During the first week of class my group
mates, along with the class as a whole, learned about what we will be doing
this term in class. Because we will be focusing on bridge design, we learned
about different types of bridges and were shown bridges from around the world
as examples. We learned that by the end of this lab we will have created a
bridge on our own and it will be tested to see how much it is able to support
(we will also be graded on the performance of our bridge in this competition).
We learned about the various resources that we have available to use like the
videos on building a blog, different ways of building bridges, along with the
tool “West point Bridge Designer” which will allow us to use a computer to
build a bridge and test it to see how it holds up with weight on it. During
class this coming week my group mates and I will begin to discuss what kind of
bridge we want to build, maybe talk about the materials that would work best,
and maybe start a sketch of the design of the bridge.
With this project, we basically
have two tasks to complete: build a bridge able to withstand weight applied,
and also working as a team. Teamwork makes up a huge aspect of a group project
and every student knows that going into this. I think that every member of our
group is responsible enough to know that we will have to have a structured
schedule where we meet every week to talk about our goals and accomplishments.
Also I believe we all have something to bring to the table. Chelsea and I are
both very eager to learn and be able to use everything we learn about bridges
to enhance the project, and Melissa is already very knowledgeable about bridges
(having worked on a project with a Drexel professor during high school). We
also know that a way to make things easier in the group work mode is to split
things up and make everyone have their own “role” in the design of our project.
At the end then, everyone is able to bring his or her ideas and pieces together
and we will be able to smooth over everything we have to make an awesome
project. Through this term I think our biggest issue will be making time that
everyone can meet as a group. Because we are all engineering students, we have
very busy and difficult schedules and arranging time that we are all able to
meet can sometimes be very difficult. In the end we might have to give things
up in order to meet and make it work. I know for me personally, I usually go
home every weekend to see my friends and family, but this term because we have
this project I may have to give up a few weekends at home in order to stay with
my group and get work done while the business of classes and homework is slower
over the weekend. Another problem I can see our group facing is the issue of
being hard headed. I think all three of us in the group all have our own
opinions and may have different ways of seeing things. The best way of working
through this is just each of us putting our ideas out there and discussing to
decide which idea will be the best for the group and project as a whole. Overall,
I think we will have a very successful project, while also having fun through
it all. J
Kelsey McSorley
