Additive Manufacturing Processes & Reverse Engineering (IE 307)
This class focused on the technology behind additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing. My team and I were assigned a reverse engineering project. The objective of this project was to take a physical part and use reverse engineering techniques to create a 3D model of the part in a computer aided design software and then proceed to print the part using a 3D printer. The team decided to replicate the shell of a hot glue gun in order to replace the original broken shell. The team started with taking a 3D scan of the part using the Creaform 3D scanner. This created a stereolithography file (.stl) that needed to be repaired in the spots where the scan did not pick up enough detail of the part. The .stl file was repaired using the Materialise Magics software, an .stl editing software. Once the file was repaired, the team imported the file into SolidWorks, a computer aided design software. Using SolidWorks, the team created 3D surfaces using the .stl file as a template. Once all the features were created and the team had a complete 3D model of the hot glue gun shell, the SolidWorks file was converted into an .stl file again which could then be printed using a 3D printer. Once the team finished printing the final part, some small adjustments needed to be made to the part in order for it to fit back onto the original hot glue gun shell.
During this project I learned how to utilize several 3D printing software platforms. I did the majority of the file editing and the creation of the 3D model in SolidWorks and Materialise Magics. This project taught me how to learn to use a new software that I had not used before. My ability to learn quickly and teach myself the software demonstrates my skills that help me figure out how to solve problems that I may not have current knowledge about. This will help me in my career because I will be able to tackle and solve a problem by first researching and defining the problem, and laying out what I need to do in order to solve it. Located below is the team’s final report and presentation.
Take a look at our project below to see it in more detail!
Reverse Engineering Project Final Report
Simulation Modeling for Decision Support (IE 453)
This class focused on modeling real world systems to analyze the systems in order to make decisions on potential changes and improvements. The class used Simio, a simulation modeling software and the project required the use of Simio to analyze an amusement park ride. The two main objectives were to find the best length of time for the presentation that happened before the ride and to explore options for how the park management could increase the amount of people that rode the ride each day. The team created the model in Simio that represented the ride in it’s current state. The team analyzed the results from multiple independent replications of a 10 hour day with several different values for the presentation time. The best time was chosen and then the team brainstormed multiple options for improvements to increase the amount of people who passed through the ride each day. The team modified the Simio model to include the improvements and further analyzed these results to see which would be the most effective. In the end, the team decided that adding two more rows to the amusement park ride would allow for more customers to pass through the ride per day.
This project taught me how to utilize a simulation software and to perform output analysis techniques on the results from the simulation. Learning how to use a simulation software is a useful skill because many manufacturing plants use simulation to observe the flow of materials and jobs that are being performed. The other skill that I obtained from this project was performing output analysis. This is the analysis of the results from the simulation in order to make observations on things going on in the system. The team performed a sensitivity analysis which analyzed the interaction of making two changes to a system simultaneously.
Below is my team’s final presentation to the managers of the amusement park.
Senior Capstone Design Project
For my senior capstone design project, I was placed on a team with 4 other engineering students. Our sponsor was Brembo, an international car parts manufacturer. They wanted us to analyze the feasibility of using additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing, within their prototyping stages of production. They previously had to outsource their prototypes for their brake system core boxes, which took 5 weeks. Whenever a prototype needed a change in design, it would take another 5 weeks until Brembo could test the new design. My team researched additive manufacturing and proposed a specific 3D printer and print material that would allow Brembo to print their prototypes in their manufacturing facilities and have a new part within a few days. The team printed parts and had to also research and propose post-processing techniques that would be required to obtain the acceptable level of surface finish. Our recommendations would drastically reduce their lead time and therefore cost of producing prototypes.
This project provided me with real world experiences since the team was working with Brembo, an international manufacturing company. We had Skype meetings with our sponsor every week to go over progress of the project. The team had progress reports due every week, interim reports and presentations, and final reports and presentations. This project taught me how to stay on schedule and it would not allow any room for procrastination. I learned how a project is executed in the real world and the experience has prepared me to tackle projects within an actual manufacturing environment.
Check out our presentation below!