In our recent meeting, Mr. A and I chatted about my final project for Vector. We decided that I'll keep working on my keyboard project and create a whole new one based on the prototype I submitted. I spent a good chunk of my 40 hours on this.

Mr. A suggested two things to make it better. First, he wants the project to be super polished and completed. It's not just about making it work; it needs to look good too. The idea is to have a finished product that I can show off in my presentation and that people can interact with physically.

Second, Mr. A said I should talk about how this project helps me in my job search through Vector. I need to explain the skills and experiences I gained while working on the keyboard and how they relate to my career goals. He also suggested getting validation for the project from someone like a YouTuber. So, I'm drafting an email to a YouTuber right now, asking if they could check out my unique keyboard project for the Vector Capstone and give me some suggestions to make it even better.

I took Competitive robotics, AP Computer science A, and 3D Game Design.

I had a meeting with Mr. A to catch up on life, and I shared my ongoing passion for engineering and design. I explained my plans to dive into more projects and concentrate on robotics during my senior year.

The above is an overall representation of one of the projects I worked on this past summer at Parsons. This was an independent project with assistance from my product design professor. The primary objective of this project was to learn how to independently create CAD files and operate a conventional 3D printing machine at the Parsons Design Lab. Additionally, I focused on designing and creating objects using laser-cut acrylic sheets.

This project involved a two-step process. In the first step, I created a cardboard representation of the CAD design as a rough draft. The challenge I set for myself was to assemble the cardboard without using any glue. As you can see in the cutouts, I tried to mimic the assembly of wood 3d model toys I used to build as a kid, ensuring the cardboard bottle could stand on its own. For the laser-cut acrylic bottle, I did use glue, as it would be nearly impossible without it. Before starting the physical assembly, I drafted flat 2D blueprints.

My concept for constructing the bottle involved creating a base with eight half-bottle-shaped objects, each with divots for the rings to fit together. This resulted in a well-represented version of the original bottle. Throughout the process, I learned to use Fusion 360 and Adobe Illustrator, which proved to be complex and challenging but overall rewarding. Operating the conventional laser cutter was also a task, but I successfully completed the project, obtaining my 3D-printed acrylic pieces and assembling them with super glue.

It's worth noting that CAD designs don't always work as intended since there were some accuracy issues with the laser cutter. Turns out all my half-bottle-shaped pieces were slightly larger than my original CAD values due to the laser cutter's limitations. This challenged my engineering mind, and I’m faced with adjusting the size of all my cutouts since the laser cutter lab was closed for the week. I found myself performing a very robotic task of pulling out a file and carefully filing down all the cutouts to ensure they would fit into the base I had created.

When I realized that manual filing would take an eternity, I decided to take a trip down the street in New York City to buy a Dremel specifically for this job. This experience highlights the everyday troubleshooting that comes with the life of an engineer.

Overall, I consider this project significant in my engineering journey. It allowed me to refresh my fundamental CAD skills, and develop a design perspective for certain objects, and was an enjoyable endeavor. I still have this bottle to this day.

After using my first keyboard, I decided to give it a little upgrade. I wasn't happy with how the keyboard looked right out of the box since I was being cheap and didn't want the buy the full set. (I just gathered all the materials I needed to make it functional) However, I had an idea in mind from the start to make it look good. I decided to 3d printing the middle layer of my keyboard (Something that I don't have on my board right now). I decided to download the stl file that Keeb.io had on Github, and use the original middle layer design as a size grid for my own design. I tweaked the original design so that I can add tenting legs (something that will go into the case to make it stand) later if I desire. After doing that, I sent Mr.V the stl file and asked him to print it for me to see if it works. Turned out almost everything is fine but I just have to sand down a little part of the board to make it fit. I was able to explore 3d designing again during this fun little upgrade, and I think this is something that I love and will explore more of in the future.

I talked with Mr. A during mod one on the 25th about my plans for my sophomore year. I filled Mr.A with what I did over my summer break. I told him I studied Python, HTML, CSS, and Javascript during my two camps, and now I've decided to major in Computer science. I also said that I want to minor in art as well. Art is something that I adore and want to proceed with in the future. I was then asked about my plans for sophomore year, but I didn't have any at the time since I was busy Adapting to the new year and changing my schedule. I told him I don't have anything in mind, and then he told me that what I can do is look for opportunities, and lectures outside of school related to CS and robotics. Then he talked about the engineering tasks and the capstone project. I've made a quick decision that I want to work on a Jewelry website for my mom for my engineering project. My other decision was that improving glave would probably be my capstone project, and my engineering project will help me prepare for that. That was about it for the meeting. I'll continue to talk to Mr. A about my ideas and move forward in my chosen direction.