Reflecting on ME 270 Roberto Guagnelli

I learned most of the material in ME 270 through the labs and projects. We had to add many elements of the design process into our main project and also practiced it in some of the labs. The same can be said about many of the manufacturing methods. My favorite part about the class was going through the whole process of creating a part on Creo, performing a flow analysis, milling the mold out of a piece of metal, and finally plastic injecting the part. This is a process that is extremely costly in the real world, so it is amazing that we get to experience it. There were some other topics that we only covered briefly like metrology and statistical analysis, but I felt like the labs were still adequate. I wish that we could’ve gone deeper into welding and had a lab or two completely dedicated to it where we get to actually weld. In my opinion that would have been much more useful than learning about metrology.

My worst weakness is that I am a hardcore procrastinator. It was a good experience to work with a group that liked to get everything done on time. At times it was difficult for me because my group would finish parts of assignments before I would even start, but I adjusted, and we ended up working very well as a team. One of my biggest strengths is that I am a very positive person. I would try my best to encourage the other members of the team through jokes or other methods so that we could get through the stress of meeting the deadlines.

Design for Manufacturability has been the most important class that I have ever taken. Sometimes it has not been my favorite, but it is extremely applicable to the real world. Not only did we learn information that will be used in engineering settings (Ex. Plastic molding, CAD, machining.), but the manufacturing design process and other problem-solving methods can be applied in a number of different industries and businesses that are not related to mechanical engineering. Most importantly, I improved my ability to work in teams under high stress situations.