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.
