Our senior capstone project can be easily described as physical plans that detail the process to make a wider front entrance that is safe for Seton students, faculty, and visitors. Since we can't put our plans into action this year due to our budget and time constraints, we hope to at least have the groundwork so that future teams can implement our idea. We are using Tinkercad and scaling techniques that we've learned over the past four years in LEAD to complete our project. 

The engineering design process is a multi-step technique that allows engineers to solve problems while displaying creativity and re-designing their ideas as needed. 

For our team, we were guided by the seven primary steps: 

-Identifying the need and constraints

-Research the problem

-Brainstorm possible solutions

- Planning by selecting a promising solution

-Creating a prototype 

-Testing and evaluating the prototype

-Improve and redesign as needed 

Given these initial steps, this is how our team initially interpreted the process:

• Identify: How can we improve the front entrance and make it safer for everyone?

• Research: Gather information on Seton’s entryway and construction renovation processes.

• Brainstorm: Figuring out which materials would be feasible for the entrance

• Plan: Settling on asphalt for the material and solidify contact with the company we’ll be working with

• Create: Submit plans to the construction company to renovate the entryway over the summer. 

• Test: Not applicable in this project since no testing is involved

• Improve: Encourage feedback from the community about the pros and cons of the finished product

After we changed the scope of our project, the following steps were revised to reflect the new focus of the project:

• Plan: Start creating our Capstone PDF to guide LEAD teams of the future so they can make the safest entryway possible. We also constructed a Google Site that provides additional information they can use when starting to work. 

• Create: Using our dimensions and taking their own, future teams can propose a project and consult with a construction company to get an estimate. This estimate will allow them to figure out if widening the entrance is possible. If so, the construction would take place over the summer.

• Test: Still not applicable in this project 

• Improve: Future teams have the opportunity to revise our original plans and expound upon the ideas that we initially had for the project. Through this, they will be able to refine and improve the final design for the entryway.

The average lane size is 10 feet, but Seton's entryway is 12 feet alone. This makes it nearly impossible for two cars to make it in without scraping each other or hitting the curb (the latter is usually what happens). The rest of the entryway is a reasonable size, so we are trying to make the initial (and most dangerous part of the entryway in general) safer for students, staff, and parents to come into our school with ease. 

Project Background: The road leading into the front entrance of Elizabeth Seton High School is too narrow and doesn’t provide enough room for two cars to pass by safely, making it difficult for trucks, buses, and standard cars to drive through without hitting the curb. This new entryway was implemented by the school a few years ago. This narrow entryway is a danger, as Seton has many new drivers (many of whom have larger vehicles), and parents who commonly exceed a safe speed limit for driving through a school campus. We have received feedback from many drivers that their vehicles hit the curb on their way in and out. This issue severely affects the morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up as hundreds of students are entering and leaving. Additionally, there are no lane or road markings at or before the entrance. Through the correction of the overall size of the entryway, we hope to make the entrance permanently safe for everyone. 

Project Planning: On January 24, 2024, our team met with the Senior Capstone Leadership team and expressed our vision for the project to them. After receiving their feedback and staying in contact with them via Email, we will have a better sense of what further rules and regulations will accompany our goal of expanding the Brooks Center entryway. Dr. Grillo, Ms. McDonough, and Mrs. Hernick’s executive guidance and knowledge of the school grounds will give us more context behind the problem we are trying to solve. Until then, Dr. Fresnel has been our primary overseer and has provided us with concrete deadlines on the initial steps of the project including the problem statement and project proposal to keep us on schedule. His expertise will make our project focus more specific and clear so that our stakeholders will want to assist with the process as a whole. As a group, we will use our roles and strengths to contribute to the project equally and provide our knowledge of engineering concepts that we’ve accumulated over the past four years. In terms of change management, we will consider our contingency plans during the process to recover from any setbacks and move forward without losing any progress or delaying the result of our work.

Since we had chosen to address the entryway issues and the problems associated with the width of the road, we then concentrated on how the road affects the safety, time, and potential car costs of parents, students, teachers, and the entire Seton community.

Given that our project is based on road safety and construction, we methodically researched the previous findings of on-road data. According to sddc.army.mil, a driveway width of 25 feet is recommended for two-way traffic flow. Also, a minimum turning radius of 20 feet is recommended for the access points. In addition, it's crucial to know that the average lane size is 10 feet while Seton's entryway is 12 feet alone. The rest of the entryway is around 20 feet wide, making it easier for two cars to get in and out of the circle by the flag pole.

So, in theory, if future teams alter the current pathway to follow these recommended standard guidelines, a road will have ideal congestion and feasibility for two cars to safely pass in such a high-traffic area.

After meeting with Ms. Hernick and Mr. Barry, we were given a record of the school's plans and the information of a construction company. We contacted the company but currently have not heard an answer back. We have been looking at the school's plans and have used our knowledge of scaling and projections to create a model of our own for a new, widened entryway. Additionally, we have created a Tinkercad model that will be an asset to future teams with proper scaling. 

In our plan writeup, we also made future LEAD students aware of other issues that are related to the problem of the narrow entryway including the drainage issue in the winter, and potentially widening the parking lot to make the entryway bigger.

The plan also contains the contact information of Mr. Barry, PCM Construction, Mrs. Boursiquot, and Mr. Steward so LEAD students can have points of contact if they choose to pursue this process. We have also included instructions on completing the plan, supplemental images and videos, and more details about the project as a whole. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t8dWnk7zA13YA5b4j4q5_OF9bIKoz7VC27WpKFWLs4s/edit?usp=sharing

^^Link to the main portion of our LEAD project: our final capstone plan for future students 

As you might have noticed after viewing our website and reading our documentation, our initial plan for this project was to physically widen the entryway. Although this plan was time-consuming and a strain on the budget, we had high hopes and were optimistic for the issue of the narrow entrance to be fixed. For years, there have been many complaints from drivers in the local community about the road having limited space--so much so that it has nearly led to collisions with other vehicles and with the curb. However, as any engineer would tell you, it's rare for your plans to have setbacks. Up until this point, all of the projects we've had to do in LEAD have involved some sort of trial and error. However, this has only made our problem-solving skills stronger over the years--this instance included. 

Despite this project not being able to completely come to fruition regarding what we had in mind due to time and budget constraints, our group is extremely excited to have paved the way for a new entryway at Seton. We are confident our vision will be carried out by future LEAD students and staff. This project was a fun way to wrap up our four years in LEAD by exploring the engineering design process to the fullest.