Capstone Step 3

Our Task

For this section of the Capstone Project, we finalized our design and began constructing our final prototype. We worked out solutions to many of our issues, and have been buying more materials for our prototype. We will soon be finished with the building stage and will move into the testing phase.

Our Prototype Progress Update

We have begun construction of our project's prototype. What we have done are the two chambers for holding saltwater and freshwater, the plexiglass panels with supports, and our 3D printed funnel. We are currently waiting for strong glue to seal everything off, salinity testing materials, and a heating pad to hopefully speed up the process. As we gather the remaining materials, we are hoping to move into the testing phase as soon as next week.

Copy of Copy of Capstone Design Step 3: Evaluation of Alternative Concepts

Capstone Design Step 3 - Evaluation of Alternative Concepts

In this piece, we analyzed different design possibilities, how we could implement them, and what the necessary components and changes would be.

Copy of Copy of Revised Final Proposal - Melissa, Ally, Katie, Nathan

N.A.M.K. Revised Final Proposal

For this assignment, we compiled everything that we had worked on in our planning process, and put it together in our final proposal to show a firm prototype design that we will be sticking to.

Copy of N.A.M.K. - Email to Ms. Stafford

Email to the Stem Coordinator, Ms. Stafford

This email was sent to the STEM Coordinator, Ms. Stafford, to update her on what our project is and the budget required. We noted that we had already received all the funding that we will need, and that we are not requesting additional money.

Copy of N.A.M.K. - STEM Coordinator Funding Presentation

STEM Board Mid-Year Update Presentation

We created a presentation to share with the STEM Board and to update them on our project and prototype progress. We showed what we had done, our current agenda, and what we are planning on adding in the future.

Our Padlet

Our padlet makes up everything that we have been working on throughout this project. It contains all of our ideas, planning, and future goals with in depth explanations, images, and more. We will continue to update it throughout the semester.

Reflection

For this step in our project, I think we have done really well with constructing our project prototype. Two things that I think we did well were using our cultural competence and communication skills, and two things that I think we could work on are our conscientious learning and also communication skills. For things that went well, we have done a lot of research and looked at some additional pieces to add to our project to see how we can make our product the best that it can be for our "customers" and our community, which leads into cultural competence as we make a product that works as best as it can for as many people as possible. For communication, I think that we have done really well at communicating with what needs to get done and what we have already completed. We also know who needs to do what so that we can get everything done efficiently.

On the other hand, for things we need to work on, sometimes, we end up getting distracted in class and we need to refocus ourselves. To further this, we can better our conscientious learning skills by being more productive in class and completing everything we need to outside of class. Also, for communication skills, while we excelled in some aspects of communication, I still think we all have a slightly different view of how we are visualizing the product, and I think it would benefit us to come together to get everyone on the same page.

Overall, I think that our project and prototype construction are going well, and I am excited to continue and move into the testing phase.