Author Archives: Ashley Mak

Design Project Galore

Hey guys,

Sorry for the delay in posting – it has been a crazy few weeks here in Mech (to be expected, but yet, you never quite get used to it).

On Friday, I had to submit a 300 page technical report for MECH 328 (Mechanical Engineering Design Project). The project this year was to propose design modifications to the Martin 16, a sailing boat used by disabled sailors, for the Disabled Sailing Association. The project was really interesting and open-ended. We were given suggestions for areas of improvement, but the actual designs were up to us as students. The project was meant to mimic a real-life engineering project. We worked in teams of 6-8 and had weekly briefing meetings with our “supervisors” (a professor and T.A).

Unlike the project in MECH 223 (2nd year design project), this project revolved around paper prototypes. This means that no physical prototyping was required, but was still an option. Most of the prototypes consisted of iterations of calculations and simulations. Now that the report is finished, the next part of the project is to do an oral presentation. That’s coming up this Friday and shouldn’t be too bad!

On another note, last Friday, the Club Mech executives got together to get our executive/ex-officios group photos done. We all met up at Evangelos Photography studio on West Broadway and Balaclava. We took a variety of photos – from very serious to super silly. Keep an eye out the Club Mech Facebook page to see the photos. Afterwards, we hit up the Coppertank to relax and start our weekend!

What did you all do this weekend?

Ashley

On another note: 32 days until Christmas!!

8 weeks down, 5 to go.

At this time of the year, I always finds myself asking: “How is the semester almost over?!” I feel like I just started classes yesterday.

I just finished up a crazy week of midterms – I had 4 exams in one week: MECH 325 (Mechanical Design I), MECH 326 (Mechanical Design II), MECH 368 (Instrumentation), and MECH 392 (Manufacturing Processes). They are all super interesting and practical courses – if you’re in the General Mechanical Engineering stream, all of these courses will be apart of your standard time table – but I’m certainly happy that I don’t have to stress about exams anymore…Until finals.

Now, I finally have time to catch up on assignments, project work, extracurricular clubs, and my favourite TV shows. Sweeeeet.

We would love to hear from all of your readers out there. Send Siddhant or me and e-mail, or leave us a comment about what you’d like us to post about.

Cheers,
Ashley

Tis’ the season….to write midterms

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

I hope your semester has been going well so far. If you’re like me, and like most all students on campus, you’re probably in the midst of midterm season.

This week I have my first midterm in MECH 368: Engineering Measurements & Instrumentation. Basically, MECH 368 is a course about electric circuits and how they can be used to represent and measure quantities that we can apply in things such as vibration analysis. I know what you’re thinking: “Electric circuits? MECHANICAL engineers don’t study electric circuits! Leave that to the electrical engineers.”

I thought the same thing.

When I was applying for a second year specialization, part of the reason I chose Mech was because I wasn’t very strong at electrical and I thought that I’d never have to take another electrical course again. I was wrong. Each year, since I’ve been in Mech, I’ve had to take an electrical course. As mechanical engineers, we work with things and systems that move. Nowadays, many of these systems are integrated with electrical systems. It’s inevitable that, one day, you could even be working with an electrical system or an electrical engineer. These electrical courses are tied into our Mech curriculum to allow us to have a basic understanding of electrical systems; so that we can communicate with, or atleast, understand, those electrical engineers one day.

Although I still don’t particularly LIKE electric circuits, I can atleast say that I understand them and their importance better now.

For you first-year readers – I know midterms can seem like a really big deal and can be incredibly stressful. That doesn’t change in upper years (unfortunately), but what does change is your approach to studying for midterms. So a few things that I’ve learned are:

  1. Study early (Avoid those night-before cram sessions)
  2. Study with a group
  3. Ask questions
  4. Do the suggested problems the professor assigns (They are suggested for a reason)
  5. Get enough sleep before midterms!!

Midterms come and midterms go. So, whether you’re studying Taylor Polynomials or figuring out a free-body diagram for some system – remember to take some time to breathe and relax and enjoy your time as UBC student!

Best of luck!

Ashley

So you want to be a UBC Mech student…

Do you think you have what it takes to become a UBC Mech student? Huh? Do ya? Do ya?

Welcome to the UBC Mech Ambassadors Blog! Your one-stop-shop for all things UBC Mech.

You want to know what it’s REALLY like to be in Mech? You’re in the right place.
You want to get all the insider details on courses? Bingo.
You want to get an idea of what the UBC Mech student community is like? We’ve got you covered.
How about student team involvement? That’s us.

My co-blogger, Siddhant, and I are so happy to have you join us. We would love to hear from you – so please feel free to leave us comments and ask us questions!

So, bookmark this blog and join us as we continue our journey to become UBC Mechanical Engineers.

Until next time,

Ashley