Digital Making -Spring 2022

Going into this class, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. When making the course selection, I read the short description that course explorer had on its website and thought it seemed to be a fun change in pace from my traditional accounting classes. Although very different from my initial expectations, this class introduced me to many new concepts and gave me the chance to explore a completely new field. For example, prior to the class, I had never got the chance to look into 3D printing, circuits, coding, or even visit the new Siebel Center.

Within the first few weeks of this course, we got the chance to explore Fusion 360 and its ability to help us create things in a 3D space. I really enjoyed this section of the course as I am someone who loves art and drawing. I saw this space as another canvas but with the potential to become a tangible object. When signing up for the course, I really just wanted to explore my interest in 3D printing. However, this course taught me that there is so much more you can do with 3D printing than a creative outlet. I learned that many use 3D printing as a great way for rapid prototyping. Additionally, I found it really cool that our society is currently looking into 3D printing food and medical instruments. I realized how versatile this knowledge can be. 

Moving forward, we began our first coding project – the light-sensitive LED. That was the first time I even touched a breadboard and an Arduino UNO. There was definitely a learning curve during this section of the course but seeing the LED light-up or fade when you expose/eliminate a light source was super exciting to me.

This then brings us to the last 10 weeks of the course where we got split up into our project groups to work on our final project. Our team, IllinMakers, decided to create a people counting device to help MTD gain a better understanding of how many people take certain routes to better optimize MTD bus routes. Similar to the light-sensitive LED, this project definitely came with a learning curve as our project is very code-heavy. This was my first time working with different programming languages, such as C++, JavaScript, and HTML, and various hardwares such as Arduino UNO and Photon Particle. Despite these challenges, I came out of this class expanding my skillsets into territories I never thought I would get the opportunity to experience and I found this class to be a very good learning experience. I also got to work with amazing teammates that have supported me throughout this course.

Another thing that I really enjoyed about this course is the guest speakers we had. One that really stood out to me was the one on Ideation Process. During that presentation, we got to learn about good surveying tips, how to ask the right questions, different frameworks, and how to effectively brainstorm. I found this very interesting as this is something that I also got to learn about in my internship. This connection made this knowledge very real and is definitely something I will take forth into my professional career. 

Not only did this course help me work on my hard skills, but it also provided me an opportunity to expand upon my soft skills such as teamwork, communication, and problem-solving. I believe these are all skills that I can apply to any “real world” work setting. In addition to the soft skills, I think this was a great opportunity to explore a completely different major. I am an Accounting and IS major. From the moment I entered college, I was very set on my path to enter the business world through accounting. Although I am very grateful for these four years as it has helped me gain a good grasp on the accounting realm, it left me very little room to explore different options. In the end, I am still glad I stuck with accounting but it has enhanced my respect and admiration for engineers now knowing how difficult it can be. 

In my professional career, I plan to enter the internal audit consulting realm. Although this field will most likely not utilize coding or wiring, I believe that the soft skills I got to build upon will help me greatly in my future career path. Furthermore, the resources and projects in this class are something very unique to BADM 357 within the Gies College of Business. If I were to enter the recruiting process, I think this experience would provide a great story to tell.

If I got the opportunity to do this course again, one mistake that I would avoid is not taking advantage of the time provided. When I first started the project, I thought I had an ample amount of time to finish everything. However, I failed to realize that these hands-on projects are very different from the cases I am used to in my other classes and things sometimes do not go the way you want them to. For example, I thought printing the box was gonna take one week max. However, we ran into a lot of issues such as failed 3D prints, open times for shops were different from what was posted online or they didn’t align with our schedule, etc. Therefore, moving forward, I would like to adopt the mindset of completing everything early – no matter how much time you think you have, unforeseen circumstances can happen and by completing things ahead of time I will still be able to the deadline.

 — Christine Xu

The description of this course explains that the purpose of this course is to gain the ability to create functional products on your desktops using really cool tools and technologies. With how technologically advanced society is becoming, it is important we keep up with these trends to make sure we have an understanding on the continuous innovation of technology. I have always been intrigued by 3D scanning, modeling, and printing but I never had any legitimate hands-on experience prior to this course. I also wanted to gain some more hands-on experience with Arduinos, especially after taking one ECE course through the Hoeft Technology and Management program. I can definitely say that this past semester has been incredibly rewarding after the completion of this Digital Making Seminar course (BADM 357). In a mere 16 weeks, multiple different topics were discussed, some that I had knowledge on, and others that I knew nothing about. It is safe to say that I was definitely out of my comfort zone for the majority of the course, but I quickly learned that it was a good thing since I actually was learning. I am happy to say I have learned a lot about 3D modeling/printing, Arduino concepts, and just enjoyed listening to guest speakers give presentations and tours of different facilities on campus. 

The course itself was definitely very fast-paced, especially when it came to introducing new topics so getting adjusted to the quick timeline took some time. However, I thought playing around with Fusion 360 kept getting cooler and cooler the more I would mess around with it. Then moving onto microcontrollers and circuits was more difficult, but the hands-on experience combined with the videos we were assigned to watch ended up being a helpful combination in terms of learning and understanding the concepts. I am an Information Systems major minoring in Technology and Management, so while I have interest in pursuing and expanding my skills in the technical world, it reminded me that it takes a lot of time and effort to perfect the craft. BADM 357 was unique in terms of the fact that we were actually about to use concepts taught in class to create our own project. Other classes don’t do that and typically stick to a powerpoint, lecture, exam, and homework format. I was really happy to see how forward-thinking and innovative this course was as a business student who normally does not take classes like these. 

I did not expect the class to have a huge project that we would be working on the entire semester. It is rewarding to see the product we created now that it is over, but the journey there was not easy. My team decided to create an automatic hand sanitizer dispenser for the project. We were really invested in the idea because it was a great way to promote cleanliness and hygiene at the Activities and Recreation Center on campus. However, we quickly realized that this project was going to be more technical than we thought it would be, and we were a little nervous because we as a team and individuals were not too confident in the rigor and depth of our coding knowledge. However, through self learning, teamwork, and the help of other mentors and classmates, we were able to learn about code and circuits throughout the whole creation process. We also were able to mess around more with Fusion360 for our prints for the prototype. While it was a difficult journey, it is nice to see that I have gained more knowledge and perspective through this project for Arduino, breadboard, Fusion360, and the brainstorming process in general. 

I really want to thank the professor for providing us access to so many guest speakers, facilities, and resources in and out of the classroom. I enjoyed hearing from guest speakers as they were very informative and inspirational in terms of the creative process and how much you as an individual could contribute to society technologically. Some of these students are doing crazy things with these machines in the SCD Shop. It’s insane to think about how they get access to really cool equipment simply as a student at the university, and I wonder how much funding goes into creating a shop like this. 

As for the future, I think the skills I’ve gained about coding and modeling in this class will definitely be very applicable to me in the future. I am graduating this year and will be starting full time as a Web Developer in training at Capital One. I will be going through a coding bootcamp before being inducted into their Technology Development Program. I think the skills that I have gained in this class are going to not only help me knowledge wise, but also will help me navigate a new and different learning environment that I was not used to as a business major before. Transitioning into a career in full stack development post college will be hard, but after this class, I am confident that I want to pursue this and build on these skills within my own professional career. The insight I have gained through the many class lessons and hands-on experience with different softwares is just what I needed to give me more confidence in pursuing my career at Capital One. I know that in order to learn and understand coding, I need to mess around with the softwares through trial and error so I am learning about what is going on through my own doing. 

Ultimately, this class has taught me that technology is going to continuously change rapidly, and it is our responsibility to keep up with the current trends and use them to innovate society. Learning is different for everyone, but I learned through this class that I need to take it slow and take a step back to properly understand the ins and outs of whatever I am trying to learn. I can definitely say this class has prepared me for tackling even bigger challenges as well as help me take on my career in full stride post graduation. Thank you for a great semester.

Before this class, my familiarity with 3D printing only extended to printing cool figures and objects. I remember walking into the maker lab and seeing colorful objects everywhere on the walls. Each object was of different complexities and I could not believe that a machine was able to make such intricate designs. I took this class hoping to gain more experience with 3D printing. One thing was for sure, I did not realize that there was a lot more to 3D printing and its applications in the world than I could ever imagine. I learned how much 3D printing has evolved in the last 40 years, like being able to print out parts of a car or being cheap enough for small startups to invest in. I am able to understand just how influential 3D printing can be to a business or organization and I can make many connections when I hear about it. There are so many uses in so many industries, from the medical field to education to the automotive industry, that the possibilities are becoming limitless. It is such an important tool because of how fast it works and how cost effective it is.
In our first couple of weeks, we learned how to use Fusion360 and print simple objects with the 3D printer. Along the way we were also introduced to the human centered design process that focuses on making iterations on the product being developed with the user in mind. We were given a topic to explore the pain points and then started to ideate for potential solutions. At this point I did not know that we would actually end up making a prototype of the solution we chose as we were still in the design and brainstorming phase. One class, our instructor and TA introduced us to Arduino boards and electrical engineering concepts. I was a bit confused at first as to why we were learning about engineering in the first place (since this class was offered by the business school) however eventually I learned that we would be required to make a prototype for our design idea using a microcontroller. Our group came up with a sensor that would count people as they got onto the bus and essentially send the data to a website for collection and analysis. This people tracker would help optimize bus routes to make the transportation service much more convenient for students on campus.
As a business major, I will say that it was a bit overwhelming to see all the wires and trying to figure out the connections but the learning process through the iterations and trial and errors was really rewarding in the end. This class was very different from a traditional business course because not only was it very hands-on, but it was also quite technical, especially for business students. As an information systems major, I really appreciated learning the applications of technical concepts because I was able to see all the planning and thought process that went into designing and developing a product. Alongside this class, I was also taking an electrical engineering course for my minor in technology and management. So there was a lot of overlap in the concepts I learned in my ECE course and this class. It was really interesting to learn about the resistors and capacitors and then actually implement parts of that knowledge while we were making our prototype in the 3D printing course. This class definitely helped me understand how circuits and machines come together much better. However there were still a lot of complexities and confusions while our group was building the prototype.
Throughout this class, there were a couple guest speakers that talked to us about their experience in design and prototyping. One specific speaker that I remember came in to show us how he designed a product using a 3D printer prototype that now helps many people in hospitals. He explained to us how he had to invest in a 3D printer to start designing his product since it was much cheaper than outsourcing to a prototyping/3D printing company. Along the way he explained how he had to self learn all the ins and outs of 3D printing to eventually get him a successful prototype. Seeing the iterations of his product and how far it had gone to different organizations was really inspiring for us because we were able to see that you do not need experience to start and it is all a self learning process.
I really enjoyed working in Fusion360. It was like unlocking a new level as I increased my familiarity with the platform. In the future, if I ever need to design something for my design club, my class, or even a home improvement project, I would be rather excited to design it on Fusion360. Once you get the hang of it, it is intuitive and easy to use.
Often in our business courses, we are lost behind the finances and designing the infrastructure of the company or process. However this class offered a different outlook on the engineering side of things where we got to actually build our designs. The most interesting part of this class was learning how to problem solve, which we do not really get much of in our business classes. I gained a lot of confidence in this class. Because a lot of the project was self learning, we learned on our own, we made the mistakes and we learned how to correct them. It showed me that I do not need to be afraid and self doubt my capabilities outside my skills. This project showed me the patience and practice that is required to learn a new skill outside of the classroom. Now I am more encouraged to try different skill sets and try new things outside of my major’s scope. It is good to learn on paper and understand the concept but it is equally important to get tangible experience.

I originally looked into this course because my advisor had mentioned branching out of strictly engineering courses for my secondary field option that I was going into, digital prototyping, from my major, Systems Engineering & Design. Out of the long list of mostly art and design potential courses, this one stood out to me because I saw that it was a primarily hands-on, product creation course and I was dying to be able to put my skills to the test to be able to create a tangible item. As it turns out, that is exactly what we all got to do in this course. It has truthfully been a much more long-term project based course than I was expecting and I was excited because I have not been able to do much of those since Freshman year because of Covid. I definitely thought this course had more short-term mini projects that were individually guided, but I am pleasantly surprised at the engaging and open-ended group work that allowed us as teams to apply our strengths to our own level of project. We got to set our own goals and lay out what we wanted to accomplish through the solution we had decided on, and it made the project less intimidating with the focus being more on our learning than achieving a grade.  

Even though I have had a lot of experience in Fusion 360 and a bit in circuit design and programming, I still learned so much from this course when it comes to shortcuts, how to apply these skills to areas not covered in my classes, and how to work with others that are still learning the software to get on the same page. I have already begun to pass these tricks onto the students I help learn Fusion 360. Another huge benefit of joining this class was the introduction to the multiple maker spaces on campus that have already been helpful to me outside of this course. At SCD, I became comfortable using the laser cutter and came back to learn about the CNC milling machine as well to use it for another project. I saw how easy it was to rapidly prototype my ideas using a variety of materials such as wood, cardboard, acrylic, and 3D printing and can now quickly run over to these labs to work out ideas for my future courses. The best example of this was when we went to the maker space of SCD and within a matter of two hours had laser cut a box from plywood, programmed an Arduino to respond to the change in light of the environment, and made a circuit that was contained inside the box to be presentable. It opened my eyes to the speed at which things can happen when we have these open goals and the time to put towards them without having to stop and come back to it over and over again. I am excited to get to use these resources for my upcoming senior design course as well as my computer aided product realization course because many times, designs work out in theory, but in reality have a flaw that was not being considered due to the ease of making in CAD.

During the progress of the team project, I also learned how difficult it can be to obtain the exact materials needed and how long each step can take. For example, it would have made our design much easier to implement if there were servo motors available to us that we knew could hold the weight of the acrylic and plywood of the door. We also considered the idea of electromagnets for the locking mechanism, and those were too expensive for realistic rapid prototyping. Aside from materials, trying to schedule around the limited hours of some of the workspaces was also very challenging, especially because this was the case for the rest of the University, making them very crowded when they were open and potentially causing unexpected delay. Even though at the time, trying to put everything together and get four team members to be on the same schedule and be on the same page was stressful, in the end it helped me learn how to communicate where I was at better and communicate when tasks needed to be accomplished. As a general lesson from this course, I have seen how easy it can be to simply learn a new skill or ask someone for help when you are not as knowledgeable in a field and what is able to be accomplished in a matter of three hours. I loved the opportunity to bounce ideas off with people that are not in my major or field of study because sometimes the people that all take the same classes and see each other every day for the same education tend to have such similar thoughts that it is hard to see other solutions. On another note, I have seen first-hand how easy it is to procrastinate a daunting task because you are not sure of what you are doing or how much time can be wasted in a job setting just because the task seems out of reach. I think from this course I have gotten a new perspective on these frustrating situations when feeling unmotivated, you can take a look back at how big a difference getting excited about something can make on a project. I look forward to implementing the skills I have learned in this course and it has opened up my mind to learning even more about advanced 3D printing, rapid prototyping, and machining in general. I have become a better teammate, problem solver, engineer, and communicator from the exercises done in this class and it is one I will definitely remember as impactful. 

– Emily Hettinger

Grace Reynolds

Going into this class I was a little nervous because I have never taken, learned, or even heard about anything regarding digital making. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the world of digital making can be relatively easy to navigate with the proper instruction and hands on experience.

Throughout this class we have been introduced to many topics. We started off by exploring the history behind 3-D printing and its many uses. We then began to learn how to make our own 3-D prints on Fusion 360. Using Fusion 360 was a bit scary at first but with the help of our instructors and guided homework assignments it became not as intimidating. There are nine main areas that make up the Fusion 360 interface: application bar, data panel, profile and help, toolbar, browser, view cube, canvas and marking menu, navigation bar and display settings, and the timeline. Before I knew it, I was able to get a good feel for the Fusion interface and was able to create and print my very own designs. We then began learning about how we can print models that actually function. This is done through the assemble function in Fusion. Assembling can be done with either downloadable parts or your own unique sketches. Overall, getting a feel for 3D printing and the Fusion 360 interface was a bit challenging at first (due to my lack of prior knowledge), but ended up being one of the coolest and rewarding things I have learned to date.

We then were introduced to human centered design, which is an interdisciplinary, problem solving approach that identifies the unmet needs of a population in order to collaboratively develop solutions. This was when our groups got the opportunity to address an unmet problem on our very campus. We decided to narrow in on improving UIUC’s dining halls. We began with coming up with some questions regarding UIUC dining halls in hopes to uncover interesting insights that could turn the stories of others into possible solutions. From there, we entered the ideate phase the design process and began to brainstorm, propose, and plan ideas. We proposed several how might we questions that allowed us to further brainstorm the problems associated with UIUC’s dining halls and give us insight on which problem to really narrow in on. After this, we moved into the prototype phase where we thought about a physical design that would help tackle our problem at hand. Before learning about the phases of human centered design, I had no idea how many steps go into coming up with a solution for a problem, and I learned that this guided incremental process of thinking actually helps come up with better solutions.

Next, we were introduced to Arduino and learned how to skill build with tools such as laser cutters. This was definitely the scariest part of the semester for me, because I felt as though I was in over my head given that I have never worked with wiring or code before. However, the more I learned about Arduino the less scary it became. In order to test our understanding of both Arduino and laser cutting we were asked to laser cut and build a box out of plywood to create a 6-sided box to contain and demonstrate the completed LED Arduino board set-up. From this I learned about the importance of being precise and further developed my Arduino skills.

Our final project combined all of our learned knowledge throughout the semester: sketching and assembling on Fusion, human centered design practices, laser cutting, and Arduino. As mentioned before, my group decided to center our project around improving UIUC’s dining halls. More specifically improving the cleanliness and efficiency of UIUC dining halls by utilizing a microprocessor that would combat problems faced from uncleanly dining tables. After going through the design process, we were able to come up with a physical prototype that would propose a solution. Our design was a windshield wiper that would attach to the end of dining hall tables that could be turned on by the click of a button and would clean the table automatically as the student goes through the cafeteria and gets their food. The excess sanitizer and remnants of food would be collected by a narrow trash can attached to the side of the table. Our group manually sketched and 3-d printed the linkages that attached to wiper, laser cut and assembled the trash can, and wired and coded the motor to rotate in the proper 180-degree motion. Taking what we learned this semester and combing it into our final project was extremely rewarding. From this we not only better understood all of the topics we covered in class, but also learned the importance of staying up to speed and working together. Being in a group with people who all have conflicting schedules is not easy, however I learned it is important to be flexible, plan ahead, be open to new ideas, learn from mistakes, and allocate enough time to get the job done. Overall, this semester I have fostered my fusion, design, Arduino, and teamwork skills, and I am grateful to have been a part of such a unique class.

Upon my graduation from the Gies College of Business next week, I will begin to work as a risk and financial advisory analyst for Deloitte. While I do not believe I will be working with Fusion, Arduino, or laser cutters, I do think that the knowledge I gained from the human centered design workshop will play a role in my future at some point. That workshop truly changed the way I think about problems and showed me how important brainstorming and not jumping to conclusions is. As an analyst for Deloitte part of my responsibilities will be coming up with innovative solutions for clients. While I will not be building physical prototypes for these solutions, I can use some aspects of the design process seen in the synthesis and ideation phase. When coming up with solutions for clients I now know how important it is to highlight the most important insights from the stories they tell and look for opportunities and possible solutions within them. Much like the ideate phase of the design process, I will also keep in mind how important it is to fix and learn from my mistakes and be open to communication and feedback from either my co-workers or the client themselves. Additionally, the teamwork skills I gained from working on such a hands-on project will definitely contribute to my life outside this class. Not only for my job, but also generally in life, a large part of being successful is having the ability to work well with a team. I will take the teamwork skills gained from this class and apply them to my professional and social life going forward.

While I have gained an abundance of skills from this class, there is still much more for me to learn. For instance, I would like to know if any of what we learned regarding digital making could potentially be incorporated into my professional life. For instance, if there is some way to incorporate digital making into financial advisory and if it could be used as a method to effectively navigate business risks and opportunities. I would like to know if there is a chance that digital making may become a part of my future jobs, and if the incremental steps of the design process could become a template to tackle problems in the corporate world. While there is still much left to learn, I am confident that can take what I have learned from this class (from both successes and failures) and incorporate it into my future and apply it to situations that I am now prepared to take advantage of.

What drew my attention to this class in the first place was that it was an opportunity to physically create and prototype a design, which was open to business majors. There aren’t many situations where we get to create something physical — everything is online and technical in nature. Getting to actually build things has been something that has been lacking in my college experience for the past three years. While learning and studying are great ways of experiencing new subjects, you reach a point where you just want to do something, to make something, to be creative. That’s what Digital Making is about — you look at a problem, design a solution, then spend a few weeks figuring out how to make it happen. You can build anything you want and you have a fleet of machines and mentors to help you along the way.

I entered the class believing we would be learning about 3D printing and designing models in CAD. While we did do this, we also explored different technologies, including laser cutters and Arduino. Going in, I had no experience with any of the concepts we explored throughout the semester. Especially when it came to Arduino and the wiring of circuit boards, it felt like I was lost and would never understand what was going on. While our team eventually got our code running and wiring figured out, we had to iterate through many different combinations and ask a lot of people for help. As business majors, none of us had any experience in Arduino and we found it really difficult to rely on ourselves in wiring the prototype. This was a crucial part of the experience, however, because it forced us to reach out to people who did have that knowledge. It immersed all of us in the engineering world and showed us what it felt like to collaborate on a technical project, with someone there to guide us along the way. And, once the wiring was sorted out, we all had a better understanding of it because we discussed, in detail, the properties and actions of all the wires, resistors, and transistors. 

With the CAD-ing of the DC motor box and the four-bar linkage, our team went through a lot of iterations in 3D printing. We changed how they connected a few times and eventually made changes to the weight of the wiper and how it connects to the four-bar. Watching that process unfold was interesting, because it was a real life demonstration of how often things need to be made when you’re just trying to build a prototype. When everything finally did come together, the change from the initial 3D print to our final working linkage was really cool to see. Having to stop and identify where changes would need to be made throughout the semester was a crucial part of the iterating process as well.

When everything came together and the motor made the linkages move, which in turn made the wiper move, it was a sigh of relief. It was a moment where it didn’t matter if something still wasn’t quite right — all that was important was that the motor spun and the wiper wiped. This can be relevant in so many situations, not only in school and work, but in your personal life as well. When you set goals for yourself that are hard to achieve, not making progress is sometimes an even bigger set back than a straight up failure. Incremental progress, as small and seemingly insignificant as it can be, is important for motivation and perseverance.  

Part of what made this class special for me is that it’s a taste of the engineering world for a business major. We not only designed a product, but we created a proposal as well, which is common in design based projects. It legitimized the project and made it feel more formal, and not that we were just playing around with duct tape and cardboard trying to make a table wiper. The ability to outline an idea in extreme specifics is a very important skill to have and can come in handy for many different types of jobs. 

Outside of the semester long team project, we were given a lot of different opportunities to explore what’s available to us as UIUC students and to hear from guest speakers who were knowledgable in their field. Before this semester, I was unaware at how many spots there are on campus to design and build things. Each place is always busy with people working on school or personal projects, which shows just how much is going on on campus. The resources that are available to us as students are beyond anything we’re ever going to get again and it’s hard to know exactly how to take advantage of them while we still have the chance. 

Throughout the past year, I’ve been thinking a lot about where I want my career end up. I used to be sure it was somewhere in the data science world, working with and exploring numbers, but now, I’m honestly not sure. I really enjoyed the hands-on nature of this course. The ability to actually create something and put effort into a physically functioning thing was gratifying, especially once it worked. I want to incorporate that into my career, in whatever form it’ll take. 

Overall, I’m really grateful for the opportunity to take this class. It was a dip into the engineering world and an experience that I never thought I’d have as a business major. Our final product, The SqueeGies 5000, might never make it onto commercial shelves, but it should sit somewhere in the Maker Lab, hopefully serving as an inspiration for someone in the future. 

As I was scrolling through the options of Information Systems major course choices, I stumbled across the course Digital Making Seminar and was compelled after seeing the word “prototype” in the class description. With no prior experience in prototyping, let alone even understanding the process of it, I decided to take the course. Along with this, 3D printing was something I had been wanting to explore. Admittingly, this was the first class I decided to pursue out of actual interest instead of what seemed to be the easiest option. I remember feeling very excited but challenged after the first day of class because I was under the impression that I would have difficulty maintaining a good grade due to the unfamiliarity I had with the content. Should I stay in the class because of my interest, or drop it because of its perceived difficulty?

Coming in with little experience in almost everything we have covered throughout the semester, I found even the smallest of things interesting and meaningful. First of all, my original group consisted of two bubbly Supply Chain Management and Information System majors with no 3D printing experience and a Computer Science major who happened to have a 3D printer in his dorm room. As he talked about his experience in 3D printing, I was enthralled by his knowledge and continued to ask him more and more questions. Gaining another experienced member along the way, I started to become intimated to work alongside two people who knew much more than I did. However, even after dividing up the project based on expertise and different skills, the more experienced members still made sure that everyone was aware of what steps were being taken throughout the project. This helped me understand the complexities that go into wiring, the detail needed when creating sketches in Fusion 360, and the imperfections that need to occur in order to create the best acquiped prototype. Most importantly, I was able to learn how to be a valuable team member despite my lack of experience.

Now, let’s fast forward to the professor’s final words on our last day of class. He applauded us for never contacting him about what our grade was, even though it had never been posted. I realized that this was the only college course I had, and have, taken where my drive did not stem from my desire to attain a good grade. That was a very gratifying feeling.

Taking this course has not only helped me understand the complexities that go into prototyping, but has encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone even if I have no prior knowledge or experience. This course was able to show me that I am capable of exploring opportunities that I may be uncomfortable with, and this transferred over to my application process for summer internships. Although I have never left my hometown of Champaign, IL, I knew I wanted to have an internship outside of Illinois to give me experience with uncertainty, discomfort, and the overall skills needed when adjusting to a completely new atmosphere. However, as application deadlines began to approach and more positions began to fill up, I had limited options and I started to realize that I may have to pursue something local.

As I began to look for more local options, my Outlook Inbox continued to flood with emails consisting of “Although we appreciate your application, we regret to inform you that…” and you can fill in the blanks. However, despite the time crunch I was in, I was passionate to get an internship in the East Coast, a place I had been only a few times but truly felt at home in. So, I went out of my comfort zone and called a family friend who lives in New Hampshire. I have struggled to network, so this was a big step for me. Although he told me that internships are extremely hard to get at this point in time, he encouraged me to continue to be hopeful and responsive.

The next day, I received yet another rejection email from a company. As I gloomily glossed over the email, I made an impulsive decision- I was going to email them back. Not only were they located in the East Coast, but their internship position matched exactly what I was looking for. Although they had filled positions for this summer, maybe I could get my name out there for positions in the following year. In the email, I expressed my gratitude for the opportunity and asked for any follow-up advice they may have. I attached my LinkedIn below.

Not even 5 minutes later, I received an invite on LinkedIn from the Head of Talent Acquisitions at the company. Quite a few exchanged LinkedIn messages, an interview, and a phone call later, I was offered an internship at the company.

Now that I have officially accepted the offer at Watts Water Technologies in North Andover, Massachusetts, I look forward to continuing my professional development as an incoming Supply Chain Intern. Based on the description of the internship, I felt confident that I was qualified even with little to no real-life experience in Supply Chain. However, after receiving a calendar notification for the first day of training, I started to lose confidence in myself as I stumbled across each of the other intern’s LinkedIn profiles. Systems Engineering Major, worked in the supply chain sector of these eight companies, and so on rang through my head the rest of the day and I began to feel anxious, despite my previous excitement.

Sound familiar? Being intimidated to be in a group with highly experienced individuals? After realizing that I felt the exact same way in the beginning of this course, I began to realize that this course has had an impact on me in more ways than I would have anticipated, and I was even able to make new friends along the way. I know that the skills and experiences I gained from BADM 357 will follow me in my internship this summer, and I am hopeful that the outcomes of my internship will be similar to the outcomes of this course.

I joined this class because I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and try to develop some new skills during my last semester at the University of Illinois. I knew that there were other options for Information System majors like myself,but these classes seemed a little bit too familiar to me. I felt as though I was going to be repeating similar patterns of curriculum that I had experienced in the Gies College of Business, and I thought maybe trying out more of a STEM focused class would be valuable. The class began by working with FUSION 360 and 3D printing in general. It began with a very broad focus, and I remember learning how applicable 3D printing is in the real world. I am going into my career in healthcare so I was surprised to see how many healthcare products can be designed more efficiently through 3D printing. It also opened my eyes to the idea that 3D printing can be more accessible to people that may not have the financial stability to get what they need from the hospital or physician’s. Next, we began to learn more about the design process, specifically regarding the idea of human centered design. I had had some experience with this concept from BADM 353, but felt as though I understood it more from the actual development perspective, rather than the business perspective. Next, we worked with things like the Arduino Board, breadboards, and laser cutting. While I have had some experience of laser cutting from my role in Enactus, I felt very uncomfortable with the electrical work. I felt as though I did not have the background to properly understand what we were doing, but I tried to talk to my teammates to get the basics down and contribute in any way I could. Finally, we started the project after discussing problems with public transportation on campus. Overall, I liked the project and was proud of it, as I felt that something like it could have a real place on an MTD bus. However, I will say we would do a few things differently in order to get a more effective product at the end. 

This class had meaning for me, firstly because of the implications that 3D printing has in healthcare, as I mentioned earlier. In one of the earlier classes we had, we met with a former student of the class who had made a huge difference in her life and others because of the capabilities of 3D printing. She used a wheelchair to move around and had developed a product that made moving easier and more efficient. This kind of change is revolutionary in the healthcare world and it was interesting to see how it had been applied in the real world. I remember the former student mentioning that she had started her own business based on the product and that 3D printing gave her capabilities she wouldn’t have normally had. She was able to build the product quickly and have many iterations that were not costly. This was very much helpful to her because she was still developing and changing her product. As someone that is about to begin my career as a product manager, I know how often medical products need to be changed and adapted, and how expensive these changes can be. The guest speaker made me really think about how using 3D printing at my job could be an innovative idea that I could bring to the table. Secondly, this class had meaning for me because of the things I learned about myself during the project. When we started working on a solution for the transit system, I found myself getting very excited for the brainstorming phase and presenting on our timeline, How Might We questions, and the implementation phase. However, when we started working on the Arduino board and the electrical work that went along with it, I frankly felt very lost. Even when I had put lots of time in outside of class, I felt as though I did not have the resources to even begin to understand where to start. However, from this experience, I learned that I am more passionate about the business side of product development. I know that I am capable of understanding the more technical aspects, but I really seek more joy from the planning process, communicating with users and partners, and implementing the product. I think that it is valuable to know that I made the right choice in my major and I’m glad I did the project because of this!

In terms of what is in store for me in the future, as I mentioned, I have a job as an Associate Product Manager at Medline in the Nutrition and Pharmaceuticals division. Because I work on the nutrition side, I don’t necessarily see a huge way in which 3D Printing or electric work will be a part of my daily life. However, I do think that human centered design and thinking will be a major contribution to my future career. Nutritional products like the ones I have been working on can make or break people’s happiness and ability to get through the day. If a medicine makes their stomach hurt or it costs too much for someone with a low income, then the medicine is not truly helping them improve their lives. I’ve learned from this class that when you are making something, it is often for a real human being with real needs, feelings, and goals. In the future, I’d like to also try to make things on Fusion360 that I am more passionate about. The products that we made in class seem to be on the practical side, but I kind of enjoyed being creative rather than nit-picky. I think there’s a lot of potential for me to explore it outside of class and one of my goals for the future is to do that. 

What?
Going into BADM357 — Digital Making — I didn’t know what to expect. I took the class with little to no prior experience in terms of 3D printing, modeling, coding, laser cutting, and fast prototyping. I registered for the class just because, as an accountancy & information systems student, these topics interest me. With a learning-by-doing structure, I have learned so much on these topics. By actually going through the rapid prototyping process, I have gained knowledge and confidence in terms of how to use these tools/technology.

At the beginning of the semester, we started off by learning about different 3D printing technology and how to make 3D models with Fusion 360. In order to 3D print the model, we learned how to slice the 3D models with Cura. With numerous activities and small assignments, I learned how to make simple models, assemble them, and actually print them with 3D printers. Seeing and playing with 3D printed pieces created by myself, gave me a tremendous amount of motivation to keep learning more. I was so proud of myself that the class helped me to go from zero experience to printing my own designs in a couple of weeks. Then, we moved on to the product design process. We talked about human-centered design. We went through the process of researching, interviewing, generating how-might-we questions, and ideating. I was familiar with the human-centered design process because I took a UI/UX class the previous semester. Going through these ideas again gave me a good review of the important ideologies. After that, the class introduced me to various campus locations that provide relevant tools for our project, for example, the FABLAB and the shop in the SCD. By going to these places, I had my first experience with tools like the laser cutter, soldering station, resin printers, etc. At FABLAB, we got to make a simple light-sensing box. It gave me first-hand experience in coding and laser cutting. Experiential projects like this simple box gave me the confidence to proceed with our final project later on.

In the middle of the semester, with the skills we mastered and the knowledge we gained, we started to work on our project. My team decided to focus on finding and solving problems with the school gym. We conducted interviews right outside of the arc and went through the ideation process. In the end, we decided that we will make a hand sanitizer dispenser that provides incentives for students to use. Basically, students will be able to scan their i-card to enter a raffle for using the hand sanitizer. We faced many difficulties going through the product design process, especially in coding a Raspi. We were able to get help from Arthur who is on the other team for the coding part. We were able to get the code to work with the scanner at the very last minute. I personally did a lot for the laser cutter box. With a simple generated box file from boxes.py, I was able to learn Illustrator and use the app to make modifications to the box. I went through a couple of iterations of the box and I was happy with what we had in the end. In general, thanks to this experience. I really enjoyed the project and learned a lot through it.

So What?

After this class, I really appreciate the learning-by-doing structure. I learned so many things that can help me to become an IT auditor. By trying to figure out things by yourself instead of learning in a classroom setting, I gained the confidence to face obstacles and unfamiliarities. By doing iterations of the box, I learned how to use illustrator and the laser cutter. This is going to help me adapt to new tools/apps/processes/policies faster when I go into my career. Because we had a lot of trouble with the code, I spent a lot of time looking up code online whether it’s on GitHub or StackOverflow. By doing that, I am more capable of coding than I thought. This is encouraging me to learn more about coding which will be important for an IT auditor to act as a bridge between the technical side and the business side of the company. By having a flexible class structure, working in teams felt like how it should be in a professional setting. This will help me to become a better leader in a professional setting. Overall, I learned so many things from this career that will be beneficial for me in the long run.

Now What?

With the end of this class, I would like to continue my learning for some of the topics. First, I would like to keep learning more about coding. Coding and different computer languages are such important things for companies today. I am going to go through lessons on Coursa to develop my coding ability. Second, I would like to learn more about the product design process. Having this project, encouraged me to consider positions like product management. With new technologies like 3D printing and laser cutting, the prototyping process is fast and interesting. I will be looking into taking more classes about product management in the future.

In conclusion, I plan to continue learning about many ideas and things after taking this course. Post-graduation, I will be looking into positions related to IT audit to utilize both my accounting knowledge and my information system knowledge. The confidence I gained was the most important thing I take away from this class. I am ready to take on new challenges and new ideas as we are in an environment where technologies change faster than we are prepared for.

The main reason why I decided to take BADM 357 this semester is simply because it seems very interesting and fun for me. As technology is growing and advancing, the cost of implementing them has been getting cheaper over time. The use of 3D printing has been increasing in many industries to prototype products and produce parts as it is inexpensive and has the potential to produce at a much faster pace than the traditional way. Knowing this, I thought learning more about 3D printing will be beneficial in the future as it may be able to help open up more opportunity for me. Since none of the courses that I have taken so far taught me anything about 3D printing nor how to make physical objects and as I only have a few classes to take this semester in order to graduate, I thought I should try to learn something new while I can before I do not have a chance to do it.

Prior to taking this course, I thought that we would only be learning about 3D printing, but that was not the case. We got to learn so much more than just 3D printing, including learning about the sensors, the controllers, and the Arduino and circuits. As I have zero experience with any of the content that we got to learn prior to entering this class, it took me a long time to understand everything we learned. The closest experience to the content that was taught in this course that I have is working on a project where we improve an application’s user interface in order for the user to have a better experience when using the application. With my very little experience, when we had to make a Lego block on Fusion 360 for example, it took me a few hours because I missed a small detail, and I could not get the part that I was working on to line up correctly. In addition, spatial thinking was a challenge for me. Learning how the electricity and the circuit work was also very challenging since I have no background in this area. In order to understand how everything work, it took me quite a long time.

After getting to work with Fusion 360 for a few times and learning how to use Arduino as well as using other tools, I have learned to become more cautious and more precise in anything I do by thinking carefully about what the outcome may be first before executing. As we start working on our project, we faced a problem with the size of our vending machine boxes. The motors were too small to support our initial design of the project, so we had to scale down and decrease the dimension of the boxes by half in order for the motors to support the boxes. We had to change the locking mechanism as well as the design of the box in order for it to work and to be more user-friendly. In addition, we had to reprint our lock multiple times as all the printers are different, and the prints did not come out the way we wanted it to be as it did not fit the part that came with the motors perfectly. The project has taught me to be creative in finding different ways to make things work and be patient with the process. These are valuable lessons for me as it can apply to not just work life, but personal life as well.  

After taking different courses for my other major, Supply Chain Management, I have also learned that there are many ways to solve different problems. On top of the performance of the methodology chosen, it also depends on the individual’s perspective on how to best solve different problems. Similar to what I have learned from taking this course, I learned to be creative in thinking about the problem in order to find the most effective solution. Although there are some similarities between the courses, this course allows me to see it from different perspective as this course allows me to look at the physical product, which is new to me. In order to succeed in the supply chain field, I would need to have creativity as well as patience in order to find the best solution to solve the given problem.

This course has taught me a valuable lesson to better prepare myself for any circumstances that may come my way. Upon graduation this upcoming week, I will be pursuing my dream in becoming a professional golfer starting in my home country, Thailand. When I become more stable, I would also want to open my own business. The lessons that I have learned from taking this course can be applied to both careers that I want to pursue. In order for me to become successful in professional golf, I will need to be creative in finding ways to make myself better every day to better compete with others. In addition, I would also need to be patient in order to focus on what I can do and can control instead of what is out of my control. On the other hand, when I am ready to start my own business, I will need to develop a business plan and think thoroughly of the risks that I may face while I start my business. I will need to be creative in order to think of ways to market my business and create a competitive advantage for my business. In addition, as business usually takes time for it to start becoming profitable, I will need to be patient and trust in the process in order to keep myself motivated to keep putting in all my effort in pushing my business to move forward. Although this class has taught me a lot in how to use different tools such as 3D printer, laser cutter, Arduino, and sensors, this class has also taught me a lot about the mental aspect of how to work effectively and efficiently. By being more precise, cautious, creative, and patient, it will allow me to have a better chance of succeeding in anything I want to pursue.