For my senior capstone project, I took up the challenge of designing and fabricating a custom model of putter. I combined my limited previous knowledge of the CNC router in the SLA shop with my love for the game of golf. In the early stages, I began developing my 3d modeling and design skills. As the project wore on, I began to learn more and more about metalworking and how to use the CNC router. This later became my biggest challenge. The router is one of the more complex tools in the shop, and not many people at SLA know how to use it. Thus, there was a lot of self-teaching and reaching out to outside resources involved. Unfortunately, with two weeks left in the capstone process, the router bit snapped in hal,f less than an hour away from project completion. This caused a complete restart in the cutting process and brought my project to a halt. As it stands now, I am waiting on the delivery of the new drill bits and hope to have the project completed by presentation day. Throughout this process I have learned not to take things for granted and always plan for errors unknown and unseen. This project has taught me to fail gracefully and not so gracefully. The importance of failure throughout this process will stick with me for many years after I graduate from SLA. Attatched below are a few of my best design models. Pictured second from the top is the most up to date version.

For my capstone, I designed and prototyped a specialized gym pin intended for cable machines. This device solves a problem in bodybuilding and resistance training: the inability to perform smooth drop sets without interrupting muscle tension. Traditional pins require you to manually adjust weights between sets, which not only breaks the flow of a workout but also limits muscle engagement. My solution was to create a pin that uses a spring-loaded mechanism, triggered by an impact or button press, to instantly drop the weight and allow for better transitions. Along with it I designed a weight collar that holds weighted plates on a barbell. I made sure my designs were 3D-printer compatible so I can spread my work to the world rather than just make the devices. These devices are aimed at improving training efficiency and promoting better results, especially for beginners who may find equipment adjustments intimidating.

For my capstone, I created an Earth Day event for SLA to educate students about the climate crisis and ways to be involved in solutions. I organized an event for April 11th, the day before spring break where every SLA student would attend two workshops and learn from volunteer presenters about different aspects of the climate crisis and ways they could get involved in solutions. I struggled with keeping people involved and in attendance leading up to the event both on the presenter side and with students leaving early for spring break. Despite that, there were full workshops and students were interested and still excited to learn. Overall, it was a successful day where every student learned more about the climate crisis.