Holistic Interdisciplinary Design - Everyone Does Everything (Engineering Students as Sculptors)

Truss Figure 5: Final statue concept models 3D Printed Study Model Clay Study Model Wire Mesh Study Model When the students reviewed their accumulation of recycled material and which design would have the highest probability of success given the tight time schedule, the Truss concept statue was chosen. In review, the creative experience started with the individual in order to gain a wide range of voice (16 students). And progressed into a group consensus agreement of the final design. • Individual Input – The essence of horse. This step included visit to university horse unit. • Two Member Team Design – Concept Study Models. The multiple ideas from the individuals is developed in a conceptual study model. This step included a visit to a professional artist studio. • Two Group Team Designs – The final concept model. The time constraint of the project prevented a more gradual development of the conceptual study models. And the students divided themselves into two teams, where the member of the teams had the same “vision”. • Consensus Agreement of the Statue !! The construction, installation, and removal phases were straightforward yet physical activities of Learn-by-Dong through cutting, welding, grinding, carrying, bolting, etc. The construction required a lot of welding and most structural engineering students get very little exposure to this skill. See Figure 6 below for on the job learning. Figure 6: Learn-byDoing metal construction skills. They had to learn fast and a number of decisions were made regarding the order of construction and maintaining a stable structure. Also during this phase, the students were required to have face-to-face meeting with any approval or authorization persons. The short time line demanded these face-to-face meetings which helped build relationships and trust. The construction team takes a time for a group photo, shown in Figure 7 (next page). Figure 7: Off-Site construction and break time for a group photo. It is noted that the site location of second floor of the library presented a design challenge. The freight elevator of the library was too small (5 ft wide by 7 ft high) for use. The solution was to divide the statue into the largest pieces that could be carried into place. The structure therefore needed to be designed and built in sub-sections that could be disassembled, transported and reassembled on site. Figure 8 shows sub-sections prepositioned for transport. Figure 9 shows the students move one sub-section to the second floor of the library. Figure 8: Staging the statue outside of the library Figure 9: Hand carry installation The Cal Poly Mustang was on display for several weeks in the library and was featured at the annual Green and Gold banquet.12 Figure 10 shows the statue on display. It was removed by disassembly into subsections in the same manner that is was constructed. It remained in the high bay lab while a new group of students is arranging for the permitting and foundation design/construction that will allow it to be on permanent display on Cal Poly. Figure 10: The statue on display on the second floor of the library