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. 

In Class Discussion

                                                                   Neither here nor there.

After attempting the multiple divergent or obscure questions in class that challenged the creative side of our brains, I felt the need to look further into riddles or mind tricking questions. I came across a number of sites and found a great deal of interesting questions. I wonder how these people come up with or discover these thoughts and think they are truly artists, but of a different sort. An interesting book I came across was found on this site Typographic Riddles .

My Solution to a Bad Design

I have the exact same clothes rack that I purchased from Walmart at the beginning of the semester. After first putting it together, I realized the sleight unbalanced form it was in. The base seemed to stay together, but the upper half of the bars swayed to the left and continued to lean more every passing week. Eventually I wrapped a duffel bag strap around it and secured it to my desk. It was only until a couple of weeks ago that I attached a middle aluminum bar that connects the two side bars together. By adding this second bar I was able to stabilize the clothes rack and to add more space in which to put hangers. The initial design of this clothes rack was bad because I don't believe it was stable enough to last a long usage period. The price spent on the clothes rack was low, but it seems that such a simple design of aluminum bars and a plastic base should withstand a minimum amount of hangers.

Bad Designs?

Exercise Equipment
The link and picture above depict an ab exercise machine to help you shape and form the perfect abdominal midsection. After working out and exercising for the past couple of years, I have noticed that the best results are reached by using standard equipment or techniques that have been around for a much longer time than these machines. People watching television see these infomercials that show a fitness trainer or body builder in very good shape using these machines. After the "testimonials" they believe that by using these machines for 10 minutes a day they will look amazing. It is a small wonder why these machines disappear after a short amount of time and are replaced by similar, newer models. The conspiracy is that the same company could be developing these machines to make a quick profit from the users at home. My own research has shown support in my opinion of using simple equipment like your own body resistance or medicine balls. You can find professional videos online that actually show and describe the muscle groups being worked. I find all of these get in shape fast videos misleading and try to sell you a badly designed piece of equipment.

Brochure

Here is a brochure I did in favor of utilizing wind farm technology and how important alternative energy sources are to our future. In my research papers prior to this post I cover subjects such as renewable resources and how we should approach our future in a more intelligent way. Instead of forcing a product or technique along for the best time frame, we should develop the best overall final design.

U.S. Heat Ray Project

Heat Ray Project

The link and picture above show a recent development in crowd control and dispersing protesters. I found a similar video one or two years ago and just recently stumbled upon this technology again. The idea behind this defensive gun is to send waves towards the human crowd, heating up the liquid inside your skin to a temperature in which the individual becomes extremely uncomfortable and moves out of the way. This technology could be adapted to any case in which dispersion or direction would be required. I feel that it is a safe design because the time in which it would take to cause any possible harm is much greater than the time in which an individual could stay in its direct line.

Apple Software

I have been researching the pros and cons of an ipod touch recently and I'm still convinced Apple prices are too high. Even though the prices of older models continue to drop, is it still worth it to spend that significant amount just for an added interface quality or accessibility. After researching online the Sandisk Fuze, which is coming onto the market, I see a much lower price compared to the  8GB audio/video player from Apple. Apple lists their 8GB ipod touch at $229 while the Sandisk Fuze is listed at $89.99. Is the Ipod touch, and other Apple models overpriced or a bad design? Due to their extremely user friendly interface and easy usage, I would conclude that Apple products are a good design. Their computers and other products are very well constructed and thought out, but their prices I feel are still too high for what your are getting. When designing your own computer even, including all of the apple software, you could spend around $1,000, while they would charge $2,000. I feel that Apple products in general are over advertised and consumers are just too lazy to research other available products that offer the same functions, at a much lower cost.

SuperCooling a Liquid

Supercooled Water
Above is a picture and link to a video covering the supercooling process. Supercooling occurs when you lower the temperature of a liquid or gas below its freezing point, without it solidifying. I came across videos about this topic a while back and remembered I found it interesting. I would really enjoy attempting experiments such as this with other related materials to see the possible energy they may hold.

IDEO

After learning about the IDEO company during class, I visited their website and searched for any interesting project they were involved in. After coming across IDEO hot hand audio , I agreed with Dr. Lewis' statement that they are involved wherever they're needed. The finger attachment shown above controls an audio wah device that records your body movement and translates it into sound. With more research into other projects IDEO was involved with, I'm contemplating whether or not these people were this innovative when they first started or were helped by those already at the company. It is astounding what technology is out there for us to read about.

Addiction to Contemplation

For over five years I've constantly read reviews and statistics on guitars and their sound or tone. I continue to read about new designs or updated models, yet I won't commit to buying one. I included this post in my blog because I greatly appreciate the Schecter guitar company. Compared to other manufacturers, their fairly new, yet their designs are unique and built with perfect precision. I find it interesting that so many hours go into manipulating guitar necks for certain hand positions and playing styles. I feel that it would be a very probable job for me to work with the designers at Schecter due to my knowledge of guitars and the processes involved with manufacturing.

Alternative Energy - Wind

Another topic of research I covered was Wind Energy and the possibilities surrounding the utilization of this technology. My research paper covered a brief history of wind manipulation such as sails, windmills, and kites. I included a long comparison of foreign countries compared to the United States and listed the decreasing price of kilowatt per hour energy consumption. Being part of ESW, I found this topic to be very interesting and am willing to take time in developing future wind farms and smaller, more personal wind energy devices. Below is a price chart showing the Kilowatt per hour digression.

Aral Sea Disaster

An assignment given in another class this semester required us to choose a design flaw or problem which was caused by our own actions. After researching a handful of topics, I chose the Aral Sea Disaster which has been occurring up until the past decade and is only recently being reversed. Back In the 1950's, Soviet Leaders decided on a water divergent system to improve their crop output percentage. By diverting the water runoff that fed into the Aral Sea, they were able to accomplish this. Over the years, visible evidence showed a large decrease in the water level of the Aral Sea, and led to its division into multiple sections. My research Paper covers topics such as design flaws, greed, and our own misjudgment. It was a very interesting research topic because of how much those involved actually knew beforehand, yet continued through with their initial plan. The area in blue shows the current water level as of 2008, while the area in gray was the water level in 1960.

Introduction

Here is my Design Portfolio for MAE451. I have never before used any type of blog site or technique so I hope that my following posts throughout the semester will be clear and understandable. My portfolio will include a multiple of topics ranging from my own experiences with design and engineering, and also my experiences with our 451 class. I will try to include a non biased opinion of any topic I cover but will offer my personal opinion in topics that may require a base in which to work off of.