Who am I? Just another typical Rice University OEDK lover. My name is Christina Rincon and, like most of my friend group, I am an aspiring mechanical engineering major with a minor in engineering design. I first stepped foot in the OEDK the summer before my freshman year, and I don’t think I’ve left ever since.

Last year I took ENGI 120/200 and worked on a team to create a wearable robotic suit. We spent a year improving upon all the suit components before delivering it to our client at NASA. With this project, I was able to learn a lot about thermoplastic molding and elementary laser cutting. Looking back on it I’m really proud of the skills I was able to learn.

This last summer I was also a SEED intern and worked on a team to create a vertical transfer device for wheelchair users. Spending 40+ hours a week on one project meant I got to spend a lot of time prototyping. I’m proud that I was able to create a chair for the final device entirely out of wood. It pushed my wood working abilities to the next level, which was great even though I often went home smelling like sawdust.

This semester I’m very excited to take this course and gain proficiency in different machines at the OEDK. Even though I have some experience, I feel that it is project-specific. I’d love to be comfortable enough with the skills and processes in order to apply them to any possible project.

Honestly, I’m also really excited for the midterm. It’s a lot of work, but the creative scope of the project is almost unlimited. For previous projects, I’ve had to do extensive research on simple machines. The 507 mechanical movements page may or may not be bookmarked on my laptop. I’m looking forward to finally putting these skills and ideas together into a personal project. I like the idea of making a pointless machine simply because it moves and looks cool. Well… not pointless if I’m learning along the way, right? 🙂

Anyways, here’s to another semester of failed (and also successful!) prototypes. I know it’s going to be one hell of a ride.