Okay, I'll just write down a couple of things that happened recently.
First of all, we had this "vehicle project". Over Christmas break we had to create a series of concepts of a vehicle, that can drive on land, fly and or swim. That was the first project where we had to actually be creative. All previous tasks required us to find a reference and re-create it digitally or on paper, while this one allowed to think completely freely. It is a nice change from constant drawing of rel life objects, I think. To learn from observation is very important, but you also have to let your own ideas out once in a while. I hope we'll have this type of projects more often.

As for my own concepts, I just decided to create a vehicle with wheels that can change into vtol propellers. I experimented with shapes and forms of the silhouettes at first, and came up with a 1950's sports car with strange futuristic wheels. It looks a bit funny, as you can see from the picture.

Another interesting thing happened today. There was a lecture about flight training and simulation (thanks, Mike!).  I've seen some footage of these simulations before, and always wondered why does the graphics always suck? I mean, flight simulators are being used mainly by the military, and they  usually have cutting-edge technology. A lot of modern technology that we use every day, including computers and the internet were originally developed for military purposes. So what's with the awful graphics?
After speaking with the lecturer from the Royal Aeronautical Society, it all came clear. He admitted, that comparing to video games visuals of the simulations suck, but not because military lacks computational power or something like that. If you take a look at the games industry, you'll notice that graphics are constantly updated, because new products are being constantly developed. But, when military or civil aviation wants to by a simulator, they see it as a long-term investment. A simulation machine costs a lot, and it is used over the period of 5-20 years. On top of that, software and hardware is being updated only once in 5-10 years. No wonder why visual component of the simulation looks like something from the past.
Well, another mystery solved.