My Senior Project

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I began my project relatively late in my senior year, much to the sorrow of my mentor and advisor. Nevertheless, the point of our senior project is to showcase what we plan to do or study after high school. Ever since I was little, I always wanted to become an engineer; so for my senior project, I decided to build a 3D printer. I chose to build a 3D printer because I believe that it was a great way to demonstrate what I would be doing as a Mechanical Engineer. My mentor was actually the one that suggested to me that I should build a printer in the first place. Mrs. Garski was my Principles of Engineering teacher and she saw that I was struggling to decide what I should build for my Senior Project. Combined with the fact that it was her who gave me the idea in the …show more content…

I presented my plan and parts spreadsheet to Mr. Malley and explained how the printer could be used for educational purposes to any of the STEM-related classes that we have at my school. I wanted my project to have the ability to inspire a student to pursue a career in the STEM field like I was inspired to do by the STEM classes at Meridian High School. After Malley approved my project funding, and the parts were delivered, it took approximately 30 hours to completely build the printer. The most difficult part of the build process was definitely the wiring; it not only took the longest, but I also had to redo the complete circuit board three times before I finally got everything connected and working properly. After testing to make sure that the z,x, and y-axis were all working and moving accurately, I tested the heating on the hot bed and extruder to find that both were not working at all. Following close inspection, and some help for the computer technician at the school, I discovered that the thermistor connects to the extruder had broken. I am now waiting on a replacement part from the company, it should arrive any day

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