Jason Bruns
Final Reflection
ME
250 has easily been one of the biggest challenges I’ve had class wise so far
here at the University of Michigan. In saying that though, I also think that it
has been one of the most rewarding classes that I have taken. No longer is it
just working problems on paper day in and day out, but things are now being
applied to tangible items that I have had a part in building. It is crazy to
look back at where we started with this class as just a simple strategy, then
to see how it built up to a moving project. On top of that, it is also
intimidating to realize how much more there still is to learn. However, I think
that I am capable of succeeding in what I put my mind to over the course of my
college career because of the base that ME 250 has given me.
Coming into ME250 I had very little
experience with manufacturing. The only things I have done by myself are the
basic 1 and 2 programs at the Wilson center. While these two programs are
something, they are obviously very limited because they only go as far as
cutting and drilling. It was intimidating at the beginning of the semester
looking at some groups that had a lot of experience, while others had none.
Things went well though and I really think that I learned a significant amount about
manufacturing from working in the shop. The fact that our group got an early
start helped a lot when it gave us time to ask Mark or Bob for
assistance/advice when we needed it.
I also think that I became more proficient
with computer aided design. In high school, I took CAD for two years, but that
was two years ago. I was a little rusty coming into the semester and had to
learn a little about SolidWorks, having never used it, but I picked it up
quickly knowing it would be a valuable tool in life based on the emphasis it
was given during lectures by the number of times we had talked about drawings.
As far as team work goes, I really
think that our group worked well together and it was great to have that kind of
cooperation. In the past, I’ve had teams where it is chaotic and no one really
knows what is going on. I feel like something was different with our team.
Everything seemed to click. If there was a misunderstanding, it was taken care
of effectively so we were all on the same page. Yes sure there may have been
disagreements (cough*paint color*cough), but if that was the worst that could
have been disagreed on, then I have nothing to complain about with my team.
I think that the course could be
improved by possibly changing around the schedule/layout of the course. Some of
the lectures could have been condensed down so that instead of covering two
days, it was just one. This would leave fewer lectures overall and more time
for the manufacturing aspect of the class. I don’t think I’m alone when I say
that the last 2-3 weeks of the class were completely hectic trying to get a lot
of stuff done in a short amount of time. It’s not like this is our only class
so balancing this project on top of other exams and personal things was a
little stressful at times. So I think it would give a little more breathing
room if there was a little more time at the end to build than what we were
given.
Overall, I think I performed well in
the class, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t do any better. I think that I could
have paid attention more during lectures and taken better notes. There were too
many times that I looked down at the end of the lecture and then realized I hadn’t
written a thing. While I didn’t do poorly on the midterm, taking better notes
could have helped me retain things better than just cramming everything in the
day before the exam.
In the end, I almost still can’t
believe how fast the semester has gone. There was so much to do which caused
things to just fly by. I am proud of everything that I have done and I am glad
to have these experiences.
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