About James Smith

Introduction

Hello, my name is James Smith, and I am from Stokesdale North Carolina. I am attending UNC Charlotte for a degree in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Motorsports, due to my massive affinity for cars. I remember waking up on the weekends and watching PowerNation with my father and being mezmereized by the hosts fabrication skills. After years of growing up and wandering from sports and gaming to driving R/C cars, I knew I was going to have a passion for full scale vehicles. I purchased a project car in High School to learn how to maintain, modify, and set up a vehicle for performance. I spent a great deal of time and money on my little Miata and it was an extremely fun journey. I unfortunately was forced to sell it last year, but may soon be in the position to acquire it again. I got the opportunity to drive my car and the Corvette(also pictured) at the Tail of the Dragon. I will forever cherish that trip with my father as one of the most fun and greatest achievements of ours to date.

My other biggest passion is music. As a result of me acquiring a driver's license, I began to listen to more music as I drove. I began exploring different genres and spent a year listening to bands like Twenty One Pilots and Green Day. This lasted until I saw something my older brother saved on our Spotify. I clicked on the first song of this strange white album and heard the mighty guitar riffs in Blackened by Metallica as I drove on a backroad. I knew Metallica by name and from the common radio songs, but I had never heard anything like this. This pivotal moment gave me an unending passion for music and guitar playing. I have tried to constantly improve at my guitar playing, singing, and music production skills.

Historically Impactful Engineering

I believe the three of the most revolutionary engineering designs created in the last 150 years are the automobile, the microchip, and mass production methods with tools such as CNC machines. Each of these things have made heavy impacts in the advancement of society and the increase in mankind's quality of life.

In 1886 Carl Benz applied for a patent for a vehicle powered by a gas engine. This kind of vehicle revolutionized the transportation industry across the world. This revolution was accelerated when Ford implemented assembly lines for the mass production of gas powered vehicles. The entire developed world is now covered with webs of highway systems that support speedy commerce, encourage overall economic growth, and allow people to travel farther than ever before.

The Printed Circuit Board, made in the 1920's, and the Microchip, made in 1959, revolutionized the world of electronics. After these two engineering designs were integrated and mass produced, nearly every electronic device now use both components as building blocks.

The CNC machine and CAD have revolutionized the speed and accuracy with which prototypes and products can be manufactured. CNC's are still very expensive to purchase and maintain. However, their ability to adapt to multiple applications easily is an invaluable feature.

Engineering At Home

Ordinary household items can also have a very innovative and significant design from the engineering world. For example, the "tumbler" style cups became extremely popular for their thermal properties. They can be left in very hot environments for extended time periods while keeping their contents at a very cool, refreshing temperature.

The first of these cups was designed by Frank Cotter and G. Howlett Davis, who formed a company called Tervis. The geometric shape of the cup itself is not essential to its function, but it is necessary to take the human hand and cup holder size into consideration. The real innovation is in the construction. Tumbler cups have a dual walled construction and have air permenantly sealed within the walls as an insulator. We know from physics that air has outstanding insulating properties.

Most other insulated cups have a foam, plastics, silicones or other porous material to disperse heat. However, many of these materials can be toxic when heated, which makes using such cups for hot coffee or tea a health hazard. Tumblers are often made of stainless steel and generally have better insulating properties than cups made of a solid insulator.

Tumbler style cups are assembled in factories internationally by many companies. Tervis places the components in an air sealed assembly machine that puts the components together while locking the air inside.

Problems I Am Seeking To Solve

I plan to solve many issues in Music, Motosports, and Firearms. For music I'd like to create a bridge block for servicing guitars equipped with floating bridges. I would also like to make a camera mounting solution that can firmly mount a camera to different areas of a vehicle or firearm with some degree of shock absorbtion for maximum image stability.

Time Spent

This assignment took close to 12 hours including the amount of time I struggled to set up my directories properly. After I got my files and ideas organized, the editing process went fairly well despite some duplicate uploads causing issues.

You can contact me at my email by clicking this link.