Being in ME 250 this semester was definitely an interesting experience for me. As a person who had never really designed or manufactured anything before, to be asked to completely design and create a machine from the ground up that was capable of a certain task was completely new to me. I found that the design process that we were led through was very unique and unlike anything I expected. Before this class I had never heard of a Gantt Chart or Pugh Chart and I found that they were good tools for keeping a schedule for a project and picking between strategies (or anything for that matter). I felt like as far as the design process, we were led through the steps to designing a machine very well and in a way that made logical sense. One thing I particularly liked about the design process was the use of SolidWorks as a tool to visualize and create the machine and it's parts. Additionally, the training given in the form of the labs was sufficient enough to give a student the basics needed to run the program, and then allowed them to fully expand their knowledge by trying new things within the program. As a person who had had previous contact with SolidWorks, but was by no means a master, I felt that the labs did a great job teaching the important aspects of SolidWorks as well as those tools that would be directly relative to the designing of the machine.
The manufacturing process in this class was also completely new to me. As a person who had never previously used any tools more complex than hacksaws and handdrills, learning to use a mill and lathe was an awesome experience. I found that it was very interesting to be taught to use these machines and then being forced to think through how to make a specific part based on combinations of these processes and more available in the machine shop. One thing I can not stress enough relating to the manufacturing of the parts for the machine is the help that Bob and Mark can offer to students. They both are insanely knowledgeable when it comes to anything in their shop and they extremely nice and helpful to students asking for advice. They are also the perfect combination of hard-asses when it comes to safety and shop protocol but they are more than willing to help students with anything that they are unsure of.
Being on a team during this project was a different experience all in itself. I hadn't worked in groups of people very often in the past, especially not on a project of this magnitude, and with that came a lot of new challenges. This project required an immense amount of coordination among the different members of the team, and that definitely tested the limit of my organization skills and by ability to keep everything on track. As the team captain it fell to me to keep everything going and in the right direction, and this was a semi-new experience for me so it was one that I was constantly learning things about myself and what it means to be a leader of a team.
Time management was critical in this course. Our team seemed to be a half-step behind where we wanted to be for a good chunk of the manufacturing time, but we were able to put it all together at the very last moment because we were all able to put in a bunch of hard work. One thing I would suggest for teams in the future is to start things EARLY; be they MS, HW, or any other assignments. If you leave these until the last minute, you will either get caught up in another class and get in trouble with the ME 250 assignment of you will not be able to complete the assignment as well as you should due to the time constraints.
I feel that the course could be improved by getting the students the students in the machine shop earlier in the semester and by forcing them to so both the mill AND lathe exercises. I only did the lathe exercise, and because of this I tried to do as little work with the mill as possible (although I did end up making multiple parts on the mill). Many students, including myself, have never worked with any tools more advanced than a hacksaw or handdrill, so to all of a sudden be thrust into using a lathe and a mill is a big step. But the only way for the students to get comfortable with these machines is to get them as much practice as possible, and as soon as possible.
I could have improved my performance in this course simply by starting assignments earlier. This course has so many assignments, MS's, HW's, and the like that it is easy to lose track of them and somehow fall behind. It is so important to stay organized and to stay ahead of schedule, because falling behind can prove disastrous. Overall though, for as tough, stressful, and hectic as this course was, I did learn quite a bit from it and the end result was a cool machine.
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