I am a Third Year Chemical Engineering Student at McMaster University currently developing ideas for future projects.
Project 1
<aside> 💡 For our P-1 Project, our team was given a scenario which involves the Swedish Wind Energy Association (SWEA) and their requirement for a sustainable energy solution that can be widely implemented across many cities in Sweden. The task was to design and optimize efficient, long-lasting turbines that require little maintenance and are able to produce large amounts of power for much of the surrounding areas where they will be located. The goal is to select a specific material for the wind turbine blade that produces energy that also ensures maximum efficiency and reliability. All of these objectives must be achieved through the scope and ability of the SWEA to fulfill their sustainable energy needs. I most enjoyed doing the materials selection for our wind turbine blade using GRANTA software to restrict our materials based on different input objectives. I learned a multitude of skills throughout this project however Autodesk and GRANTA were two of the main skills/design tools I got the best grip on upon completion of the project.
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Throughout the P1 Project, our goal was to select a specific material for a wind turbine blade and then to simulate its effectiveness using tools we have learned throughout the first couple of months. Our design process evolved from constructing an Object Tree to highlight all of our possible Functions, Objectives, and Constraints, all the way to using GRANTA EduPack Software to select candidates for our final material choices. Several examples of the different steps in our design process are highlighted below.
1P13_Project_Report_Template .pdf
<aside> 💡 The primary objective of Project 2 is to securely transfer a variety of surgical tools into different autoclaves to facilitate sterilization. The tools are transferred using specialized containers that are specifically designed on Autodesk and then transported using programmable robotic Q-Arms. The project tasks were divided among two different sub-teams; one was tasked with solid modelling of the autoclave box, and the second had to code instructions for the Q-Arm in the Quanser Virtual Environment. With regards to the sterilization container, special attention had to be given towards the constraints associated with 3-D printing small plastic objects. It was of upmost importance for the container to remain below 350 grams when printed, and for the printing time to take less than 2 hours in order for the printing process to remain viable. Above all, our group had to employ the principles of rapid prototyping and creative design throughout the entire project duration.
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As I was on the solid modelling sub-team, my primary goal throughout the design process was to iterate a comprehensive autoclave container that would facilitate sterilization of surgical tools. Our design process began with identifying important Functions, Objectives, and Constraints that would be relevant to our sterilization container. After having identified essential characteristics that we would have to incorporate into our container design, we began the process of solid modelling our design on AutoDesk Inventor. Our design principle centered around trial-and-error and repetitive iteration. By the time our allotted project time had finished, our team had a final design prototype that achieved all of our initial objectives. Some of the pivotal steps in our design process are highlighted below.
DSThurs-22_P2_DesignReport.pdf
<aside> 💡 Project 3: In project 3, students were tasked with designing a system to recycle containers into their respective bins using mechanical processes and automation. Students were once again divided into two separate sub-teams: a Computing Sub-Team and a Modelling Sub-Team. The Modelling team was tasked with creating a design for a hopper that would hold and distribute containers into recycling bins depending on their respective attributes. The Computing team had to write a computer program in Python that would execute indefinite loops around a Quanser Labs simulated environment including the Q-Arm, Q-Bot, and recycling bins. Ultimately, both teams relied heavily on iteration and testing throughout the entire Engineering Design Process.
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As I was on the Computing sub-team, my primary goal throughout the design process was to construct and implement a thorough Python code that would efficiently execute an infinite loop of recycling containers. Our task began with writing Objectives and Constraints on the whole system which would then help to inform our primary objectives with regards to our different Python functions. Following the initial planning stage, we began to write all of our necessary functions in pseudocode to allow for a higher level workflow to be constantly accessible. Aftwerwards, we began interacting with the Q-Labs environment and iterating our functions within the environement itself. After countless separate code segments, we finally arrived at a set of functions and a well-defined workflow that managed to successfully sort and deposit containers into separate bins depending on their attributes. Some of the pivotal steps in our design process are highlighted below.
