Emily Matula's Team Reflection

I was very excited to take this class because I felt that it was my first real experience of what a mechanical engineer should be. I was also very lucky because most of the troubles experienced by my classmates were due to pre-requisites that weren’t listed but were still used. So I think one way that this class could be improved would be to really study in detail the lesson plan and make sure that some extensive use of a different classes material is listed and maybe suggested as a prerequisite or a class to be taken side-by-side. I was a little disappointed in how things were weighted. I would have liked to have had more individual assignments during the design process that were weighted a little higher. I just feel that during the group work, most grades started to converge into one another and it was hard to try to get a higher grade due to group grades. I was a little disappointed with the time-line of the class. It seemed like there was tons of “down” time when we could have been conversing with groups and maybe finding out more about the specifics of the project instead of doing just fredparcs. I also was uneasy with the fact that we did shop training at the beginning of the semester and then didn’t use it until later. I feel that many people avoided using the machines because they felt they couldn’t use them correctly because they had forgotten their training.
I was very happy with what I learned in this class. Now at the end of class I feel very comfortable with almost all of the machines (still have to work on my feelings with the lathe) and I feel very comfortable asking either Bob or Marv any of my questions. I first was afraid of them due to their tough appearance and I was afraid that I might be judge with my lack of experience, but they were more than happy to answer any questions or give suggestions. I think I could have improved my performance by learning more about the lathe instead of shying away from it and letting someone else do it. I also could have let others do some of the required work instead of just trying to take it all on myself. I felt that the best way to get anything done correctly, was to do it myself, which wasn’t a good team mentality.
I am also excited by how much experience I have with Solidworks. I have applied to a few internships already with a very confident feeling because of their explicit need for someone who knows Solidworks. Learning how to read a tap chart and know what the best kind of gear or screw would be for a particular kind of job will definitely come in handy in the later years. I was a little upset that some of the homework didn’t include questions like “I am doing a particular project, what kind of bolts or size holes should I use and explain why” because I feel like that would have helped with the machines to give us a forward looking view when designing.
I am very glad I took this course, thank you again Professor Hart