This ME 250 course has been an extremely demanding class, both in the amount of time and effort I was required to put into it. I have put more effort into this class than I have any other class so far at the University of Michigan. That being said, I also feel like this class has been the most rewarding to me, and this class in particular is what really made know for sure that mechanical engineering is what I want to study and do for the rest of my life.
I have learned a tremendous amount about the design and manufacturing from this class. First of all, I really enjoyed learning how to use CAD. I had only taken one basic CAD class in high school, so I had some background with CAD, albeit very little. After finishing this course, I know have a thorough understanding of CAD and can use CAD to produce a wide range of parts and drawings. Also, I came into this class with absolutely no machining experience. It was intimidating at first, but after learning from Bob and John in the shop, the manufacturing labs in class, and my teammates, I was able to learn a whole lot about the various machining processes, and I felt confident in my ability to manufacture parts towards the end of the semester.
Also, this course improved my time management skills greatly. In order to complete all of the labs, homework assignments, and project work demanded of our team, we had to plan ahead in order to ensure we had enough time to complete all of our assigned work. Creating our group schedule really helped our team be able to accomplish all of these tasks, and is something I will definitely use in the future for other group projects and individual assignments or work I need to accomplish. Also, with regards to assignments for my other classes, I had to plan ahead to accomplish these because of the enormous amount of time required by this ME 250 course.
From this course, I have also learned how to work with teammates better and how to be a better teammate in order to make a better team. When working with a team, it is important to understand that I am not the only person on the team. Sometimes, it is better for one member of the team to step back and listen to your teammates, because no one person is always right. By listening to every member’s opinions, only then can you create a good team experience and produce the desired results of the group’s efforts.
Although this was a great course, I believe it can be improved in a number of ways. First of all, the majority of the time I put into this class was in the machine shop. I feel as if the lectures about the machining process did not do enough to prepare me for this. The two labs we had were very helpful; however, I feel as if they were not enough. Having more machining labs such as these would help greatly to teach students how to use the mill and the lathe. Also, I think linking the lectures to the projects would also be a lot more helpful. I feel as if this class is two separate halves; a lecture and a lab. Connecting the two better would make for a better course.
In order to improve my performance in this class, I feel as if it would have helped to have prior machine experience. Because I had no prior machining experience coming into the class, I feel as if I was sort of thrown into the fire with respect to machining the parts that were expected of me. If it weren’t for my teammates’ experience and patience to help me, I feel like I wouldn’t have performed as well as I did. My lack of experience also made me feel like I couldn’t help my team that much. If I would have been able to get over this and be more willing to dive right in, I feel as if I would have learned more and been a better help to my team.
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