Isabella Cline

Mrs. Bagley
Intern Mentor
14 December 2015
Annotated Source List
"APL Part of International Team Expanding Space Weather Radar Network." Johns
Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Johns Hopkins University Applied
Physics Laboratory, n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <http://www.jhuapl.edu/>.
The APL website is a website that offers lots of information on current events in the engineering
field. The site offers students possible high school and college internships. The actual site can
only be accessed through APL itself. Through that website, one has access to cooler, APLs
social network. Cooler has upcoming APL events and competitions. It is also a place where APL
employees ask other employees for help on projects pertaining to their work or just for fun. In
addition the site has a map of the different parts of Central Spark. The parts include Central Park,
Central Spark, and the Media room. The site also has articles on everything about engineering
topics such as radars.
This website has been a great resource for me. I have used it to learn about APL and the
additional opportunities that they offer. The site is so large, yet in depth. I will definitely
continue to use this source throughout my internship.
Battles, Chris (2015, September 23). Project manager, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics
Laboratory
Battles presents the government with different defense system options. He is also my officemate
at APL. He has shared his journey to become an engineer with me. He had a couple internships
that eliminated careers he did not have a passion for. He majored in Mechanical Engineering in
college. He said that studying engineering in college taught him three things, How to problem
solve, how to learn, and how to work hard. Battles has been a useful resourceful when I have a
question and my mentor is not around.
Bonk, Mary. "Electrical and Electronics Engineer." Career Information Center 6.9 (2005): n.
pag. Print.
Electrical and Electronics Engineers described what engineers do. They are concerned with the
production and use of electricity and are members of the largest branch of engineering. The field
is based on scientific knowledge of electrons, magnetic fields, and electric fields. They have the
same purpose as all engineers and that is to solve a wide range of problems. There are two
branches of the profession of electrical and electronics engineering. Those branches are electric
power and electronics. Engineers specializing in electric power are involved in the creation of

electricity at generating stations, while electronics engineers deal with relatively small amounts
of electricity. Electronic engineers work with electronics such as computers, radars, telephone
systems, missile guidance systems, and consumer goods like televisions and stereo equipment.
Both types of engineers work in a vast range of jobs, such as research, development, and design,
as well as construction or production. State and federal government as well as private industries
employ most engineers. To be an electrical engineer you need at least a bachelors degree in
electrical engineering and for certain jobs in research or teaching require that you have a
masters or doctoral degree. Employment for electrical engineers looks great since there is a
great demand for improvements in computers and communications systems. Work environments
for electrical and electronics engineers vary and they usually work at least forty hours a week.
Engineers must work well in teams and be able to communicate their ideas to others. They also
should have an aptitude in science and mathematics and like solving problems. Starting salaries
for electrical and electronics engineering are the following: Bachelors degree- $45,200 a year,
masters degree- $57,200 a year, doctoral degree- $70,800 a year, and the average starting salary
is $56,820 a year. Benefits usually include paid holidays and vacations, health insurance, and
pension plans.
This article was very informative. Since my mentor is an electrical engineer this article gave me
some insight as to what electrical engineers do and the requirements to become one. They broke
down the career of electrical and electronics engineering so I knew what they do, how much they
generally make, where they work, the outlook for the profession in the future, working
conditions, and what kind of education I need to have in order to get the job. However, the article
is quite old, it was published in 2005, but the information is still relevant looking at how the
world today is obsessed with electronics. I would definitely refer back to this article because it is
written so I can understand what they are saying and gives me a brief but useful summary of the
field of electrical and electronics engineering.
- - -. "Careers in Mechanical Engineering." Black Collegian (1993): 88. Professional Collection.
Web. 18 Sept. 2014.

Careers in Mechanical Engineering discusses the field of mechanical engineering. The article
talks about all of the different jobs held by mechanical engineers and how to prepare for the
engineering career. The article gave tips like gain engineering work experience while in school,
investigate cooperative work opportunities or summer employment, and join professional
organizations as a student member. Other advice was to find a mentor when you start working
and find out how he or she got to his or her position. Also live a balanced life, a can-do
attitude, learn the principles of teamwork, and stay alert and involved.
This article is helpful for me because it gives me advice on what I have to do to become a
successful engineer. The article really describes mechanical engineering and many jobs that are
held by them.
"Computer Science and Electrical Engineering." World of Computer Science (2007): n. pag.
Science in Context. Web. 18 Sept. 2014.
Computer science and electrical engineering talks bout how engineering prior to the eighteenth
century applied mostly to the military domain and at the of the century different branches of

engineering emerged such as civil engineering, software engineering, and genetic engineering.
Electrical engineering arose in the nineteenth century thanks to Thomas Edison, George
Westinghouse, and Nikola Tesla. These pioneers developed a way electricity could be efficiently
produced, distributed, and used. During that time period electrical engineers did more of what
power engineering. The Industrial production in the twentieth century quickly evolved electrical
engineering and computer science. The article then went into how electrical and computer
science is taught in colleges and universities. Computer science is split into two departments in
college, theoretical computer and computer engineering. Today electrical engineering is more
concerned with building integrated circuits or with telecommunications. Today computer
engineering is concerned with computer architecture and the construction of computing devices.
This article was helpful because it discussed different fields of engineering like power
engineering, electrical engineering, and computer engineering. The history of engineering itself
was helpful. It was also interesting to see how some of the branches of engineering began.
"Creating Apps with Graphical User Interfaces in MATLAB." MathWorks. N.p., n.d.
Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <http://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/
?requestedDomain=www.mathworks.com>.
The Matlab site has many tutorials to teach people how to use Matlab. Matlab stands for Matrix
Laboratory. The tutorials are a step-by-step guide on how to do certain tasks. I am currently
using the site to learn how to create a Graphical User Interface (GUI). The site walked me
through how to create an axes, push buttons, and static text. It also walked me through how to
implement ones code into the GUI code and make the code portray the graphs that the user
wants. The Matlab site also has a help section where people can ask questions pertaining to
Matlab and the site has technical support people answer the questions in a timely fashion. People
can also call the Matlab help desk to ask questions. The Matlab also gives free thirty day trials of
Matlab, which allows people to use all of the functions of Matlab for free for a month. In
addition the site makes sure Matlab is compatible with Mac and PC computers.
This site has been my primary source for learning Matlab and learning certain codes. I will
definitely continue to use this source for the duration of my internship as well as in the future. It
is user friendly and it has a plethora of information.
Edde, Byron. Radar Principles, Technology, Applications. Englewood Cliffs: PTR Prentice Hall,
1993. Print.
The book teaches different radar concepts and has visuals that explain those concepts. It also
contains equations that can be used to determine the distance of a target, the gain released by a
signal, or the strength of the received signal. The book dissects every equation by defining every
variable into an understandable language. In addition, there are examples of code that can be
used to program radars as well as interpret data from radars. The book has an appendix, which
makes it easier to navigate the book for specific terms. This book is great at teaching information
in a way that is simple to understand and digest.
This book is useful because it has a cornucopia of information on radars. The book explains the

information in a simplified way. The diagrams of the concepts improve my understanding

because it is another way of displaying the information. However, I would appreciate a source
that is more concise when discussing radars because this book was extensive.
Gonzalez, Aleyda. "Electrical Engineering." Gale Encyclopedia of Science (2014): n. pag. Print.
Electrical Engineering is similar to Electrical and Electronics Engineers; it describes what
electrical engineers do. They specialize in the study and application of electricity,
electromagnetism, and electromechanical devices. Electrical engineers work in many
environments such as power generation plants and laboratories where they design specialized
electronics. The article talks briefly about the history of electrical engineers. It arose in the late
1800s and was greatly influenced by pioneers like Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and
Nikola Tesla. These pioneers of electrical engineering created ways electricity could be
efficiently produced, distributed, and used. The increase in industrial production in the twentieth
century was due to the pioneers and advances in electrical engineering. Modern electrical
engineers deal with design and operation of systems that generate and use electrical signals and
power. Mathematics is crucial to describe different theories and principles utilized in electrical
engineering. Electrical engineers must be able to use mathematical models and equations to solve
complex problems. Other fields are also important to electrical engineering and those include
biology, chemistry, and physics. Those other fields are necessary to understand the concepts of
energy transformation and the role electrical energy plays in various systems. The demand for
electronics is increasing, but the supply of electrical engineers is extremely low. Making devices
that are faster, smaller, and more efficient are the key challenges for electrical engineers.
This article was quite helpful, like Electrical and Electronics Engineers it told me what
electrical engineers. The article gave me brief history on electrical engineers. The article is up to
date, published in 2014. There is not a lot of information in this article, I wish there was more in
depth information.
"How Radar Works." Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology. Commonwealth of
Australia, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2015.
How Radar Works defines the RADAR acronym, which is Radio Detecting And Ranging. The
article also explains the science behind radars that enable them to operate. Radar send an
electromagnetic wave, usually microwaves or radio waves, through an antenna. The signal would
be sent into the atmosphere in hopes of reflecting off a target and back to the antenna. The article
produces a diagram of a radar and lists the components necessary to build one. Some of the
components mentioned are the transmitter, which sends the signal through the antenna, the
transmit/receive switch, which tells the antenna when to transmit and when to receive the pulses,
and the receiver, which detects, amplifies, and transforms the received signals into video format..
The reader is also given a brief history lesson on the radar and is educated on key terms such as
reflectivity and the Doppler effect. There are also many pictures to illustrate radar concepts.
This article was helpful to me because it gave me basic understanding of how radars functioned
and the different parts that allow them to operate. The article also gave me good visual
representation of what the inside of a radar looks like. This was definitely a good starting place

to conduct my research on radars.

"How Radar Works." Institute for Geophysics. Institute for Geophysics, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2015.
How Radar Works teaches the reader how a radar operates as well as the different types of
radars such as SONAR, LIDAR, and RADAR. There are also different types of electromagnetic
waves that are used to send a signal from the radar. Wavelengths, microwaves, and frequencies
are discussed. A radar diagram is displayed with all of the parts labeled. The article defines pulse
width, bandwidth, pulse repetition time, and pulse repetition frequency. Another diagram
displays some of the mentioned terms along with what the terms look like in the math language.
There is also a diagram that displays the complete process of a radar sending out a signal, the
signal reflecting off of the object and coming back to the radar to be later analyzed.
This article was helpful because I learned new vocabulary terms and new concepts that are use in
the assembling and function of radars. I thought this article gave me visuals that I could use to
get a better understanding of radars.
Kwon, Esther (2015, September 8). Electrical Engineer, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics
Laboratory
Kwon has worked at APL for over 20 years. She has a Bachelors degree in Science form the
University of Maryland and a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
Kwon is currently working on bringing new capabilities to the U.S. Navy. Kwon has helped me
learn MATLAB by showing me different functions and operations. Kwon has given me two
books on radars as resources. She has been a good resource for my questions on MATLAB.
Kwon has also discussed her engineering experience with me. Shes told me about her
uncertainty in choosing a career. When she was in college she learned about engineering and
became interested in the field. Kwon has also assigned me a task to create a target generator
using MATLAB.
Mahafza, Bassem R. Radar Systems Analysis and Design Using MATLAB. 2nd ed. Boca
Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis Group, 2005. Print.
This book discusses radar operation in fine detail. Different radar concepts and key terms are
explained and diagramed. Such radar concepts include antenna gain, the strength of a radar
signal based on the angle of the radar. It also discusses the different types of antennas such as an
isotropic antenna, which is equally sensitive to signals in all directions. The formula for the
signal to noise (S/N) ratio of radars is also shown, which is S/N=PR/PN. The book defines what a
S/N ratio is and analyzes the parts of its formula. Other terms such as a pulse train, pulse width,
and pulse frequency are defined and diagramed. The book displays diagrams of radars in order to
show how they work an its different parts. Some of the parts include a transmitter and a receiver;
a transmitter sends out the signal through the antenna while a receiver receives the signal that
bounced off of a target.
I use this book frequently and I have been using it lately for my project. I used the book to help
me determine the signal to noise ratio of a target I coded on MATLAB. The book broke down

the different parts of the signal to noise ratio formula and gave me the values I needed to for the
MATLAB code. The book has also been a good resource for me. It has helped me learn about
radars in deeper detail. I have learned many new terms and concepts because of this book. I do
believe this is a source I will use throughout the duration of my internship because it has a
cornucopia of information.
Rzemien, Russ (2015, September 23). Group supervisor, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics
Laboratory
Rzemien has been a useful resource for learning about radars. He has taught me about different
Radar concepts such as Doppler shift, mixing frequencies, and refraction. Doppler shift is the
changing of pitch due to the movement of the object. Movement of an object causes the
wavelengths to bunch together which causes the high pitch when the object is coming towards a
person. The pitch decreases when the object is moving away from a person because the
wavelengths are no longer bunched together. Rzemien also taught me about key radar terms such
as microwaves, pulse train, and pulse frequency to name a few. He also used real world
examples to explain concepts and terms. He has also been a useful resource when I have had
questions on radars.
?epanovi?, Danilo. "6.094 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB." 2010. File last modified
on 2010. PDF file.
I used this source to learn how to use MATLAB (Matrix Laboratory). MATLAB is a
programming software that can be used to write codes and display data in various ways. From
this tutorial I have learned how to define variables and then use those variables to write a matrix
or use in a function. I have also learned some short cuts for when I write equations or codes.
Scripts were also taught in order to use the same code repeatedly without writing it every time.
Along with the tutorial are exercises I can do to practice what I have learned and implement it
into MATLAB.
This tutorial has been quite helpful. There are several different lectures in the tutorial, but this
first lecture has helped me learn the basics. I feel more comfortable with MATLAB, but I
definitely need to read more lectures and practice on MATLAB itself.
"What Is Radar?" New Jersey Audubon. New Jersey Audubon, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2015.
What Is Radar defines what radar is and what it does. It discusses new types of radars such as
NEXt generation RADar, which refers to the nationwide network of Doppler radar sites. This
article gives the different phases of radar, from beginning to end. In addition, the article
discusses the three pieces of information needed to determine the location of a target, which are
the azimuth angle, the elevation angle, and the distance. There are also diagrams displaying the
three pieces of information. The article has the different equations to determine the distance of
the target as well as its velocity.
This article was helpful because there were a lot of diagrams that visually explained what the
article was discussing. There was also new terminology such as azimuth angle. This article

analyzed the science and physics behind radars more than the other articles, which helped me
better understand radars in a different way.