{"id":355952,"date":"2018-12-20T11:54:00","date_gmt":"2018-12-20T16:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=355952"},"modified":"2019-02-07T06:39:47","modified_gmt":"2019-02-07T11:39:47","slug":"i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I am more prepared to work as an engineer\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cBending bad; axial good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chris Muir, professor of mechanical engineering, says he would be satisfied if that\u2019s all his students remember from his mechanical design course, ME 204. Translated for a non-engineer: a structure is sturdier when each of its beams bear weight along its axis, without any bending.<\/p>\n<p>However, judging from the comments of Muir\u2019s students this semester, they learned much more than that. One of the toughest courses they experience, ME 204 prepares seniors each fall to design and build prototype devices to solve real-world problems the following spring in ME \u00a0205. These culminating design projects, required of all seniors, are often suggested and sponsored by outside companies and agencies.<\/p>\n<p>In ME 204, however, the students had to do <em>four<\/em> projects, some individually, some in teams.<\/p>\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Each student fabricated and built an air engine\u2014essentially a steam engine that runs on compressed air. For many of the students this was their first exposure to machine shop tools and turning a design into a fully integrated device that actually works.<\/li>\n<li>Each student created a piece for a giant 75-piece team puzzle, which serves as a \u201cmetaphor for design team.\u201d If all the pieces fit properly, the whole class gets credit. If even one piece doesn\u2019t fit, the whole class is penalized.<\/li>\n<li>Students defined \u201ceveryday\u201d problems that annoyed them, then designed and created devices to address them. This resulted in a wide range of innovations, from a cup holder that could be attached to a crutch to improved floss-pickers and even a pen that makes a less annoying noise when it is clicked.<\/li>\n<li>For the main event, students competed in teams to see who could construct the most efficient balsa wood structure. In a two-hour showdown, teams took turns \u201cwalking a plank\u201d to prove which structure could survive the most force before snapping to pieces.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_356002\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-356002\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-356002\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/muir-mechanical-engineering-2.jpg\" alt=\"professor speaks to class while standing in front of a large collection of different balsa wood towers.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/muir-mechanical-engineering-2.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/muir-mechanical-engineering-2-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/muir-mechanical-engineering-2-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-356002\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Muir\u2019s \u201cdry humor keeps everyone entertained and focused in class and reminds us that we are all in this together,\u201d says Chris Seely \u201819. Cole Sonett \u201919 appreciated that Muir \u201cprovided endless advice and aid to the student teams and went above and beyond by checking data and re-running simulations to make sure no small errors held a group behind. This was easily the highlight of my semester.&#8221; (University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe learned a ton and if nothing else, it taught us how to handle multiple projects simultaneously,\u201d says Andrew Gutierrez \u201819. \u201cME 204 has been very busy, but because of that I think I am more prepared to work as an engineer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shira Katz &#8217;19, took a year off from school last year to work in industry, doing internships at Battelle and Honda. &#8220;It was cool to see how much of what we did in this class was important and applicable to future work we&#8217;d be doing,&#8221; she says. &#8220;It&#8217;s a jam-packed course with all types of engineering applications,\u00a0 including manufacturing, simulation, prototyping, design, laser cutting, casting, and 3D printing. And I loved how hands-on the course was.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe best part for me has been the camaraderie built between the senior class through it all,\u201d says Mira Bodek \u201819. \u201cWe\u2019ve gone through it together, especially the last week when we were all in Rettner slaving over our balsa structures. The moments we\u2019ve had laughing and crying and complaining together have been great.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hajim.rochester.edu\/me\/news-events\/news\/archive\/2018\/2018-12-18-me-204.html\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"button btn\" style=\"color: #fff\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hajim.rochester.edu\/me\/news-events\/news\/me-204.html\">See more photos from the ME 204 final competition on the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences website<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mechanical Design, also known as ME 204, has a reputation for being one of the toughest courses mechanical engineering students experience. And thanks to professor Chris Muir&#8217;s approach to the class, it is also one of the most rewarding. In one of the final competitions, seniors Haley Wohlever, Leo Liu, and Crystal Kim must &#8220;walk the plank&#8221; to see how much weight their balsa wood structure can bear before it snaps into pieces. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":286,"featured_media":355962,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11556],"tags":[31622,23312,18632],"class_list":["post-355952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-photos","tag-chris-muir","tag-department-of-mechanical-engineering","tag-hajim-school-of-engineering-and-applied-sciences"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018I am more prepared to work as an engineer\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018I am more prepared to work as an engineer\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mechanical Design, also known as ME 204, has a reputation for being one of the toughest courses mechanical engineering students experience. And thanks to professor Chris Muir&#039;s approach to the class, it is also one of the most rewarding. In one of the final competitions, seniors Haley Wohlever, Leo Liu, and Crystal Kim must &quot;walk the plank&quot; to see how much weight their balsa wood structure can bear before it snaps into pieces.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-20T16:54:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-02-07T11:39:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/muir-mechanical-engineering-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"945\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bob Marcotte\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bob Marcotte\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bob Marcotte\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0d8d271cd290d592461fa9cefca013b\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018I am more prepared to work as an engineer\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-20T16:54:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-02-07T11:39:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":589,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/muir-mechanical-engineering-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Chris Muir\",\"Department of Mechanical Engineering\",\"Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences\"],\"articleSection\":[\"In Photos\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u2018I am more prepared to work as an engineer\u2019\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/muir-mechanical-engineering-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-20T16:54:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-02-07T11:39:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0d8d271cd290d592461fa9cefca013b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/muir-mechanical-engineering-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/muir-mechanical-engineering-1.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667,\"caption\":\"Mechanical engineering seniors Haley Wohlever, Leo Liu, and Crystal Kim \u201cwalk the plank\u201d in Rettner Hall to see how much force their balsa wood structure can bear before snapping into pieces. (University of Rochester photo \\\/ J. Adam Fenster)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018I am more prepared to work as an engineer\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\",\"name\":\"News Center\",\"description\":\"University of Rochester\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0d8d271cd290d592461fa9cefca013b\",\"name\":\"Bob Marcotte\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/author\\\/bmarcotte\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018I am more prepared to work as an engineer\u2019","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018I am more prepared to work as an engineer\u2019","og_description":"Mechanical Design, also known as ME 204, has a reputation for being one of the toughest courses mechanical engineering students experience. And thanks to professor Chris Muir's approach to the class, it is also one of the most rewarding. In one of the final competitions, seniors Haley Wohlever, Leo Liu, and Crystal Kim must \"walk the plank\" to see how much weight their balsa wood structure can bear before it snaps into pieces.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\/","og_site_name":"News Center","article_published_time":"2018-12-20T16:54:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-02-07T11:39:47+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/muir-mechanical-engineering-1.jpg","width":945,"height":630,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bob Marcotte","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bob Marcotte","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\/"},"author":{"name":"Bob Marcotte","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/e0d8d271cd290d592461fa9cefca013b"},"headline":"\u2018I am more prepared to work as an engineer\u2019","datePublished":"2018-12-20T16:54:00+00:00","dateModified":"2019-02-07T11:39:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\/"},"wordCount":589,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/muir-mechanical-engineering-1.jpg","keywords":["Chris Muir","Department of Mechanical Engineering","Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences"],"articleSection":["In Photos"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\/","name":"\u2018I am more prepared to work as an engineer\u2019","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/muir-mechanical-engineering-1.jpg","datePublished":"2018-12-20T16:54:00+00:00","dateModified":"2019-02-07T11:39:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/e0d8d271cd290d592461fa9cefca013b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/muir-mechanical-engineering-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/muir-mechanical-engineering-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":667,"caption":"Mechanical engineering seniors Haley Wohlever, Leo Liu, and Crystal Kim \u201cwalk the plank\u201d in Rettner Hall to see how much force their balsa wood structure can bear before snapping into pieces. (University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/i-am-more-prepared-to-work-as-an-engineer-355952\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018I am more prepared to work as an engineer\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/","name":"News Center","description":"University of Rochester","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/e0d8d271cd290d592461fa9cefca013b","name":"Bob Marcotte","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/author\/bmarcotte\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/286"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355952"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":356162,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355952\/revisions\/356162"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}