First, I want to talk about our professor Vassilios G. Agelidis  a little. He is the new ELEC3204 Power Electronics and Drives professor this year, at the University of Sydney. He is from Greece, graduated in Canada, then further studied in the US and here in Australia. I don’t remember all the details he talked about himself, but I do get the intention that he has a name in the field of power electronics engineering and education. I think he mentioned that he had a prize winning contribution to power electronics in the 90′s, and also, he has raised $1 million dollars in 3 years to build a new high-tech laboratory for us.

Professor Agelidis is absolutely different from any lecturer I have met before in this Uni. This man, in his own words, is ‘not a policeman in the room’, he is a friend. In the first lecture, the first thing he promised us was, everyone will pass, even if you fail. He really doesn’t care about the marks, he cares about the learning, the ‘Attitude’.

He doesn’t care if we don’t hand in our homework, because it is not his loss, it will be our loss of not getting the feedback from him. I agree, because as a uni student, getting the most out of your lecturers is really what we are doing and why we are here. It’s all about ‘Attitude’.

Today we had a vote in the lecture, to decide we should have an open book exam or a closed one. Most of us voted closed, so there we go, we will have a closed book exam.

He likes to use the phrase “Line of Attack” when it comes to learning attitude, I think what he means is that, when you study a certain degree, do not be limited to your own field of studies. Don’t think that you are a mechanical student, and electrical has nothing to do with you. Always be open to accept other content whether it’s relative to you or not. In the real world, the project you are getting is not necessarily the project you are good at, and it’s either you solve it, or you leave. So in this case, the “Line of Attack” can be thought as if you have at least some knowledge of the things you are not good at, and you are able to ask, research and solve it, then you can speak with confidence, and attack.

Later in the day, during the tutorial, professor Agelidis said this, “When you are attending a job interview, you must make sure of one thing – that you are not better than anybody else attending the interview – but, different.”

Yes, differnce makes all the difference!