Hello everyone!
Sorry it's been a while. This summer was hectic (but in the best of ways)! Here are some updates that I'll be drafting up in the very near future:
-More about 2.007 Design and Manufacture- Robot competition
-My summer as a Summer Software Engineering Associate at Medtronic
-Updated resume
-Reflections
-Plans for Fall 2011
STAY TUNED!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
UROP: Saathi
This spring, I had the wonderful opportunity to join the Saathi team, previously known as Komera, as a UROP Research assistant engineer. I recently got the position and will start after my swimming season is over.
What is Saathi about?
Saathi is a project that has evolved from 2009's Product Engineering Processes class (2.009), Komera. It involves designing, fabricating, and assembling a manufacturing process to make inexpensive sanitary pads for women in developing countries from locally available materials. The need for this process stems from the fact that women in developing countries miss up to 50 days of school/work a year due to lack of access to affordable sanitary protection for their periods. Their makeshift methods of protection include rags, bark, or even mud. These are extremely unsanitary and often lead to the spread of disease. Our solution as a team involves using locally available material to make both the manufacturing process for sanitary pads as well as the pads themselves. We're using a pulp made from banana trees as the absorbent material inside the pads. We have been able to develop and test an innovative, integrated prototype that uses less labor in exchange for at least equal output. However, we are in the process of taking our design to the next level and adding useful features that will optimize its purpose and function.
My Job
I will be a part of a sub-team in Saathi that will develop the adhesive, sanitation, and packaging stages of the machine. More information will come soon.
NOTE: Saathi/Komera won the MIT IDEAS competition in 2010 and we are entered in the 100K competition this spring. In order to increase our chances of winning, I have decided to withhold new information and designs of our product on this blog until everything is settled out.
What is Saathi about?
Saathi is a project that has evolved from 2009's Product Engineering Processes class (2.009), Komera. It involves designing, fabricating, and assembling a manufacturing process to make inexpensive sanitary pads for women in developing countries from locally available materials. The need for this process stems from the fact that women in developing countries miss up to 50 days of school/work a year due to lack of access to affordable sanitary protection for their periods. Their makeshift methods of protection include rags, bark, or even mud. These are extremely unsanitary and often lead to the spread of disease. Our solution as a team involves using locally available material to make both the manufacturing process for sanitary pads as well as the pads themselves. We're using a pulp made from banana trees as the absorbent material inside the pads. We have been able to develop and test an innovative, integrated prototype that uses less labor in exchange for at least equal output. However, we are in the process of taking our design to the next level and adding useful features that will optimize its purpose and function.
My Job
I will be a part of a sub-team in Saathi that will develop the adhesive, sanitation, and packaging stages of the machine. More information will come soon.
NOTE: Saathi/Komera won the MIT IDEAS competition in 2010 and we are entered in the 100K competition this spring. In order to increase our chances of winning, I have decided to withhold new information and designs of our product on this blog until everything is settled out.
Finally!!! PRODUCT DESIGNing!
Guess what?! I'm doing it. I'm taking the plunge...into product design! Head first and all out. Am I pumped? You bet!! So here's a taste of what's going on this semester:
Design and Manufacturing I (2.007)
Department of Mechanical Engineering
http://stellar.mit.edu/S/course/2/sp11/2.007/ (You have to be a student to fully access this site)
Say what?
This course will be a great learning experience exposing me to interesting material, challenging me to think deeply, and providing skills useful in professional practice. A major element of the course is design of a robot to participate in a challenge that changes from year to year. There is a huge emphasis on the creative design process bolstered by application of physical laws. I'll be instructed on how to complete projects on schedule and within budget (the resources at MIT are FABULOUS). Robustness and manufacturability are emphasized. Subject relies on active learning via a major design-and-build project.
My mission:
Replicate some of the greatest MIT hacks of all time...with MY ROBOT! My goal is to score by putting police cars on the dome,by inflating a balloon under the Harvard vs Yale football game, by dumping superballs in Killian Court, and by stealing the Caltech cannon. Robots begin inside their respective starting boxes. Once time starts, my robot(s) may leave the box, but no robot may cross to the opposite side except by passing through the infinite corridor. For the first 15 seconds, your robot operates autonomously and in the subsequent 75 seconds under radio control. And I'm in it to win.
What can you make your robot out of?
Each student gets the same kit, which has the materials given to us by the Department of Mechanical Engineering. I'll be sure to post more pictures on that. If I could attach all sorts of pdfs with images and documents into this post, I totally would.
When do we get to see these babies in action?
May 5, 2011 in MIT's Johnson Rink in the Z center! I encourage you to come check it out! The competition is also known to be recorded/televised.
Coming soon...
-Scoring details
-What's going on in my head
-My strategy
-My ideas
-Rough sketches
-Progress in construction
Design and Manufacturing I (2.007)
Department of Mechanical Engineering
http://stellar.mit.edu/S/course/2/sp11/2.007/ (You have to be a student to fully access this site)
Say what?
This course will be a great learning experience exposing me to interesting material, challenging me to think deeply, and providing skills useful in professional practice. A major element of the course is design of a robot to participate in a challenge that changes from year to year. There is a huge emphasis on the creative design process bolstered by application of physical laws. I'll be instructed on how to complete projects on schedule and within budget (the resources at MIT are FABULOUS). Robustness and manufacturability are emphasized. Subject relies on active learning via a major design-and-build project.
My mission:
Replicate some of the greatest MIT hacks of all time...with MY ROBOT! My goal is to score by putting police cars on the dome,by inflating a balloon under the Harvard vs Yale football game, by dumping superballs in Killian Court, and by stealing the Caltech cannon. Robots begin inside their respective starting boxes. Once time starts, my robot(s) may leave the box, but no robot may cross to the opposite side except by passing through the infinite corridor. For the first 15 seconds, your robot operates autonomously and in the subsequent 75 seconds under radio control. And I'm in it to win.
Playing field
Are there rules/regulations?
You bet! Everything, obviously, has to be safely executed. Other rules include size limitations for your robot, all controls must be executed without any personal contact with the robot, and no crossing over on the opponent's side of the field unless you traverse through the infinite corridor. How exciting!
What can you make your robot out of?
Each student gets the same kit, which has the materials given to us by the Department of Mechanical Engineering. I'll be sure to post more pictures on that. If I could attach all sorts of pdfs with images and documents into this post, I totally would.
When do we get to see these babies in action?
May 5, 2011 in MIT's Johnson Rink in the Z center! I encourage you to come check it out! The competition is also known to be recorded/televised.
Coming soon...
-Scoring details
-What's going on in my head
-My strategy
-My ideas
-Rough sketches
-Progress in construction
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Dynamite Motor
This was my first ever mechanical engineering project...EVER!
As a sophomore who had just recently made the decision to pursue Mechanical Engineering, I am proud to say...I JUST BUILT MY VERY OWN DC MOTOR NAMED DYNAMITE! I had so much fun in the Pappalardo Lab and learned so much by the end of this experience.
Wait...how did you get the chance to do this?!
This January (2011), I was enrolled in a 4-day class called Mechanical Engineering Tools (2.670). this is a requirement for all MIT Course 2 MechE students and is only offered at the end of January (during IAP). Most MechE students choose to take this class during their sophomore year, seeing as it is a prerequisite for Design and Manufacturing I (2.007). More information about that awesome class is still to come. So stay tuned!
So the goal of this course was to become familiar with some of the machine tools in the shop and what they can do. And how did I exactly go about accomplishing that? By building a DC motor with some of my own design choices in MIT's very own Pappalardo Design Laboratory.
What good came out of it?
This was my first time building anything. EVER. Keep in mind, I had been planning to major in biology/biological engineering (aka I specialized in dealing with pipettes, incubators, bio hoods, etc.) before I discovered the magic in mechanical engineering. I had never been in a machine shop, never drilled a hole, never even used a nut and bolt! Coming form somebody who jumps at the opportunity to try something new, building Dynamite was a great change of scenery and unleashed an exciting world of engineering I would not have encountered otherwise. More than just teaching me the basics about machine shop tools (milling machine, lathe, bandsaw, drill press, etc.), this class sparked my love for building and designing.
Also I got a chance to say, "hey, this is my own motor using my own design." I made decisions on what size rotor to use to maximize torque and speed. I got to determine the number of magnets I wanted to use and strategically place them on the box side wall. I got to construct my own electronic tachometer to measure the speed of my motor using simple circuits. I got to go through the engineering process of identifying problems and coming up with solutions; although there was a lot of trial and error, I learned an immense amount from going through this process.
Electric Tachometer
SO...?
In the end, Dynamite exceeded my expectations. I pretty much went into the class saying, "if I can get my motor to spin, I'll be happy" to "LET'S GET THIS BABY MOVING FASTER!" Dynamite ended up being the 9th fastest small rotor motor (about 4700 RPM) out of about 50 motors. Sure, I encountered numerous problems along the way but I'm so glad I did. Those problems lead to the full-on engineering experience: brainstorming, designing, building, troubleshooting, and redesigning.
Dynamite!
Personal Reflection
So looking back, I am incredibly proud of myself for finally taking the initiative to pursue mechanical engineering by first building this motor. I thought I had my four years at MIT planned by sticking to the familiar biology/science track I was so use to in high school. But MIT threw me a curve ball and I had 2 choices: let is pass me by or take a swing at it. So here's to making changes in your life that may require a bit of risk, chutzpah, and spontaneity. Because if you never try, you'll never know.
Cheers,
Lauren
As a sophomore who had just recently made the decision to pursue Mechanical Engineering, I am proud to say...I JUST BUILT MY VERY OWN DC MOTOR NAMED DYNAMITE! I had so much fun in the Pappalardo Lab and learned so much by the end of this experience.
Wait...how did you get the chance to do this?!
This January (2011), I was enrolled in a 4-day class called Mechanical Engineering Tools (2.670). this is a requirement for all MIT Course 2 MechE students and is only offered at the end of January (during IAP). Most MechE students choose to take this class during their sophomore year, seeing as it is a prerequisite for Design and Manufacturing I (2.007). More information about that awesome class is still to come. So stay tuned!
So the goal of this course was to become familiar with some of the machine tools in the shop and what they can do. And how did I exactly go about accomplishing that? By building a DC motor with some of my own design choices in MIT's very own Pappalardo Design Laboratory.
What good came out of it?
This was my first time building anything. EVER. Keep in mind, I had been planning to major in biology/biological engineering (aka I specialized in dealing with pipettes, incubators, bio hoods, etc.) before I discovered the magic in mechanical engineering. I had never been in a machine shop, never drilled a hole, never even used a nut and bolt! Coming form somebody who jumps at the opportunity to try something new, building Dynamite was a great change of scenery and unleashed an exciting world of engineering I would not have encountered otherwise. More than just teaching me the basics about machine shop tools (milling machine, lathe, bandsaw, drill press, etc.), this class sparked my love for building and designing.
Sample SolidWorks sketches of the motor parts
Also I got a chance to say, "hey, this is my own motor using my own design." I made decisions on what size rotor to use to maximize torque and speed. I got to determine the number of magnets I wanted to use and strategically place them on the box side wall. I got to construct my own electronic tachometer to measure the speed of my motor using simple circuits. I got to go through the engineering process of identifying problems and coming up with solutions; although there was a lot of trial and error, I learned an immense amount from going through this process.
Electric TachometerIn the end, Dynamite exceeded my expectations. I pretty much went into the class saying, "if I can get my motor to spin, I'll be happy" to "LET'S GET THIS BABY MOVING FASTER!" Dynamite ended up being the 9th fastest small rotor motor (about 4700 RPM) out of about 50 motors. Sure, I encountered numerous problems along the way but I'm so glad I did. Those problems lead to the full-on engineering experience: brainstorming, designing, building, troubleshooting, and redesigning.
Dynamite!So looking back, I am incredibly proud of myself for finally taking the initiative to pursue mechanical engineering by first building this motor. I thought I had my four years at MIT planned by sticking to the familiar biology/science track I was so use to in high school. But MIT threw me a curve ball and I had 2 choices: let is pass me by or take a swing at it. So here's to making changes in your life that may require a bit of risk, chutzpah, and spontaneity. Because if you never try, you'll never know.
Cheers,
Lauren
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Welcome!
Hi all!
Welcomed to my design blog! It's a work in progress but stay tuned. I'll be detailing my projects through this website via blurbs, pictures, and videos.
Lauren
Welcomed to my design blog! It's a work in progress but stay tuned. I'll be detailing my projects through this website via blurbs, pictures, and videos.
Lauren
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