My Favorite Honors Course: Cara Pearson

My favorite honors course was EDSGN 100H. I did not like the professor very much but the course itself was pretty fun. The course was comprised of two group projects that each took up half of the semester. The first project of the semester was to build a cardboard chair.The objective of the design project was to create a collapsible chair for dorm rooms made completely of cardboard. The purpose of this idea was to make the chair affordable for the consumer market and college students, as well as sustainable. Using surveys and individual interviews, we developed a list of requirements in order to satisfy their consumer market. We then conducted an extensive external search that included a literature review, patent search, and bench-marking of four separate chairs. Once we had accomplished these tasks, we used several concept generation methods, such as the 6-3-5 method and brainstorming, in order to develop ideas they later condensed into three separate concept designs. After creating Pugh Charts and using feedback from the design reviews, we chose the final design concept. After the final design concept was decided, I constructed a model using Solid Works, which we later turned into a full-sized cardboard chair. The design is sturdy and stable, and it also holds the weight of an average human being. The design is also well-constructed and meets all constraints placed on the design project. It was fun to build something for ourselves and see our hard work come together.

Our second semester project was a systems design project sponsored by General Electric. Our design team was tasked with researching and evaluating the suggestions made for fleet upgrade or alternate shipping methods and providing a recommendation for a course of action.  The problem was that Pittsadelphia was looking for the design of a cost-effective freight shipping system that reduces smog and meets EPA requirements, while maintaining or increasing freight capacity into and out of the port city. Our team had to keep in mind the impact of Emissions/Regulatory requirements, Costs, Freight throughput/capacity, Public opinion, and On-time delivery. It was a very different type of project from the first half of the semester and it felt like we were doing real engineering work.

Our poster for presentation

 

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