First Year MET Projects
Chris and Brandon with their 2005 winning file-folder
bridge.
In one first semester project, teams of students
use their skills from Physics to design and fabricate a file
folder bridge that they then test to failure using a materials
testing machine in a testing laboratory. From Physics they calculate
how strong each of the pieces on the side of the bridge needs
to be, then using engineering principles they decide what shape
(tube or flat bar) and how large each the piece needs to be.
Once they decide how large to make each piece, they fabricate
the parts from file folders and glue them together. On the last
day we weigh all the bridges, test them to see how many pounds
they can carry, and calculate the ratio of the strength to weight.
The team that built the bridge with the highest strength-to-weight
ratio wins!
(This page is under construction - photo to follow soon!)
Students work in teams
to fabricate the engine above, that turns the flywheel using
compressed air.
During the second semester, students learn basic
machine tool processes by fabricating parts for this engine.
A successfully fabricated engine uses the energy of moving
compressed air to cause a piston to move up and down, and then
to cause the flywheel to turn. Several students work on a team:
each student fabricates several parts, then they work to assemble
the engine, hoping that each part is accurately fabricated so
that no compressed air will leak out and that the piston and
the flywheel move freely!
