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
