References

All of the material I mentioned can be provided such as my research papers on the Aral Sea, Wind Energy, my Brochure, pictures of my Pro-E design, CAD models, and ceramic art pictures. I can also provide the references for the pictures and material on prices that I have included.

Conclusion

I have learned a large amount of material in this class ranging from initial design techniques to optimization and ethics. I found this class to be very engaging and am almost happy to see the continued high attendance throughout the semester, instead of a decrease. I feel that this class is very important in helping us to be a better rounded Engineer and has provided us with sufficient techniques that can be utilized in the workplace. I have a good understanding of the design process and hope to someday use this knowledge in helping others to properly weigh and position each possibility instead of acting stubborn or immature. There are many constraints that should be considered while designing a product or method that I believe could be made from our experiences in Engineering practices such as manufacturing, calculation, experimentation, and design. I think that a good design is one that is well rounded and covers all the constraints such as a six sigma design that falls in a proper range between the upper and lower specs. I feel a bad design would be one that borders on either the upper or lower spec and does not meet all of the constraints or requirements. I feel that my background with ceramic art, digital art, wood construction, electronics and robotics, material learned during college, and my overall sense of approaching a problem would help me in designing new products, systems, and devices.

Halogen Lights

With the adaptation of Halogen Lights I have mixed reviews and opinions. I am all for the decrease in light pollution or high energy consuming light bulbs because I believe our environment to be very important and should be on everyone's mind with their daily routines. I'm not saying constantly think about your actions, but to occasionally remember what you're doing, whether it be electronic usage, car usage, or disposal of recyclable material. As I drive home late at night on the weekends I find Car's Halogen Lights to be very distracting. I'm not trying to complain against using them for other lighting needs but I believe that they offer too much of a distraction to other drivers. Personal experience while riding in my friend's car shows that they do increase your visibility to the sides, but I do not understand why designers would tilt them in an upwards direction. I have mixed reviews on Halogen Lights.

Decision Making / Problems

As with any task I’m confronted with I slowly start and progress by finishing each separate section as if it was its own project. After an initial outline of what I’m going to accomplish, I break up the job into smaller sections that can be completed. This I feel divides up the work into manageable completions and gives you a better understanding of your initial basis. Other individuals may approach problems by looking at it as a whole and slowly completing the entire thing. This I feel gives you a different understanding of the problem and may or may not give you a better understanding of the problem as a whole.

I work at Tops friendly markets and one of my jobs over the weekend is to design the new displays of items going on sale for the following week. It seems that both of my managers approach the problem of design in different ways than myself because they believe that the visually aspect of the design will be the deciding factor. I on the other hand choose to spend my time in positioning the movable table to the final position and then slowly including the necessary pieces I need to complete the display. I’ve never kept track of the overall time in designing the display but it seems that so far this year, my designs don’t require any altering. My choice in either drawing or thinking up the final display is different from my managers but I can’t decide on which way is better. It is the simple fact that everyone approaches problems in different ways.

Group #13

I feel that with a five person group, we were able to approach both the mini-projects and our design innovation communication from different angles and to properly conclude on the best idea. Each person in our group had their own work experience that could be utilized in our projects. We took different strategies from class and combined them in what I believe to be a successful decision matrix or making process. I believe that the methods covered early on in class such as the ranking system were very useful because we elaborated on this idea and created multiple matrices and weight systems for the House of Quality. Each group member was able to understand our matrices and design development, so we believed it to be a thorough description and understanding of our final design. From conversing with other groups, I feel that they worked differently due to their backgrounds and experiences so far in Engineering. Each group approached their final design in different ways and used different methods from each topic in class to support their decision. Through each mini-project and our design innovation communication, I felt that my role was to be the initial idea starter because I would start by making either a matrix or excel spreadsheet and then the rest of the group would try to jump in. I favor using excel so I believe my role in the group was crucial in making our decision clear and well thought out instead of randomly choosing one of the designs that may currently be in use.

My Own Design

During high school I worked with wood and constructed what we called a battle bot. Since that time I've tried to adapt to better designs and material that weren't so make shift or not durable. I find that working with certain types of wood is very good because they are forgiving and fairly cheap when purchased at a larger size. Over the fall break I started designing a drum set hardware replacement for my tom holders. I don't have the money to purchase a $1500 metal hardware set to perfectly position my toms. Instead I plan on attempting to construct an initial skeleton structure out of the wood, and incorporating my own previous drum hardware into the design. So far, my chosen support system is combining rubber bands with hooks as the spring system. I learned this from a music DJ that uses multiple turn tables and needs to have a motion ready support system to have no effect from the bass. I'm not sure how well my experience with wood and construction will help in building this setup but I hope all goes well. A simple design of the product I'm hoping to copy is shown above.

Creativity / Design / Reading Material

I find Creativity to be a very in-depth subject in that it has many different meanings and or levels. Everyone forms different opinions and have different perspectives of the events that happen in their life. I would have to conclude that everyone has a different level of Creativity, with more in certain individuals, but I feel that everyone is capable of being creative. I also feel that it depends on your chosen direction or path in life that may limit the creative side of your brain such as the classes you take or possible music you listen to. After taking part in high school art classes, I found that the best way to be creative to study others and to manipulate what you could call the fabric in front of you in your own way. I feel that with the new age of design and computers, I have a thorough background in all the different Medias and have the ability to be creative in my own way. I would say that it all depends on our ability to adapt and form. 

Books that I have read to indulge my more creative side are previous ceramic based processes which include firing and glazing techniques. Parallel Worlds, which is a book about our current dimension. Ballistics, which is a book about warfare technology in the past. The Subjects I would like to know more about are space related material or astronomy, ceramics, aeronautics, and alternative energy sources.