My capstone project, First-Aid Cabinetmaking, has multiple inspirations and reasons as to why I chose to pick it. I very much wanted to combine my engineering experience with my passion for Medicine and making an impact on others’ lives. At the same time, I strived to give back to the community I’ve been a part of for 4 years before leaving. The resulting factor led to me choosing to build a first-aid cabinet after also realizing there was no emergency equipment on higher floors. One of the driving factors in choosing a woodworking project was that I wanted to build my skills in the engineering shop with machinery or hand work since covid held me back from that.

To be honest, I was tired of just using traditional screws and drills. I wanted to use my hands more so I won’t have to rely too much on the quality of the wood or machinery like the CNC. This led to the decision to use a router to make mortises/dado joints and rabbet joints to connect all of the shelves and cabinet framing together. This took the most time by far but I think I improved on the most seeing as I had never touched a router beforehand. I hope that others in the future can look at this capstone and be inspired to pursue something which combines their interest. I also hope they can be proud of how much their skills would have improved just like I did.

Annotated Bibliography:

Abstract

My capstone project is called The Dustless Chop Saw Table, which is almost exactly what it sounds like. If you don’t know what a chop saw is, it is a vertical cutting stationary saw used to cut individual sections of lumber and other commodities to length. In my opinion it is one of the most important tools in the shop, probably second to the drill press. Many of our projects require sections of wood, or foam which many times Kamal has us use the chop saw to cut our material. The table is around 10 feet long and 4 feet deep, very large, so I designed it in a way to have it slide in between a pillar and an air exchanger. It has 3 main parts, the left and right cutoffs and the dust hood. The dust hood is essential to keeping the dustless part in the name because it keeps all saw dust, foam particles and anything else from getting into the air exchangers and around the shop. The reason I am doing this is because Kamal needed a new setup for the chop saw, the stand for the saw was not helpful, it was loose and weird shaped. Kamal wanted something new, so I stepped forward. The process was extremely long, with many times I found myself not wanting to continue because it was so tedious or time consuming, but I powered through. With tons of material cut, and tons of hours it was complete.

Annotated Bibliography

https://docs.google.com/document/d/13yAAWzVDY_JidpvqJZOUH8EgwVvjlkZV_5cSpwOffkI/edit?usp=sharing

Throughout my four years in SLA, I had many defining interests that led me to be the person I am today. However, while racking my brain for answers I landed on three main topics engineering, sustainability, and the arts. These three subjects were pivotal, so I decided to bridge all three. So I went to find to seek items that aren’t seen necessarily as art and use the skills I honed and developed in engineering to give them recognition. This all came together in the form of a bench. This bench was made in response to the culture of fast furniture and the constant cycle of chairs that can’t be recycled being thrown away and bought to replace them with the use of harmful chemicals, with the finishes, adhesives, and treatments used on furniture emitting gasses even after leaving the production. So with this project, I hope I can show others that we can add to spaces without creating waste all the while using the materials all around us.

Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11iHJLTqgkbGGfpy7YGrgXy9Ol3pTmEgC1rI8l91cRcM/edit?usp=sharing

My capstone, in short, is a website that helps aid with the learning of AP Physics C, Mechanics.It covers many topics, with each page having its own specific topic and problem set(s) to go with it. Each page covers the knowledge needed in that specific topic, with a problem set(s), and the answers with work provided. This will allow the student to test their knowledge after covering the new information they obtained from the website and figure out their understanding. I call this an aid, because the website itself cannot “teach” a student everything they need to know about this course. It is designed to aid students in studying for the AP exams, by going over many of the topics present and using it to review along with the problem sets.

I saw this as something needed in SLA specifically because there are no AP courses available to students. Most college students, especially those in prestigious schools, had already taken numerous AP courses in high school, and they already got a feel of what college-level work looked like. I only knew what it felt like to take a college-level course because I did dual enrollment at the University of Pennsylvania, but not everyone has access to that type of resource, and not everyone meets the requirements to apply. I knew I had to create a widely accessible, and free resource for those students who wanted to take their understanding to the next level.

Website Link:

https://sites.google.com/scienceleadership.org/apphysicsc-mechnics/home?authuser=0