Howdy ENGI 210!
Nice to meet everyone in ENGI 210 this semester!
My name is Ethan and I’m so excited to finally have the opportunity to take a course that explores the more relevant, hands-on skills in engineering. I’ve always been a builder and creator at heart, constantly trying to come up with new solutions to existing problems using tools like LEGO and 3D-printing as a medium. While some students enjoy learning about physics and engineering in the classroom, I learn the best when I’m actually involved in a hardware project, tirelessly making adjustments and refinements until I am happy with the final product! Additionally, I am a model aviation enthusiast that enjoys any conversation that includes historical aircraft and any technological advancement in aviation!
In recent memory, the one thing I’ve made that I am most proud of is an easy-to-use and easy-to-install 3D-printed mount for a 360-degree camera that can be attached to almost any model aircraft. While definitely not one of the most complex CAD designs I’ve created, it has certainly generated the most value, enabling first-person view aircraft pilots to focus on their mission while still capturing dynamic, wide-angle shots of other aircraft in-flight! In the past, pilots were limited by their camera’s field of view, meaning that any in-flight footage of other aircraft had to be planned precisely. However, the introduction of affordable, compact 360-degree cameras in the past few years has provided us with the ability to capture footage then edit later! With this project in particular, I also had to rely on my practical, working knowledge of aircraft center-of-gravity and center-of-lift characteristics to ensure that this additional camera equipment would not significantly hinder the performance of the aircraft!
Most classes largely focus the theoretical side of things and have limited opportunities for actually building, testing, and implementing creative solutions, however, I think this approach is best complemented by a course like ENGI 210 that actually applies this learned knowledge in the real world. Knowing this, I am eager to learn how to properly build useful equipment like furniture and other necessities since these are often the things most people interact with on a regular basis! While I have made a few small bookshelves in the past, none of them were particularly refined and did not fully consider all of the use-cases and situations they would be used in. As such, I think this course offers me the perfect opportunity to try and come up with creative ways to make pieces of furniture that serve multiple different purposes, saving both time and resources! For example, a desk with integrated lighting and storage that flows with the design would be a project I’d be interested in making! Learning how to properly sand and stain wood furniture would also be another plus!
While building furniture and other equipment can be useful, the one thing I am most motivated to learn from ENGI 210 is how to actually use these prototyping and manufacturing skills in a professional and industrial setting. While many projects are useful for the people that start them, I would like to see ENGI 210 teach us how to use these tools to optimize manufacturing at a company-scale and how to apply these skills in the modern work environment. In a world where conventional jobs are being challenged by artificial intelligence, I would like to learn how to adapt a college education to fit the changing needs of society! With such a rapidly changing job market and job uncertainty at unprecedented levels, one question remains:
Will we see the return of practical, hands-on engineering, building, and tinkering at the forefront of future job opportunity?
