Final Reflection- Eileen Hsiao

I was very excited coming to Mechanical Engineering 250 class. I am an IOE major, but I have a true interest in designing and building things. I came in to the class with little expectations, thinking the class will be fun and easy. Looking back, I should have been more prepared for everything that I’ve done and learned. However, I did come out with many valuable lessons.

I thought the lectures were very comprehensive, but the formats of how materials were constructed seemed less applicable to what we did in the second part of class. I had a lot of difficulties with the homework and CAD assignments. I have no prior experience with SolidWork, and when we had 6 assignments, including rough drafts of milestones, to complete, it was very hard to do CAD assignments well. The work was demanding, and a suggestion is focus lab sessions on homework more. In addition, the exam was very long and difficult.

Teamwork was the hard part of the class. I thought that everyone, including myself, could’ve been more motivated in the design process and done better. A main problem is that everyone has different expectations and methods of approach for the project, thus making it hard to decide and come to a conclusion. Most of us do not have much CAD or manufacturing experiences, and it’s hard to be realistic with design. In addition, it’s also stressful to manage and organize meetings and materials to get the team to work. I especially learned to be flexible with decision makings. You cannot always expect something to be perfect, and when the situation goes wrong, you need to communicate with the team for a solution. The manufacturing was also hard. The machine shop trainings were helpful, and they were great for introducing the process, but having them scheduled so early in the semester makes the actual engineering hard. When I had to manufacture, I was very confused and frustrated with my lack of knowledge, which caused reduce in productivity because I had to constantly ask questions. Also, there are many minor details about manufacturing that I’m not very aware of, and I wished I put in more efforts learning it and refining the design.

Most importantly, I learned the importance of time management. Aside from difficulties with teamwork, the main cause is time management because of our individual scheduling. Also, we should’ve planned things ahead so we have more time to prepare for the project. Same for manufacturing, we should’ve started earlier. I was set on pushing other teammates to have same understanding of the progress, but I could’ve spent more time discussing ideas together and getting to know their thoughts on the project.

The class may need a few points of improvement in the future, but I also learned a lot from the experience. Teamwork and time management are really important components in the class, but I failed to neglect it at times. Overall, I think I could’ve done better in class and been more prepared. If there’s any other design/manufacturing opportunity in the future, I’ll be sure to apply what I’ve learned from this experience.