Self reflection: Tony DeMarco

This class taught me a lot. Specifically it taught me a lot about design and manufacturing. Coming into the class I didn’t know very much about design. I had seen someone use CAD, seen part drawings, and heard about different materials and their properties, but the hands on experience I got in this class really taught me a lot. Being able to work with CAD is a very valuable tool, but more importantly having undertaken such an intensive project like this taught me so much about all the different stages of design and what goes into a successful project. Also, obviously the experience in the shop learning how to use all the tools was great. Coming into the semester I didn’t know anything about anything in the shop. Now I feel comfortable with most of the tools, which is obviously very important for mechanical engineers.
There were many times during this semester when our group had to make tough decisions about our design. There were many times when things didn’t go as we had planned and we had to adjust. These experiences will help me when I’m designing my next project. I will be able to look back and remember what problems we ran into, and what I can do in advance to eliminate them or at least subdue them. There is no other way to get this experience than actually undertaking a big project.
I also did learn about teamwork. I have had a lot of experience in teams, including last year in engineering 100 as well as sports teams in high school. What was different about this class from my previous teams was that we really had to divide and conquer to some degree. The main reason for this was that the lab is only open so many hours and not all of us could always be in there at the same time. This made it so we had to put trust in the other members of our group to get things done while they were in the lab.
I don’t know that I learned too much about time management in this class. I did learn how to manage my schedule around the shop hours, but I thought that I was always able to meet the deadlines whether on individual assignments or the group project.
The best way to improve the class would be to have everything in place and ready before the semester starts. I understand that it was hard this semester because the class was just revamped, but it was at times tricky since it seemed as though not everyone was on the same page, and assignments where being planned the day before they were assigned. I thought that the individual assignments in the beginning of the year where difficult, but they were fair. The assignments in our notebooks however were not very clear. I took notes on Professor Hart’s ordering pizza example, but I think it would have been very helpful if that example and other examples where posted online somewhere.
I think the best thing I could have done to improve my performance in this class was better prepare for the exam. I reviewed lecture slides and my notes, but I didn’t realize there was going to be so much math on the exam. I also did not manage my time well during the exam because I didn’t realize how long it was. I also could have gotten a little more help on the first few CAD assignments when I still didn’t really know what I was doing.

Tony DeMarco