Ashley Shelton's Blog: December 2012

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Rapid Prototyping

Due to a canceled trip to the engineering department at KU, we learned about rapid prototyping in our classroom instead. Rapid prototyping is a quick and easy way that uses 3D printing to make full scale models of any design. The different methods to rapid prototyping consists of Steriolithography (SLA), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Fused Deposition Modeling(FDM), and Laminated Object Manufacturing(LOM). SLA uses an ultraviolet laser to form and harden each layer of plastic until it forms the model you have created in just a matter of hours. SLS has almost the same process as SLA, except it uses a C02 laser that forms and hardens each layer until it creates your model. FDM uses plastic to lay down layers and can move horizontally or vertically, and the material hardens immediately after being diffused. FOM glues together adhesive-coated paper, plastic, or metal laminates, and once that is finished, the shape of your model is cut out with a laser.

Mongolian Nomads - Life of Yurt Buildings

It was really interesting seeing what my teacher May Tveit did in Mongolia this past summer. She showed us pictures of a Mongolian family setting up there house in a new location. The landscape was beautiful with miles and miles of green grass behind them. It only took the family a few hours to set up their own house, which was pretty impressive. They had a few pieces of furniture they brought with them along with the structure of their house. They had these expanding paneled walls that they tied together with rope and formed a circular structure. They then put long sticks resting on the walls and all joined at the center to create the structure for the roof. They then covered their home with many fabrics and tied them in place, topping it off with a plastic covering to protect from the rain. This was very interesting to how the difference in culture played a part in how they built their structure and the kinds of living conditions.

Dimensional Innovations Field Trip

I really enjoyed the field trip to Dimensional Innovations. The stuff that they did there was so cool. They have designed for a wide variety of companies such as restaurants, sports teams, schools, museums and plenty more. Their Facility was very impressive and had every bit of equipment and space needed to design and make their own projects. Dimensional Innovations had a very fun atmosphere and design team, and I can imagine as a designer working there, you would never get tired of what you do.

Video: Manufactured Landscapes

This video was about Edward Burtynsky's work and his views on how industrial landscapes are a part of who we are and how we interact with our planet. He photographed landscapes that have been transformed by man. He photographed coal mines, and how you can see the extractions of the landscape. He photographed China's Ewaste and how it overpowers the lives of the ones who live there. He photographed oil workers in Bangladesh and how the workers never live to be over 30 because it is so dangerous. He photographed much more during this video documentary, but Edward Burtynsky is trying to get across that nobody of course wants to give up what we already have, but we need to realize what we are doing to this planet, and how it is affecting the people and the atmosphere even though we might not realize it effecting our own lives. We need to develop a whole new way of thinking in order for this planet to change its ways of doing things.

Video: Waste = Food

Waste is food: food for growth. This is the idea of turning all materials that don't compose into food for the earth. The idea that every waste should be recycled into soil and offer as a nutrient. One example given in this video was Nike. Their goal is no more waste by 2020. They have been working on a new design called "Nike Considered." This design involves recycling old Nike shoes, and putting the materials back together as raw materials to design a new pair of shoes. Another example given in this video is that one Architect is working to build factories for companies where their building acts like a tree, by recycling solar energy and oxygen, and uses purified waste water. These buildings also build respect for factory workers, gives them light, and gives them the right air quality.

These are just a few of the great ideas from this video and how turning waste into food can help our earth became less polluted and how we can design to work towards having a better and cleaner earth to live in.

Video: The Electronic Wasteland

This video was definitely an eye opener. I was not aware of how all of the electronic waste was effecting our planet. The electronic wasteland is located in China and is very toxic and deadly, containing electronic materials that lead to brain damage, kidney disease, and cancers. Along with that, the pollution of burning electronics make the city in China the most toxic city worldwide. Their air, water, and their own blood is filled with toxins. Electronic waste, also known as Ewaste, is the fastest growing component that is being thrown away. With the large expansion of technology and the new products that are continuously hitting the market, there is more and more outdated electronics being thrown away. This video made me realize that we need to think of a way to get rid of all of the Ewaste in a harmful way, along with designing future electronic devises that cause less or no damage to our planet.

Berry Plastics

Berry Plastics is located right in Lawrence, and they distribute their products nationwide. Their high quality machines made work for their employees easy. It was really neat to see their injection molding process, and how the plastic is melted and molded out of large sheets of plastic. I it was also interesting how temperature, and the process of heating and cooling played a large factor in that as well. I was really impressed with the volume numbers and amount of product they produced a year. They are open 24/7 and 363 days a year. Their company is very efficient in what they do.

Field Trip to El Dorado

El Dorado is a small, local company that specializes in architecture, urban planting, design, residential design. With only 23 employees, their office has a very open working environment to encourage conversation and team work. El Dorado demands a lot of multitasking as an employee because they are such a small company. Their great communication skills allows them to design to the best of their ability, providing their customers with the best quality work. I really liked El Dorado because of the small, open working environment and the kind of work that they do as a company.

Field Trip to Huhtamaki

I was really excited to visit Huhtamaki because it is located off of the highway I take to get to and from KU, and I have always been curious as to what their company does. When we went on our field trip, I found out that Huhtamaki is the leading manufacture of consumers for packaging. They manufacture packaging such as ice cream cartons, cups, to-go boxes, and more for many well-known companies in the U.S. I was surprised at how large their factory was and the level of technology they had. I thought their machines that put together the Ben and Jerry's ice cream cups was cool because it worked at incredibly fast speeds, and I also really liked how they tested all of their coffee cups with hot coffee to make sure they were manufactured correctly. Huhtamaki distributes their products nationwide, and it is neat to know they are located right in town.

Target: How it's Made -- Coffee Pots

For this project, we had to draw a product name out of a hat from Target and research that product to find how it is made. My product was a coffee pot. I went to target and walked down the coffee maker isle and had trouble finding just 'coffee pots' because every coffee pot available came with a coffee maker. I did find coffee pot replacements sold by Mr. Coffee, so I decided to do some research on it. It was really difficult finding how the replacement coffee pot was made, but I did find how the Automatic Drip coffee maker from Mr. Coffee was manufactured. I could not find any videos about how Mr. Coffee makers were manufactured because they seemed to keep that confidential, but the closest video on manufacturing I found was a coffee maker by Bodum Chambord. Here is the link to the video and my research on coffee pots.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPynpMNwsrc

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Cell Phone Dissection and Materials and Processes

For this project, I dissected the Motorola A455-Rival cell phone from Verizon. It was really interesting to see what lies on the inside of our everyday handheld device. I was disappointed that I wasn't able to dissect the phone all the way because I didn't have the proper tools, but it was cool to see what everybody else's phones looked liked when they were dissected.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Lite. Light. Structure. Skin.

For project three, we were to design a lighting fixture using lite, light, structure, and skin for our inspiration. With this in mind, I got my design idea from the skin of an artichoke and the structure of a knight's helmet. I liked the look of the leaves as they overlapped each other, along with the inside of the artichoke. I wanted to incorporate both sides of the artichoke, and by doing so I decided to resemble the structure of a knight's helmet allowing my panels to slide creating two alternative ways the light structure can be displayed. This project was a bit of a struggle for me because I had never experimented with metal previous to this project. I came across a few challenges while making my final product, but tried to work through it to the best of my ability and I learned a lot along the way.