Student Work

Top 5 Constraints – Radial Solenoid Engine

Aesthetic: This is the most obvious constraint of my project since it is for this class. My aesthetic is steampunk, So I would like the design to feature metallic finishes and exposed mechanisms. Manufacturability: I would like to make as many of the parts of this project in the machine shop as possible. THis means…

Main Project Aesthetics – Plans and Alternatives

After looking for some inspiration and doing some research, I decided on making my project fit into a utilitarian aesthetic. To me, this means that the design should be simple and straightforward while also providing a lot of functionality and use. This aesthetic involves a simple look and could mean “what you see is what…

Top 5 Constraints: Tripod Chair

My top 5 constraints for my project will be: Aesthetics: A tripod chair can vary from looks and fit into many different aesthetics. For my project however, I want to limit the design to a very simple and rugged look and fit into an aesthetic that suits that look. Size: I need to make sure that the…

Final Report Part 1 2020 – Tripod Chair

INSPIRATION For my final project, I decided to make a simple but functional tripod chair. When doing research and looking for some inspiration on what I could do for my project, I stumbled onto a video showing how to make a “DIY” or “do-it-yourself” tripod chair. This video showed how to make a simple tripod…

LED Snowboard – Final Report 2

After the COVID-19 restrictions my next step was to reassess my capabilities of finishing this project. I had already acquired the Arduino I needed to get the motion sensor working and was beginning the code, however due to delays the accelerometer needed to make the motion sensor work was delayed in shipping so I was…

Final Project p.1 – What and How

My main project is a desktop toy that consists of three independently rotating concentric rings, with each of the rings holding different elements, again playing up the Kawaii aesthetic. (Kawaii exploration and definition here). The outer and middle rings have holders for mylar buttons, the outer ring having buttons of ~1” diameter, and the middle…

Final Project part 1 – Hedgehog Phone case

For my final capstone project, I made a 3D-modeled phone case, inspired from the spikes of the hedgehogs. I wanted to make a phone case that help people to stop using their phone, and end product did fulfill my initial expectation. The back is made of movable spikes with a mechanism inspired by lego. And…

Final Report 1 – Aircraft LED Sign

For my final project I designed an LED neon sign. This was not my original design; until mid-March I had planned on constructing a wooden propeller. My original project was inspired by my love for aviation. The propeller is a classic symbol of aircraft; it is even used to symbolize the heritage of air power…

Final Project Report: Part 1

My final project took  a lot of inspiration from my previous Upcycling project and the chicken wire frame I had used – I enjoyed the usage of the material both in terms of manipulating it into a form I desire, as well as the intricacy and detail a wire frame can offer. Moreover, with a…

Final Report Part 2 – Steampunk Headphone Stand

Post the COVID-19 situation, everyone had to reassess their scope for the project due to the lack of resources and equipment for them to finish the project. For me however, things have been so good far because I had finished my procurement process right before all of this started. To brief you about the procurement,…

Final Project Part 1 2020: Hand-Making an Electrical Guitar

Time-lapse of Electrical Guitar Construction thusfar, sorry about the watermark, i’ll try to fix it in part 2, open to suggestions with free software: I. INTRODUCTION The following report will entail the specifics of the Final Project in MCEN 5228: Aesthetics of Design, instructed by Professor Jean Hertzberg. The report will detail the documentation from…

Final Project Report 1: Hoodie

Inspiration When I had first started thinking of inspiration for this project, I wanted to work with something I enjoy and am passionate about. I started thinking about all of the opportunity behind clothing, and how you can make a piece of clothing out of really any material if you design and construct it right.…

Final Report Part 1: Cardboard Grabber

Introduction This post I will discuss about my original plans to pivot once the it became clear during the COVID closures that my project would not be able to be completed to fit my vision that I set out in the previous weeks. I had planned to design a 3D, wearable arm that went from…

Main Project Part 1: What

Inspirations In this course, I was incredibly inspired by our discussions on furniture. To me, it seemed like furniture was one of the first modern crossovers between art and craft. My inspirations in modern furniture are wide-ranging. Early modernists such as Gerrit Rietvild, the Eames’ and the Bauhaus are particularly impressive to me Additionally, contemporary…

Aesthetic Roots – Minimal Clothing

The aesthetic of minimal clothing come from the modern and minimalism movement. For me I think has been instilled in me from certain clothing brands such as vineyard vines ( pictured below). They have very small symbols typically or just one. It gives that simple and clean look that I like and that I want…

Final Project part 1 – Nightstand

I had to come up with a Plan B due to the limitations imposed from the Coronavirus safety precautions.  I was planning on making a nightstand I could use in my apartment, but once the school wood shops closed I had to come up with an alternative project.  I decided to make a virtual rendering…

Final Project Part 2: Desktop Vortex Waterfall

Final Project Report Part 2: Vortex Waterfall CAD rendering of the device with the red LEDs on Introduction As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, I decided to re-scope my project. Instead of manufacturing anything, I decided to use the past few weeks to really focus on the design and create renderings and an animation of the…

LED Snowboard – Final Report 1

For my final project in aesthetics of design I decided to make a motion changing LED snowboard. I got this idea when I was on a snowboarding trip back in January and thought about how I could make my snowboard more attention grabbing. I also considered night boarding or late afternoon boarding when the sun…

Rustic Ocean River Table – Final Report Pt. 1

Abstract  This main project was done for the Aesthetics of Design course taught in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Colorado Boulder. Initially the requirements for the project were that it could be anything we wanted, as long as it had some sort of dynamic component (or something that changes with time) and…

Final Report Part 1: Desk Toy

My final project for this class is a scaled back version of the desk toy I originally planned to make. In this first part of my report, I will go into my original vision, how I had to pivot, and where I ended up in the end. The second part of the report will dive…

Final Project

 What’s up everyone?   Crazy that I’m writing this from my living room table, now fully defined as my at-home workspace. Depuis la confinement a commence il a ete difficile vraiment de faire la majorité de chose. Mais, je voudrais finir de fort au Université du Colorado Boulder . Par example, je voudrais créer un…

Speaker Enclosure: Main Project Part 2

See the post titled Speaker Enclosure: Main Project Part 1 for the final renders, drawing set, budget and manufacturing plans. This post is a discussion of the design process, thoughts on the semester and outlook going forward. This project has had a lot of changes in direction, but despite the quarantine forcing me to switch my…

Final Report: Rotating Floating Shelves

For my final project I undertook creating a high quality render in light of the affects of COVID-19 shutting down the school workshops. My rotating shelf concept came from Bramble and Hare restaurant here in Boulder. I changed their shelving to fit my particular hobby of collecting plants. I have designed a system that can…

Final Report 1- Aircraft LED sign

For my final project I designed an LED neon sign. This was not my original design; until mid-March I had planned on constructing a wooden propeller. My original project was inspired by my love for aviation. The propeller is a classic symbol of aircraft; it is even used to symbolize the heritage of air power…

Final Project Part 1: COVID Apparel

Inspiration For my final project this semester, I pursued wearable technology. For the functionality of the artifact I was first inspired by a collaboration with Levis and Google. Together, they designed a jacket for bicycle commuters that utilized conductive thread to recognize hand gestures. This meant you could control basic aspects of your phone just…

Construction Update

I have added a base to my rotating shelves but I cannot decide if I want to add more square tubing to make the base look like simplified mountains. Even after the Design Review I have decided not to add clear acrylic or chicken wire of any sort to the inside of the basket as…

Construction Update: Desk Toy

Since my last post, I’ve been busy collecting materials and planning how my project will come together. So far, I have almost all the materials I need. The only materials that I’m missing is whatever will makeup my trinket, but that will most likely just consist of paper and string. Below are the materials I…

Final Project – In Home Hydroponics

Originally, my plan for my final project was to create a drink maker machine that would create mixed drinks at the push of the button. Unfortunately, because of delayed parts I realized that I was not going to be able to complete it on time. Instead, I transitioned my focus to creating a home hydroponics…

Final Project 1 : Octopus Statue

  My inspiration for my final project came from the octopus. It is my favorite animal and is something that I have painted before. I have always been obsessed with its ability to move in ways that don’t seem possible. When thinking of an Aesthetic that could match the movement of the octopus I found…

Final Part 2: Floral Mobile

Timeline As seen in Part 1 of this report, I had to go through some early design iterations due to my own indecision and COVID-19. I also wanted to make time for user testing and another round of iteration once my piece was built. This caused my design process to have two main design loops,…

Final Part 2: MTB jersey

My project is a mountain bike jersey/t-shirt with an action painting and symbolism aesthetic. Figure 1. I wheelie like my mtb shirt My last post has all the details of what it is and how I made it (the whole process!). This post will contain a little more details on why I chose this project/aesthetic,…

Final Part 1: MTB jersey

My final project is a mountain biking jersey/shirt spiced up with some cool action painting aesthetic. In the beginning, I could not decide, I had so many things I wanted to make. Things raging from a custom van-life roof rack for my van, to custom horn sounds or custom rear window LED display. I finally chose something…

Aesthetic Roots: Industrialism

For my project, I’m creating furniture from industrial-type pipe. I chose to go with this aesthetic of industrialism because a lot of courses that I’ve taken and some jobs that I have worked have put me in contact with many things from an industrial world. The vast majority of engineering exists in an industrial world…

Wilderness Log Cabin Build Video

I stumbled upon this video of a man building a traditional log cabin out in the wilderness a little while ago. I think it is very fun to watch and see how the process works of him gathering materials, working with them, and slowly – log by log – building a house from these natural…

Final Report Part 1 2020: Desk Lamp

Desk Lamp Enclosure Currently, the completion of my project has been delayed by factors outside of my control. While I was relieved to hear that as of Wednesday (4/15) evening, my enclosure panels had arrived in Commerce City, CO, according to the UPS tracking number, no transit progress was made for multiple days. The scheduled…

Construction Update – Hydroponics

I have completed the construction of my in-home hydroponics system. I have also cleaned out the cooler that we’re going to be using for a basin, and cut holes for the output and return tubes. The pump was set up and now runs. I Also set up the power strip with all 4 LED light…

Final Project Part 1: Folding Coffee Table

From the beginning I wanted to make something useful and aesthetically appealing. I wanted to make a folding coffee table that that stands at different heights and compresses to be put away. Unfortunately, due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the social distancing policies, I was unable to access the appropriate tools to build my artifact…

Aesthetic Roots – Modern Hydroponics

My aesthetic roots likely ~stem~ (you’ll get that one later) from my father. My dad has a structural engineering firm that focuses on innovative modern houses. From looking at some of his projects there are a few where you are surprised by the artistic functionality of the piece; such as the glass stairs in the…

Main Project Construction Update

After design review 2, I poured the epoxy resin in two stages.  The first pour was about 1/3 of the resin and took 4 hours to reach that “sweet” spot to start the next pour.  I successful completed the second pour and used a heat gun remove the air bubbles.  I then let it dry…

Design Review 2: Epoxy Resin Art

  I have now positioned the wood in the mold and will place weights over it to hold it down. Now that the wood and mold are set up, I move to prepping the resin.  I chose 1:1 ratio of epoxy resin to epoxy hardener.  I received a blue pigment that came with addition black…

Main project Construction Update

At this point in my project, I was supposed to be done with construction, and have been able to use this week for any unforeseen issues.  Maybe I need to re-sand, or add a stain finish, or the table came out wobbly. However, due to the current state of remaining indoors, I had to resort…

Construction Update: From Dopamine to COVID Apparel

For my final project, I initially intended to create interactive apparel encouraging in-person interactions. Given the recent pandemic, I do not believe this project will have the positive impact I initially desired. With that in mind, I have decided to pivot, creating apparel that discourages contact (for the time being). The principles are the same…

Modern Jungle my Aesthetic *Roots* 😉

In keeping with my obsessive love for houseplants it makes sense that my aesthetic has to do with the way they interact with their surroundings. As I have posted before I love modern architecture. What strikes me about the following instagram posts is the way that the black and white is such an outstanding color…

Construction Update: LED Snowboard

My project is moving along and slowly taking shape. My biggest difficulty is getting the main sensor that I need to get this whole project to work. I gathered most of my materials before the quarantine hit and everything got shut down, however I was unable to acquire an accelerometer before everything got delayed. I…

Construction Update: Harajuku Clothing

With the challenging transition of COVID-19 and a change in vision for my final project, I have decided to create a piece of clothing from other clothing with the aesthetics of Harajuku and “the mode style” fashion. The combination of being expressive and confident in creating something new while maintaining a more monotone, minimalist approach…

Final Project Part 1: Speaker Enclosure

My final project started out as a simple speaker enclosure. The challenge of this project was going to be building the internal structure of the enclosure that caused sound of a certain frequency to be emitted in a manner that caused constructive interference (bass boost). While this would have been really complex to build, the…

Favorite Design/Build Video // Mark Rober

  My favorite YouTube design/build video is Mark Rober’s glitter bomb. I really enjoy his content because he eloquently describes his engineering process. As an engineer myself, I appreciate his tenacity to always learn new things and create amazing prototypes. I particularly enjoy this video because it is also aesthetically incredible. Mark’s ability to create…

Construction Update // Industrial Wedding Arch

Despite having some major setbacks due to COVID-19, decreased access to on-campus resources, and shelter-in-place orders, I am really proud of the progress I made on this project. Due to lack of access to a machine shop, I ended up overhauling my design such that I could make it with what I have. It took…

Construction Update: Stirling Motor

As the semester comes to an end, construction on the Stirling Motor is taking longer than expected and has been more difficult than anticipated, especially factoring the additional complications due to COVID-19. With that being said I have continued to try and create this project to the best of my ability utilizing the materials and…

Construction Update 2020 – Steampunk Headphone Stand

The construction update on my main project is pretty evident from the pictures attached. I am through with the whole construction process for my project. I completed it last week with the steampunk bulb installed and the steampunk gear decoration all over the product. Product Constituents – Headphone Stand Steampunk USB Fan Steampunk Edison Bulb…