Kia Ora!
As you know, it’s week 9!… which is also known, for us, presentation week.. well the presentation day was on Tuesday. I found this whole project very fun and I actually enjoyed working with others, building with different designs, and learning more throughout engineering! I might become an engineer in the future, who knows!
Over several weeks, (like 6 or 7..) the civil engineering class focused on transforming a complex, real-world challenge into a tangible solution. My group was in a pickle because at the last second our needed items were finally printed after like some time that took forever.
What kind of everyday usage building would you build if you were to do engineering like us?
Starting Week of Engineering
The project began with a problem statement: Design a bridge to span a given distance, about 50 cm, support a specified load, and use the limited resources in class. This began complex calculations and creative problem-solving.
My team was called “T.T.K.M” Which are the initials based after our name (of the people in my group) and also had another meaning that says “Think, Test, Know, Make” which is a relevant topic of engineering and is easy to comprehend! T.T.K.M started by sketching various designs, such as suspension bridges with cables, arch bridges, and beam bridges with simple supports. After initial calculations, the truss bridge design was chosen. A truss bridge, composed of interconnected triangles, was considered ideal for distributing weight and preventing collapse.I didn’t choose this type of bridge voluntarily, I just noticed its strength!
Constructions and Challenges
Constructing the bridge involved detailed precision. Accurate cutting and strong joints were essential. Any inaccuracies could weaken the structure! We used the school wooden ‘sporks’ to make our bridge, along with hot glue to obviously stick it together. I wanted to control the group, (like design the bridge to something that I preferred) but knowing me, I’m someone who doesn’t want to be known as a bossy girl. I let the year 7’s do most of the work on our bridge since they want to prove their opinions right.
Extensive testing methods were used to join materials, reinforce weak points, and achieve precise angles. This process demonstrated the iterative nature of engineering! That was the civil part of our challenge.
A bit more complicated additions, we also wanted to add lights within our bridge, for the electrical part. In my other post, I’ve mentioned how I didn’t want to do civil engineering–but wanted to do electrical which my group didn’t want to do. So instead, we went with both which was quite perplexing to compromise. That was the main challenge that we didn’t face. Wouldn’t that be super cool if we added the lights, though? We were planning to add it across the railings.
Count-Down To Week 9 (rn)
The final week focused on the presentation (Week 8 – week 9 on Monday). My team, T.T.K.M, aimed to explain the construction process effectively. As I mentioned, our printing was done last second so our display wasn’t that fascinating. Our presentation was better!
Week 9 arrived, and the team presented their work. Did I mention that we also had to build another structure? Well my team all agreed that we should construct the Leonardo Da Vinci Sketch and present that next to our design. Since Leonardo’s famous bridge was one of the challenges we recently had to build (relying on tension). We used chopsticks and Blu-Tack to withhold the Leonardo Bridge, the design, load-bearing capabilities, and challenges were discussed. Our bridge (the Leonardo one) was capable of holding 2 Chromebooks! We’ve presented our projects up in the hall of Edmund Hillary School which the year 6’s 7’s and 8’s were involved within. I had tons of fun especially when I achieved a certificate of “The Engineers Of Tomorrow TENZ”
The project’s completion was satisfying, and me and my team shared our journey from the initial design to the final, robust bridge. The project demonstrated that civil engineering involves problem-solving, teamwork, and effective communication of ideas!
If I had more time or different materials, I’d definitely make a better bridge than I have right now!
Thx for Reading!
“Sometimes, you don’t need maths nor physics to become an electrical engineer, it involves things mainly like ideas or your blueprinting plans.” — Sam, who said something similar.
I’d like to give a big THANK YOU to TENZ for helping us students to do engineering, and also to Whaea Ruth for teaching us during the engineering progress!! I feel like an engineering pro after a whole term of tutoring! I appreciate their time :).
Anyways, Thank you for reading! Any questions or suggestions–Just comment them down below!
