are credited with. Relief printing appeared in Europe in the 15th Century. Even though the form had been around for over 1000 years this is when artists really started to pay attention to it, because it was "mainstream" now. Engraving/etching were the first forms of printmaking. Printmaking has only been advancing since it was invented. With new forms being created up until the late 1900's. Japan was actually the first country to create colored printmaking, even though it had been around for 100's of years. The form only got more popular as time progressed.
To create a print you must carve the picture or design onto a plate or block, and then stamp them into a surface. The main reason printmaking is important is because of the different processes that are involved in creating a print through printmaking. Some of the reasons why printmaking was revolutionary was the fact that you could now mass produce prints that you create. You could also now create text print fonts and you could keep them. And finally the prints that you create could now be put together to make a coherent larger image.

This image was extremely interesting to me because of the amount of detail put into the print without making it seem like too much. To me the warped curves of the painting really highlight the angst and confusion that the artist is trying to display. I like the fact that there are many lines going in one direction, but then that pattern is broken very abruptly. The landscape in the background also is incredibly detailed.

New slide. Similar me.

Posted by David Hammond in Technology - Freshman · Hull · c2 Band on Friday, December 23, 2016 at 9:19 pm

In tech class I learned so much and my classmates gave a lot of great advice. Through my research i learned the inner workings of modern advertising. I learned how to take a slide and turn it into something more than that. I've also learned how to take criticism better and you kinda need to be able to do that for this project.

The biggest change that I made to my slide was that i realized that it wasn't all about me and it was about making the best advertisement. I combined this with some knew placing of my pictures and badabing badaboom, my knew slide.

Research was very very important in this project. If you didn't make good enough research, well, good luck to you. This was a situation where if you didn't do research you had nothing to explain your slide with. And that just makes you look unprepared.

This project really made me realize how much i need to put into both big and small projects.

This is real This is me

Posted by David Hammond in Technology - Freshman · Hull · c2 Band on Friday, December 2, 2016 at 10:32 am

This is what I am all jammed into one slide. The white background shows shows that on the outside there is always something good, but with every good side there is a slightly darker side. Some darker than others. I wanted to really emphasize this with my color scheme and point out what I do with my life. I also wanted to leave a lot of empty space because it really emphasises the things that I did put in. The tone of my presentation is black and white with the exception of the guitar because that is the actual color way and model of my guitar. Black and white is one of my favorite color scheme because it really POPS. I only decided to include the things that are my passions, because I didn’t want that extra stuff crowding the slide.

My Tech Work

Posted by David Hammond in Technology - Freshman · Hull · c2 Band on Friday, October 14, 2016 at 8:46 pm

1) The devices on my LAN are my phone, my brothers ipod, my ipad, my mom's phone, my dad's phone and my two computers.

2) The one thing that I learned that was pretty crazy was packets on the internet. How anything that the internet receives and sends out are packets. Literally everything on the www is a packet.

3) One thing that people need to know about having a home network is security. Security is probably the most important thing. If you don't have good security then anyone with basic computer knowledge can latch onto your network.