Throughout my time in ME 250 this semester, I learned a lot in regards to design, manufacturing, teamwork, time management, communication skills, and work ethic. I have come to respect the design process much more than before I took the class, and I undoubtedly have a newfound appreciation for products I use everyday and the designed objects that surround us every day.
I had no previous training in design or manufacturing before this class; needless to say, I learned a copious amount of information. The first and most important lesson I learned was that left-brained people like myself can have a very creative side; the creative process of left-brained humans is simply different from right-brained individuals. I then took this new information and enthusiastically took on the design process that we learned about in lecture. The “funneling” process of taking general strategies and molding them into concepts and modules through quantitative and qualitative analysis was an interesting topic and very useful throughout our project. The next step of taking an idea and bringing it into the real world was also unfamiliar grounds to me, and the learning process, while often intense, was very fulfilling. Using and learning SolidWorks software was and will continue to be very useful for me. Our team put many hours into our design; still, the most work undoubtedly was bringing our solid model into the real world and making actual hardware. With the amazing resources in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Michigan (facilities I did not even know we had before this class) and the help of some very smart people (Bob Coury) our team learned a remarkable amount of information about manufacturing processes such as milling and lathing. Material properties, how to thread a hole, how to make sure through holes are the appropriate size for a press fit, and how to achieve a certain tolerance on a dimension are just a few of many tasks I accomplished this semester.
While the design and manufacturing aspects of ME 250 definitely dominated the class and learning, I also learned much about how to make a team function properly, how to communicate clearly, and how to manage time most efficiently. Without a doubt, at the beginning of the semester our team was, in a word, inefficient. We threw around too many ideas without a certain task or goal in mind and without proper planning. As the semester went on, I learned how to keep an overarching task in my head, and how to make sure our conversations were headed in the right direction. Furthermore, using multiple modes of communication (cell phone, email, etc.) helped our team meet often and promptly if we needed to. Additionally, while in the shop, setting a goal for ourselves forced us to make the most of our time. I do regret not splitting up tasks between the team more (we often spent the whole period all on the same machine); however, we were often limited by the resources available to us in the shop.
My only complaint for ME 250 is that there were many communication breakdowns/unclear standards. For example, I had no idea how the homework would be graded early on. If I did, I feel like I could have performed better. Furthermore, I often times found myself asking a GSI a question about the rules and hearing an unclear response for the simple reason that they did not know. It felt as though the staff did not do an efficient job of outlining competition rules and class standards.
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