Bridging the gap
The Yr10 engineers are discovering the key to successful bridge design through a practical miniature bridge building project.
The winning design so far has been produced by Jennifer Frawley and Hasnain Altaf. The bridge is currently supporting a very impressive 16kg of load without breaking!
Yr 7 Pot stands – Woodworking skills
The year 7 Pot stand project is nearly completed. Students learned new practical skills using a variety of traditional hand tools and some workshop machinery. For the majority, this was the first time they had done any woodworking. Particular highlights were using the sanding machine and making cross-halving joints with a chisel and mallet!
GCSE Engineers catapult their way to victory!
Y10 Engineers were tasked with designing and building catapults to throw a table tennis ball the furthest. Some great designs from Mr Parker’s class, but Mr York’s class trumped the competition by a long shot, with Jay Han’s design throwing an impressive 8.6 metres!
The elements of 3D printing…
This semester’s product design elements group have been testing out and realising their 3D CAD skills by using the department’s new 3D printer.
Tasked with designing a creative and original phone stand, students applied their CAD/CAM skills to produce these impressive outcomes.
Designers of the week – “Pointing” in the right direction…
Ann and Anna (Y10) of the 3D Product Design Elements class took on a nautical theme this week in the “Speed Innovation Challenge”. Students were tasked with designing an making an innovative product from a set list of materials, with only 3 hours to brainstorm, design, develop and manufacture!
All outcomes were impressive given the time and resource restrictions, with two designers, Ann He (10E) and Anna Choi (10W), sailing away with the most intricate design. They produced an ornamental, nautical compass from only two of their available resources (sustainable minds?) and applied some advanced metalworking skills (on the metal working lathe) to engineer precise fittings for their compass.
Each pair will be applying their best sales tactics to try and persuade the remainder of the class to invest in their product, based on their competitive marketing strategies. Will it be sink or swim for the designers of the week? Find out next week!
Illuminating designs…
Here are just a few of the great lamp designs that are being produced by year 9 DT students.
The lamps were to be designed flat-pack, and assembled by the end user, adding an extra challenge to the project. Students developed skills in creative design, CAD/CAM and electronics.
Featured designers this week are Tiffany Chong, Christophe Hatterer, Ryan Krishnamohan and Megan Lam.
Yr 9 Lamp Project -designer of the week!
Well done to Shaun Tan in yr 9 for being the first to complete his acrylic lamp. Shaun has developed many skills in this project, such as creative design, CAD/CAM (laser cutter), vacuum forming, hand tools and electronics. All in all, a great job and a great final product!
Defying Gravity – Happy Chinese New Year!
Parents of our new set of creative designers in 3D Product Design Elements course will be pleased to see what might be coming their way this CNY with some gravity defying wine bottle holders!
This CNY themed design was made by Jasmine Chan in 10E. Well done on a great seasonal design!
Other great designs featured are: Jaimie Vine, Lewis Ng and Charlotte Donoghue.
3D Product Design – Entrepreneur Challenge!
Identifying the Problem
Having developed many practical skills from the past few months projects, the elements product designers have begun their “Entrepreneur Challenge”.
Design Brief: “New products are coming on the market everyday, but aren’t always successful. You are to come up with a new product that will fill a gap in the market, and be able to generate profit.”
With a Dragon’s Den/Shark Tank-esque panel to pitch to at the end of the semester, the groups have identified their problems and are working through the design process to come up with a viable solution to their identified problem.
Some of the problems getting solved/products being developed are:
“Mac charger cables breaking at the bend”
“Locker tidy”
Initial Designs for a smartphone holder
