Class Projects
This page details many of the class projects I completed throughout my time at the Univerity of Pittsburgh. These represent some of the best learning oportunities I had at Pitt, providing a space to fully experience the topics I had learned.
MEMS 24 - Intro To Mechanical Design
Intro to mech design is a project based class designed to introduce and develop the concept and practice of engineering design process. The two main projects completed were the Solar Powered Rover and the Big Machine.
Solar Powered Rover
This the first physical project I had and remains one of my favorites. The rover project introduced me to the Makerspace and made extensive use of the laser cutter. Named as fabrication lead, I was responsible for using SolidWorks and the Makerspace tools to manufacture the components of each rover revision. I also learned about gear train design throughout this project. The goal of the rover was to compete in a speed test while holding a 100g mass and then complete an obstacle course.
Big Machine
The second project emphasized developing communication skills between teams. The goal was to create a Rube Goldberg machine spanning over 3 floors of the engineering building. With limited approved materials and spacial constriants (doors, corners, stairs) this project was very creative. I led the ideation process and the creation of the pendulum across the door. I also created a SolidWorks animation of the final design.
ENGR 0135 - Statics and Mechanics of Materials 1
Balsa Wood Bridge Analysis and Testing
The class project for Statics 1 was to research a truss bridge design, digitally design and analyze all structural stresses, and then construct and test a balsa wood model to failure. The goal was to hold 175 lbs while optimizing a performance index related to the cost and weight of the bridge. I aided in the research and design of the howe truss, the force/stress calculation in MATLAB, and modeled the whole bridge design in SolidWorks. I learned SolidWorks equations for this project, meaning that by simply editing a text document one could modify the structure of the model. I later became an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant for the class and project.
