engineer of my dreams
I want this post to be one you can read for a very, very long time š
Over the past 6+ months, youāve put your heart, sweat and tears into making something so incredibly awesome, all from scratch.
You are an absolutely amazing Mechanical Engineer with so much knowledge in the field. But at the same time, this was all completely new to you! The amount of reading and research that you did in the summer months leading up to the school year is more than most people read in their whole university degree! You found project reports that involved Carbon Fiber, you talked with different teams at your school and others, and you surrounded yourself with anything Carbon Fiber (ok maybe not Carbon Fiber itself, that sounds unhealthy). You gave yourself the tools that you and your entire team needed to succeed. Without you in the picture, none of this would have been remotely possible.
Itās one thing to know the theoretical parts of a skill, but to actually apply is a whole other skill on itās own. Guess my amazing girlfriend/wife/partner forever can do it all (I already knew this hehe) No one can take away the feeling of being able to see what you have created, and know that you made it happen!
To be honest, thereās no way I can properly explain how the whole Carbon Fiber process worked, but this is my very simple, non-technical diagram (Iām memeing a bit but its FUN)
Obviously, the mold took a lot of work to make, and the design of the Toboggan took a lot of iterations to get right. I am also completely skipping the very difficult layup process and getting everything to work with the mold. Even the process of adding roll hoops in addition to the Carbon Fiber was very difficult, especially with the geometry. But all in all, you figured it out with that big brain of yours <3
I know you also had a lot more screen time that would have liked, especially with all the Ansys work that you needed to do. Itās a thankless job with a lot of hours spent in it, but the safety factor IS ABOVE 1!!!! You did your job, and you didnāt cut corners. Even with the stressful nature of all of this, you stick to your morals, something I recognize and always appreciate :)
To do this project, you spent countless days grinding our your project in Hatch. Youāll never see yourself in Erin as much as you did this year (LOL). And of course, you didnāt have the chance to do everything you wanted in the very limited time that you had.
Now that this project is (mostly) over, this is my super, super, super BIG AND APPRECIATIVE THANK YOUUUUUU <3
Even with everything going on, you put me first. You made the effort. Even with everything going on, you wanted to hear how my day went, you helped me figure things out, and you made me smile and laugh in the process. You are my role-model in so many ways, but this is the most important one. You make time for the people you care most, and Iām so very happy Iām on that list <3 Our kids are going to have such an incredible mom, who will want to hear what they say even after a hard day. You make the effort, and it never goes unappreciated :)
Iām writing this before you get a chance to show your āconcreteā toboggan to the world. But regardless of how that competition goes, I really do hope youāre proud of everything you accomplished. Iām tearing writing this up, because you really go above and beyond in everything you strive for, and Iām so happy that you can be a role model for me as I pave my own journey as well. You did it!!! I am so incredibly proud of you, and you should be too :))))