...indicated they used MatLab, which made me feel like crap for buying Mathematica.

It turns out where he is going to school, all of the engineers (Chem, Mechanical, Electrical, Materials...etc...) need to take an introductory Matlab course, but his sub-discipline, if he sticks with it, will use Mathematica.

I'm not sure what's wrong, as I haven't looked at the code. It may be as simple as selecting roots in the three reals case, or more likely, something more serious. At least once it spit out a negative pressure.

I once programmed an HP calculator to solve the Van der Waal's equation, and it actually worked pretty well, but it took a long time and lots of debugging. The task is to learn about debugging.

and if you get a negative pressure that's where I would start looking.

...physical meaning, since it models both liquid and gas.

If we solve this one, I'm going to ask him to calculate the distribution between the phases.

And if it all can be done in the morning, I'm going to ask him to do the Span Wagner equation for carbon dioxide. It has, um, 51 variables if I recall correctly. No wonder he can't wait to leave home!!!

Just kidding.

One of the professors he's been interested in has done a lot of work on the use of supercritical fluids to deposit high quality crystals on surfaces, so I think this last exercise in "nerding out with Dad" might prove useful someday.

Thanks again for your advice.

Having your child go away to college is a bittersweet occasion...

Our oldest daughter went away and it was tough. That first year I really missed her. I felt physically sad, as well as emotionally...

I asked my brother if our parents missed me when I went away (they'd never said so) and he said of course they did.

This is a major step into young adulthood! I know you're proud of him too.

I think my wife would weep for weeks if he went farther away. She's shed a few tears already. She had the most to do with my sons becoming such fine young men, but she's going to be fine, since we can always drive there on a Saturday to share a meal and a conversation.

It's like you say, a little sad, but I'm very happy for him.

The school is wonderful, great people, good science, nice facilities, a beautiful setting, a dream school really. I joke that I'm living vicariously through him, but actually, it's a little more true than I care to admit.

I feel anxious for anyone starting an independent life in the Age of Trump, but if we are to survive as a nation, and in fact as a world, we will need fine well educated, well trained, people to pick up the pieces.

I have a feeling he'll build the strength to do his part. It's all a father can hope for.

Thank you for your kind words.

my baby moved out thursday. also an engineering major. (mechanical engineering). So far this has been very hard for me. I knew i was going to miss him, but i didn't know it was going to hit me this hard. I believe i need to find some new hobbies. Where college is your son attending?

She has been mostly a joy to parent, but sometimes a pain in the ass. She currently has a boyfriend who happens to be going to a community college near her university, and my ex and I are rather afraid that he will pull her off course into the abyss for a hard life lesson. Maybe it will be good eventually, but it is hard to watch. Best of luck with yours, hoping he will make smart choices that won't set him back years on end.

Last edited Sun Aug 20, 2017, 03:40 AM - Edit history (1)

...about how annoying we are. We've gone repeatedly over every detail of college life, work habits, library time, course selection...ad nauseum.

(My wife went to an inner city school when New York was bankrupt, and was poorly prepared for college life. My mother dropped out of high school after 9th grade, my father after 8th. Neither of us was well prepared for university life, but we survived.)

He's ready to go and I don't blame him for pushing back a little on our hover parenting style.

You can only go so far, as much as we'd like to have them learn from the benefit of our experience, they need to work life out for themselves.

I believe, I hope, my son will succeed, but nothing's guaranteed. We've done our best, and now it's up to him.

He's no longer a boy; he's a man, as your daughter is now a woman.

My son has been an outstanding student, in the top 10 out of more than 350 students; his best friend was the valedictorian, and 5 of the top ten - they didn't give us the absolute class ranking - are in a group of friends that's been getting together on Saturday nights for years. It is a hard working group of bright and committed kids, diverse and impassioned and fun; I'm impressed with all of them.

My son's being admitted as a sophomore based on his AP record and SATs.

I have repeatedly informed him - based on my own experience - that he will in classes with people all of whom have been as successful as he's been, and to his credit, he's been reading all summer about the technical subjects he'll take to prepare himself.

I worry though.

But I'm going to miss him, miss him enormously, but I'm going to do my damnedest to leave him alone. He's done nothing to make me doubt him, but if I'm wrong about how he'll do, I'll still love him enormously.

It's like the Bob Dylan line, "...there's no success like failure; and failure's no success at all."

I hope your daughter will do fine. She'll be with all new people, and she may see that problematic boyfriend in a completely different light than you worry about.

You appear to be a totally awesome parent! I can only hope to be as effective.