For this project, the name provides a sense of what we were supposed to do in a very broad sense, which was to design a solution to any problem that we face today, from traffic and terrorism to bullies and floods. The selection process itself was actually quite fun, and we also figured out how many things are wrong with our world today, coming up with a comprehensive list of about twenty to thirty items. Ultimately, we settled on the topic of pollution, specifically reducing air pollution and the subsequent harms. Usually, the solution would be something along the lines of making "cleaner and greener" cars, but we decided that this plan had already been implemented, so we should do something unique. That itself took a long time to narrow down, because we began with a device that would filter out harmful pollutants and essentially repurpose them, but that was unfeasible, and the other was reducing our overall population through Hunger Games, which would just be wrong. It was then that we decided that we would make something revolutionary, that would be more efficient than what we have right now, which is the MagLev system. We spent our first three days planning how this MagLev would work, then the next ten to twelve days making the model system, as well as a computer animation, courtesy of Tyler, that would enhance our presentation. Our final few days were spent in creating and refining our presentation, and in the end, it all came together quite well.
Concepts-
One of the major concepts of engineering that we used in this project was not mathematical, but it was the Engineering Design Cycle, which helped us plan our project and execute it. The steps include:
Despite the fact that it was called an engineering project, we didn't use many physics concepts, with the exception of magnetic forces, which was used to levitate our MagLev. Apart from that, we used elements of graphic animation to design our virtual MagLev, but apart from that, no major concepts except the engineering design cycle. The next closest thing was the statistics taken to beef up our presentation regarding the cardiovascular diseases.
Reflection-
Overall, this project came together quite well, unlike my previous projects where things were dragged to the very end, if not past that point, and it wasn't too stressful, but it also held enough of a challenge to make the project fun and appealing to me. If there was one thing that went poorly during our project, the thing that I can think of was our in-class productivity, because we would either be distracted by what the other groups were doing, or certain group members would just be goofing off and looking up random videos on YouTube. In the course of this project, I learned that I can be quite resourceful with things I have lying around at home, and that I can put these objects to good use in our project. I also realized that I'm not too shabby in design objects and animations on Autodesk 3DS Max, but I guess that part of it was due to the fact that the software was very user-friendly. But while there are good things, there are also bad. I realized that I can do better in communicating my ideas to the other people in my group, and not keep them in the dark for too long. Another thing that I can do better in the next project is, once again, stopping myself and my group mates from getting off-track and I can keep them on track to be more productive. Overall, though, I think that our efforts paid off in the end, especially since a lot of people were fascinated by our MagLev, so that made me quite happy, and that as a group, we worked well together with less kinks than that of my previous groups.
One of the major concepts of engineering that we used in this project was not mathematical, but it was the Engineering Design Cycle, which helped us plan our project and execute it. The steps include:
- Identify Need- Figure out what the problem is and/or what is need.
- Research Problem- Find out more about the problem to understand is better.
- Develop Possible Solutions- Come up with different answers to the problem that your trying to be solved.
- Select a Promising Solution- Choose one of those answers to focus on.
- Construct a Prototype- Make a basic version of the solution you have chosen.
- Test and Evaluate Prototype- Test and see if your prototype works.
- Community/Communicate- Tell people about how your prototype did or your finding so far.
- Redesign- Look at your solution and see how you can make it better or maybe choose a different solution to use.
Despite the fact that it was called an engineering project, we didn't use many physics concepts, with the exception of magnetic forces, which was used to levitate our MagLev. Apart from that, we used elements of graphic animation to design our virtual MagLev, but apart from that, no major concepts except the engineering design cycle. The next closest thing was the statistics taken to beef up our presentation regarding the cardiovascular diseases.
Reflection-
Overall, this project came together quite well, unlike my previous projects where things were dragged to the very end, if not past that point, and it wasn't too stressful, but it also held enough of a challenge to make the project fun and appealing to me. If there was one thing that went poorly during our project, the thing that I can think of was our in-class productivity, because we would either be distracted by what the other groups were doing, or certain group members would just be goofing off and looking up random videos on YouTube. In the course of this project, I learned that I can be quite resourceful with things I have lying around at home, and that I can put these objects to good use in our project. I also realized that I'm not too shabby in design objects and animations on Autodesk 3DS Max, but I guess that part of it was due to the fact that the software was very user-friendly. But while there are good things, there are also bad. I realized that I can do better in communicating my ideas to the other people in my group, and not keep them in the dark for too long. Another thing that I can do better in the next project is, once again, stopping myself and my group mates from getting off-track and I can keep them on track to be more productive. Overall, though, I think that our efforts paid off in the end, especially since a lot of people were fascinated by our MagLev, so that made me quite happy, and that as a group, we worked well together with less kinks than that of my previous groups.