The United Way’s Day of Caring is a day every year where many volunteers go out to help nonprofit organizations as a way to give back to the community. In my class, we helped at a farm with jobs like mulching and weeding. I remember helping the community many times in scouts and church, and it felt nice to get back to it.
No matter what line of work you could find yourself in, safety will be one of if not the most important thing at your job. In our safety engineering project, we found ways to use random items to move a small container of popcorn that was sitting on the table into a Tupperware container without spilling or crossing our hands over the plane of the table. This helped me learn to not only use safety controls, but also to be resourceful and use simple but effective solutions.
We started the 3d printing and modeling unit by creating a Lego brick out of cardboard by layering it. This helped me to see how layering works. 3D printing is a process that uses a melted down plastic like filament to create an object using layers. Those objects are first created on a computer using 3D modeling. I used Fusion 360 to create a Lego brick. My Lego brick was then sent to the 3D printer to be made physically. It was satisfying to watch the printer at work layering the filament.
Electric circuits conduct electricity from the source to the end point and back. In our electronics project, we created switch systems to turn on a light bulb. We started by finding two ways of creating the system with a single switch, then we combined them to make a double switch system. This helped me to learn how there can be two light switches in different places that go to the same light by combining 2 independent systems.
In construction, engineers have to consider efficient, safe, and cost effective ways that structures can be built and serve their purpose. In our construction activity, our goal was to use paper, plastic rings, scissors, and a hole punch to support a half filled two liter bottle of water for ten seconds. Our challenge was to make it as light as possible, and my group got our weight down to 1.2 grams. I personally really wanted to see a weight below 1 gram, but you can’t always get what you want.
In my materials processing project, I laser engraved a keychain. This project helped me to understand that different materials require different care, processes, and techniques. This is because every material has its own properties such as durability, flexibility, flammability, and many others. It also taught me how to set up and use a laser engraver.
My college goal is to graduate from Millersville University in Spring of 2028. I am an applied engineering major with a minor in occupational safety, and graduating will give me the degrees and certifications necessary to be successful in my desired career in engineering. I know that no matter what your goal is, you can only achieve it if you have a plan, perseverance, and an end date in mind
Typography | Materials Processing | Construction | Electronics | 3D Printing and Modeling | Safety Engineering | Day of Caring
Typography is the style or appearance of printed matter. In this class, we covered this topic by looking back to the origins, known as the printing press. We used the type to write our names on a piece of paper to see how the printing press worked and gain understanding of how typography worked by using it with our hands.