3D Printed Phone/Tablet Stand
I first got into 3D printing as an interest and practice after learning about Selective Laser Sintering in my Advanced Materials class with NC State's famous metal foams professor, Dr. Rabiei. I bought an AnyCubic Mega-S 3D printer for my home use, and it's a great machine! The very first thing I printed on it was a pair of cute decorations for my wife and daughter. ♥ But after that, I began looking at things I could make for myself around the house.
Of course, a phone stand! The basic premise is simple: support the shape of the phone, and keep the CM of the phone well within the base to prevent tipping over. Pick and optimal viewing angle, and you're done! But I wasn't done with the model, of course. My first design was clunky, wasted material, and didn't accommodate charging from the stand. Now I'm on version 4 and it's slim, light, and a charger fits right through it!
Polypropylene 3D Printing
In April of 2019, I started a project to implement 3D printing for specialty chemical processing hardware in the factory where I work. Polypropylene is traditionally extremely difficult to 3D print with, and most makers and even manufacturers say to just avoid working with it. But after consulting with subject matter experts in polypropylene and through extensive testing, I have a developed a settings profile that allows me to print and handle polypropylene just as easily as ABS or PLA!
I also tried ASA, Nylon, and even Delrin filament for parts, but they proved ineffective in the harsh chemical environment required. I plan to revist ASA and Delrin 3D printed parts soon for other areas of the factory. Watch this space!
Coding: HTML/CSS/Web Development
The first time I ever made a website was in middle school! I didn't pursue it much beyond tinkering here and there, but having the background knowledge in programming and reading code has helped me many times over the years. I feel comfortable troubleshooting logic and functions.
I know this website doesn't look like much, but I wrote every line by hand. The HTML, the CSS, and the Javascript on the Physics page. I also made all the images and animations. The whole project has taken about 30 hours of my free time, but I think it's looking pretty good! Try viewing it on a smaller screen, and definitely try out that Physics calculator form.
Coding: Arduino
One winter break, I took up Arduino programming as a project/hobby. I bought a circuit playground from Adafruit, and proceeded to experiment.
Eventually, I made 2 programs for the Playground. One lights up the LED at the bottom of the board when you hold it on end, based on the accelerometer. That was just for fun, because I'm a physics nerd.
The other program, for monitoring my classroom at the time, lights up when the mic sound levels get too high, and plays a beep when the temperature gets above 75, signaling the A/C is not working.