While the point of the take-things-apart lab was not to physically recycle the materials, we did so in a different sense.  We each were able to take instruments that were ready to be thrown away and learn some interesting things from them that extend past the technology used or method of fabrication.  My teammate and I took apart a dell monitor.  While the first few stages of process only required a basic philips screwdriver and a wrench, it became less obvious of how to continue as we progressed.

 

Instead of with screws and nuts, the components were combined using a snap-in method which required the use of a flat-head screw driver and a little bit of force.  Obviously, they did not design it intending for anyone to get in that far – even the manufacturers themselves. Thus, a slight malfunction in the machine, which would most likely originate from those secure areas, are not very easy to fix. This, coincidentally, encourages the a much higher turnover of their products.

 

However, we persevered through the use of needle-nose pliers, much larger pliers, and the smallest of screwdrivers to break it down to its most basic components and learned a lot about what goes in to the screen and how all the outer-hardware connects to the motherboard.

Checkout one of the 7 layers that give the screen its resolution:
dellmonitor2