Simple Automotive Engineering Projects

[Edward]

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My curious mind always had me set on how things work in this world. As a child, I always had a passion for cars, which grew into me undertaking engineering studies to pursue it. To further fulfill my hands-on curiosity, I started buying bits and pieces of car parts from the junkyard, and taking them apart to learn how they work.

Now my mechanical engineering education and career satisfies the theoretical side of me during the day. However my YouTube channel was built upon my hands-on skills, making clear, easy to understand how-to videos and I wanted to extend my experience in the same format to viewers.

Having chosen a Japanese car, mostly basic metric hand tools were needed. I did have access to an air compressor with an impact and air ratchet to make larger, more tedious fasteners easy to bust open.

Some of the more custom tools I had to purchase were the axle nut socket, a large socket for the transmission gear and 12 point sockets for the crank-case bolts. I also borrowed an engine crane and engine stand.

A few other notable projects were the muffler, shifter assembly as well as the steering rack rotary valve. Even I had a hard time finding information on these online to gain some background knowledge before shooting my video.

Weather and daylight is another factor that you cannot control. With days getting shorter and colder as the year progresses, schedules have to flip around to accommodate filming, which mainly happens on weekends.

While taking this car apart, I not only learned how each sub-component worked. I learned how individual components are put together, how they are manufactured, what materials they are made of, their design relative to other components, as well as the order that these pieces are installed when making a car.

There is quite a lot that goes into a car than you would even see on the final assembly line. You can definitely see why cars are designed with 5+ year lifecycles, because so much engineering, testing and manufacturing preparations have to be made!

As I reflect back on my engineering journey, today I thought of the critical value of building relationships in delivering engineering projects. Engineers are known as hardware people, we work a lot with machines, tools and equipment etc. We always look out for a vehicle that is all terrain, a computer with the latest performance specifications, the state-of-the-art equipment when delivering a project.

I offered a Toyota Land Cruiser, four-wheel drive vans with legroom as I could not find a Toyota Hilux on short notice. In the end, I called a friend with a Toyota Hilux and after a lot of convincing he agreed to rent us his car. The cost was fifty percent more than the cars I offered. We went to the field along with the client.

Our Toyota Hilux cut through those hills without engaging four-wheel drive. The client on the other hand, had brand new cars of different brand. They engaged four-wheel drive but still failed to go up some hills. Our Hilux towed their vehicle on a number of occasions. I asked the expert after the trip why he insisted on Toyota Hilux. His reply was that I have worked in similar terrain and I knew that in your market it was a Toyota Hilux to do the job. Others were Jeep, Mercedes Benz or Land rover but he was sure we could not get them easily.

This is typical of us engineers we will insist on the best equipment in order to execute the project flawlessly. However, as I have worked on a number of projects, I have come to realize the importance of bonding beyond project work. I cannot explain why but I have found that there is increased momentum when as the technical team we bond.

I was the type of person who focused on work plans, schedules and targets (the organization tools) for delivering the project. I would periodically assess the project progress and try to push the team to double their effort in order to hit the project milestone. I pushed and pushed and, on many occasions, we hit the project milestones but with a lot of yelling and threats.

A few years ago, I started forging ways to bond. It could be as simple as going out for a drink and talk about everything else except the project. In 2019, I had a project with a civil contractor from South Asia. This guy was not meeting his milestones and it was becoming a big threat to the project. It was going to spill into the next phase of electrical installation which would delay the project.

I invited a structural engineer to support us with supervising the contractor. The structural engineer came on board and advised us to bond with the contractor. I thought the guy had connived with him. Anyway, we took off time and had dinner at a caf. We talked about all sorts of things at the dinner, guerilla movements, animals, earth quakes and politics. We stayed out until the restaurant closed. Shortly after that, the guy started to do his work with little pushing and we delivered the project on time.

Therefore, I would like to propose over and above the project organization tools that is the GANT charts, the weekly reports, daily tool box minutes, etc. I have found tremendous values to bring the human side to engineering projects. There will always be opportunities to bond do not ignore them. When one of the staff has a birthday celebrate it; attend the important functions in their life; and you will be able to achieve project milestones easily and build relationships in the process. The hardware is as important as the software.

Mechanical engineers make a difference. That's because mechanical engineering careers center on creating technologies to meet human needs. Virtually every product or service in modern life has probably been touched in some way by a mechanical engineer to help humankind.

This transformation happens at the personal scale, affecting human lives on a level we can reach out and touch like robotic prostheses. It happens on the local scale, affecting people in community-level spaces, like with agile interconnected microgrids. And it happens on bigger scales, like with advanced power systems, through engineering that operates nationwide or across the globe.

Mechanical engineers have an enormous range of opportunity and their education mirrors this breadth of subjects. Students concentrate on one area while strengthening analytical and problem-solving skills applicable to any engineering situation. Mechanical engineers work on a wide range of projects, from designing engines, power plants, and robots to developing heating and cooling systems, manufacturing processes, and even nanotechnology.

Technology itself has also shaped how mechanical engineers work and the suite of tools has grown quite powerful in recent decades. Computer-aided engineering (CAE) is an umbrella term that covers everything from typical CAD techniques to computer-aided manufacturing to computer-aided engineering, involving finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). These tools and others have further broadened the horizons of mechanical engineering.

Society depends on mechanical engineering. The need for this expertise is great in so many fields, and as such, there is no real limit for the freshly minted mechanical engineer. Jobs are always in demand, particularly in the automotive, aerospace, electronics, biotechnology, and energy industries.

In statics, research focuses on how forces are transmitted to and throughout a structure. Once a system is in motion, mechanical engineers look at dynamics, or what velocities, accelerations and resulting forces come into play. Kinematics then examines how a mechanism behaves as it moves through its range of motion.

How energy gets converted into useful power is the heart of thermodynamics, as well as determining what energy is lost in the process. One specific kind of energy, heat transfer, is crucial in many applications and requires gathering and analyzing temperature data and distributions.

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Engineering economics makes mechanical designs relevant and usable in the real world by estimating manufacturing and life cycle costs of materials, designs, and other engineered products.

Technical Knowledge: A strong foundation in physics, mathematics, and mechanics is crucial. Understanding principles like thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, materials science, and structural analysis forms the backbone of mechanical engineering.

Problem-Solving: Mechanical engineers often encounter complex problems that require analytical thinking and creative solutions. The ability to break down problems and develop innovative solutions is highly valuable.

Design and CAD: Proficiency in computer-aided design (CAD) software is essential for creating, analyzing, and optimizing designs. Knowledge of software like SolidWorks, AutoCAD, or similar programs is valuable.

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