Houston's Reflection
As a whole, ME 270 was a very positive experience that left little to nothing to be desired. The subject material was very engaging and get me a lot to ponder on well past class at times. The class made a conscious effort to make the information we learned pertinent to our lives and the world we live in. This played a large part in the allure of this course as no information given in lecture was without merit or purpose. When it comes to the different subjects we covered, I found our initial section to be on 3D printing and things like SLA methods to be entirely intriguing and to make me think about the many different applications of 3D printing in our daily lives and what we could do to influence that. Truthfully, it helped to re-ignite my interest in CAD modeling and get the gears turning in my head about what I could possibly give a physical form from the recesses of my mind. Injection Molding filled me with a similar wonder as it opened my mind to the multiple different ways we could go about creating pieces and parts from large machinery to small apparatuses. For Machining, I found that the many different ways that we could engage in shaping different materials to a desired form to be interesting when it came to the many different complex products that could be made from a combination of the methods like, milling, drilling, etc.
As far as strengths and weaknesses go, I certainly have recognized that one of my strengths throughout this project has been adequately allocating my time so that I have an opportunity to work on all the things that require my attention. This has been put to the test this year as being an RA on top of everything else has required me to become better at time management and more pragmatic about it as well. This sometimes would require me putting together a schedule so that I have a clear idea of what must be done for the next week and other times it would require working on something for longer than expected so that I could be in good place come tomorrow. As for weaknesses, I would say that keeping up with communication via our group messages was a hard one for me at times. This would simply be because I would either have my notifications turned on silent or I would be away from my phone while in my room. I got better at it as time went and as I got more comfortable with having my phone on me more often than not.
A course highlight for me was getting to injection mold the small aluminum molds we made during lab. That helped me with broadening my horizons and becoming a well rounded individual through this experience. One of the harder challenges for me was modeling the CAD of the 3D pen in Creo. It was a bumpy road but once I finished it and got a chance to look at my hard work I felt much more confident in my skills as a student but also with 3D modeling software. Prior to college, was relatively well versed in Inventor but, upon being introduced to Creo, I had to take the time to gain confidence with this software as well. This project has certainly given me the opportunity to engage and improve my skills across the board even beyond CAD.
Overall, I certainly see ME 270 being a class I take with me as I continue through the curriculum. The knowledge I acquired here is wholly applicable to the real world and very helpful to my understanding of what it means to be a Mechanical Engineer. It was a positive experience that I thank all the faculty that made it possible for.