Zenith Reflection
I discovered I had a passion for engineering from a very early age. As a child, I enjoyed creating my own toys instead of buying them. Once I was in high school I decided to test how I felt in an actual engineering college course. This past summer I took Engineering Graphics at my local community college which covered Solidworks, a 3D modeling program, and basic engineering principles. After taking this course I realized that I really enjoyed Mechanical Engineering and it would be something that I would have fun studying in college.
As a child, I enjoyed designing different solutions to problems from global warming to preventing deaths due to IEDs. This interest in design and creation led me to enroll in Freestyle, a multimedia program offered at my school. Through Freestyle, I have been able to use Adobe CC tools to communicate ideas to others. This past summer I took an Engineering Graphics course which covered Solidworks, a 3D modeling program, and basic engineering principles. I enjoyed using parametric modeling which helped me connect my love of solving problems in math and what I learned at Freestyle to mechanical engineering.
Once we were assigned the Zenith project I knew right away I wanted to incorporate the skills I had learned over the summer in my Foothill college class. After some thinking I decided to combine my knowledge in engineering with my love for bowhunting. When I first got my bow I wanted to buy a mount for a rangefinder. After a quick Google search I realized that this product was not on the market. This inspired me to use the resources I had at Freestyle and my knowledge of 3D modeling to create this product as my Zenith project. After deciding on this project I started to create some rough sketches of different possible designs. Then I researched a common mounting position on all bows so the mount could fit any bow on the market. I went on to 3D model my best design using Solidworks. After many adjustments of the design I finally started 3D printing. The product took an entire week to print after many misprints. My lengthy research was shown in my final product because I was able to accomplish everything I wanted to in the bow mount.
After completing this project I have learned the importance of time management and precision when using the 3D printer. While doing this project I regret not putting enough time into the final product and spending more time in the ideation phase. However, I still felt that I accomplished a lot through this project. Before, I had never actually designed a product from scratch and went on to print it into an actual model so this project was a major accomplishment. I also discovered through this project that when I really enjoy my work I have a lot of fun doing it. I feel proud of the work I created for this project and I am happy with my final product.