The Story: The Why Behind Making Things Fly
I like to build things with my hands. I think building things with my hands improves my job performance as an engineer. During the day, I'm a process engineer in a factory with lots of large equipment. I troubleshoot problems and design creative solutions. Building and engineering exciting projects in my free time develops critical skills I use every day on the job.
I delivered a TEDx Talk about why I think having hands-on hobbies are so important. Here are the top principles....
How it Started
After a Rube Goldberg Machine Contest (RubeGoldbergMachineWorld.Weebly.com), I looked for my next project. I found a trebuchet contest and began researching design ideas and collecting materials. 95% of the treb is made from recycled materials (pallet, 2x4's, bearings, shaft). Challenges I faced include: finding free materials, designing safety protections, figuring out how big the arm and sling needed to be, transporting the treb with 1 person, and, of course, not hitting my house with the objects!
I Love to Help Others
If you need help building a catapult of any kind, feel free to email me ([email protected]) or look me up on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter.
I delivered a TEDx Talk about why I think having hands-on hobbies are so important. Here are the top principles....
- Kindle Creative Thinking: It's beneficial to actively work on problems to sustain the "creative juices" in your head.
- Build Momentum: Success starts small so work on accomplishing small wins first and build your confidence going forward
- Test Your Abilities: By actually doing instead of just talking, you develop faster and learn where your weaknesses are
- Igniting Passion: Find what makes you get out of bed earlier in the morning. Let that passion fuel you to do more!
How it Started
After a Rube Goldberg Machine Contest (RubeGoldbergMachineWorld.Weebly.com), I looked for my next project. I found a trebuchet contest and began researching design ideas and collecting materials. 95% of the treb is made from recycled materials (pallet, 2x4's, bearings, shaft). Challenges I faced include: finding free materials, designing safety protections, figuring out how big the arm and sling needed to be, transporting the treb with 1 person, and, of course, not hitting my house with the objects!
I Love to Help Others
If you need help building a catapult of any kind, feel free to email me ([email protected]) or look me up on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter.