Engineering Design & Innovation Building Awning

Overview

Penn State’s newly built Engineering Design and Innovation Building has a large patio area on the fourth floor. Currently, the patio area is uncovered, so it can only be utilized with good weather. Our team was tasked with the challenge to design an awning for the patio, so that students and faculty can use the space with ease and comfort.

Objectives

The objective of our team was to design an awning for the patio that met all of the needs of our sponsor. In order to accomplish this objective, the awning must:

– Be a temporary structure

– Be waterproof

– Be capable of handling a wind/rain load

– Not cover the greenery on the roof

– Cover at least one doorway

– Be aesthetically pleasing

Approach

– The customer needs were discussed and determined between the team and the sponsor.

– Various design concepts were generated based off of research from current awning designs for similar spaces.

– Existing patents were researched and it was determined that no patent issues would arise.

– The team met with the sponsor biweekly to discuss design progress and updates.

– SolidWorks simulations were conducted to determine whether or not certain designs could handle the weight of the awning.

– The team redirected their design concepts based on pricing in order to meet the budget of the sponsor.

– A SolidWorks Model of the final awning design was created.

– A scaled down, 3D prototype of the patio and the awning was built by the team.

Outcomes

– An awning was designed that met all of the customer needs of the sponsor.

– A final construction plan will be ready for the sponsor including a bill of materials, estimated timeline, labor, risk assessment, and alternative suggestions

– The final design was only a few thousand dollars over the original budget .