Growing up in Raleigh, much of the talk of the town was pertaining to sports. When I, Charlton Buckler, moved to Charlotte in 2014, the same was true. However, in addition to sports, big companies pertaining to banking and power are also important if not more of a contribution to the well-being of this city. Personally, I did not know what I wanted to do career-wise until I moved here. After spending time in Charlotte, I began to hear a lot of conversation in regards to Duke Energy. In fact, while I was enrolled in ENGR 1201 Intro to Engineering, there was a fellow classmate named Daniel who worked for Duke Energy. Talking with him helped me confirm that I wanted to become a mechanical engineer as opposed to say a civil or electrical engineer.
The potential to design turbines for nuclear power plants or motors or batteries for electric cars affirmed that I should study to become a mechanical engineer. Given that both of these possibilities revolve around the topic/field of energy and power, it only made sense that I enrolled in the energy concentration here at UNC Charlotte. Currently, Sophomore Design and the Intro to Energy Engineering classes are my top priorities for two simple reasons: I appreciate every chance I get to do hands-on work, and the subject of power generation/transportation fascinates me.
The former of those two reasons is obviously a strength of mine. My persistence ties in with that. Even though I am not always keen to try something out of my comfort zone, I will do so to the best of my ability. This assignment exemplifies that. I do not have a passion for web-developing and/or coding. This project has taken me a couple more days to complete than I would have liked. Nevertheless, I determined that I would complete this project, and I would do so in a manner that demonstrated my drive to excel. As I drew nearer to completing this project, I was able to look back and see how I have grown from this assignment. My ability to code in html has improved significantly, and I am much more willing to try things outside of my realm of expertise.
While I strive to succeed, I do not always do so in an ideal manner. I tend to procrastinate virtually anything. This can be okay if it does not hinder other aspects of my life; however, my sleep has been affected. Another attribute of mine that is not tolerable in my opinion is my inability to multitask effectively. These two characteristics certainly stand out as things I need to improve going forward.
On the subject of going forward, I hope to one day work for Tesla Motors designing electric motor and battery cell technologies. This is my dream job; however, before then I would like to work for Duke Energy improving the turbines used for nuclear energy production. Additionally, getting my professional engineering license is an ambition I have, because it would be a great milestone demonstrating my proficiency in engineering. Another vision I have is to travel the world either as a part of my job or purely for pleasure. One reason for traveling abroad would be for me to compete in bodybuilding competitions. While I am certainly not advanced enough to do so now, that is a dream of mine. Finally, the last and most important goal on my bucket list would be to get married.
Now that I have covered what I hope to do in the future, let’s take a look at a short-term goal I would like to accomplish in this class. Given that the title of this class is Sophomore Design, it makes sense that I should actually design something from the ground up. In particular, I am want to design a lightweight wheel for automobiles using CAD tools. This wheel would be unique in that it would be lightweight. Its structure will be optimized in a way that requires minimal material. This serves two purposes. First, it reduces the build cost and improves profit margins. Second, it is a more efficient design; thus, it is more environmentally friendly. Another characteristic of this wheel is that its design is scalable. In other words, various sizes of this wheel can be manufactured for many different vehicles. Most likely, it will be manufactured using a relatively lightweight steel alloy. It is my hope that this product will be a helpful addition given its conscientious design.