About My Research

This site serves as a reflection of my graduate thesis work in automotive textile design at North Carolina State University.  I began this site in January 2009 and plan to maintain it until my graduation in December 2009.  I have been in the graduate program at the College of Textiles for 1 year of a 2 year program.  During this first year, I have focused on the automotive industry, design, and sustainability.  Now at the half-way point, I have selected my thesis topic and made plans as to how to approach my research so that my work is complete by October 2009.  In the right column of this blog, I have posted my personal timeline to ensure that I am meeting my deadlines.  Please take time to look through all the information included in the right hand column, especially if this is your first time visiting this site.

The purpose of this site is 3-fold.
1) Most scholars are only given 1 chance to write a thesis, and 2 years to learn how to do so.  Sure there are books on research methods and databases of theses to form a background or starting place for your work, but no one really explains to us exactly what this process is like from start to finish.
2) Over the past year, I have learned beyond my expectations about the automotive industry, past, current, and future.  Throughout my next year of study, I have access to resources that would be coveted by any designer in this industry and plan to uncover valuable correlations between design and success.  I will post many images and articles which I find the most enriching.
and 3) Writing my thoughts and progress where it is publicly available will encourage me to meet deadlines and provide a clear platform to keep my committee informed.

My Topic
I will be examining the history of automotive bodycloth development and aligning this with outside factors such as the economy, increase in mass production, increase in technical standards and regulations, the importance of fashion and color, along with what at this time is an unpredictable number of additional variables.  The ultimate question I aim to answer is if there is a concrete way to measure and predict success in order to save time, money, and resources.

11.01.2009

This is it.

I hope everyone who celebrates Halloween/All Saints' Day/Day of the Dead/Fall Festivities had a wonderful weekend! As well as those of you who do not celebrate this holiday. I always enjoy Halloween around campus because the exchange and international students, experiencing their first, are so excited to partake, take pictures, or just sit back and watch. For those of you who have had a chance to do this, I hope you enjoyed!

Well...THIS TUESDAY is my THESIS DEFENSE! I can't believe it! I have completed my presentation, with help from Nancy and a practice session. It was of course twice as long as it needs to be...but with focused editing, I should be able to make the 30-minute time frame.

And even more than that...THIS FRIDAY my THESIS IS DUE! Completely due (the almost final draft) to the thesis editor, who does not edit content but may help put on any finishing touches in preparation for publishing.

There is still much to be done:
Abstract
Works Cited and In-Text Citations
Figure Numbers
and the Committee Draft 2 and 3 edits

But: I think I can, I think I can.
I just can't believe the end is so near!

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1 comment:

  1. carolineNovember 2, 2009 at 7:05 AM

    CRAZY!!! you are almost DONE!!! GOOD LUCK with the home stretch and the defense!!!
    i miss you!
    ps. your halloween costume made my life! you're the BEST!!!
    xoxx
    c

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