Senior Projects

For the second day of my senior project I was once again working in the manufacturing building of the company I am interning for. Today was more hands on than the first day, and I was working in the shop with one of the employees using the CNC machine. The guy who is organizing my internship is basically having me go through the process of creating a cabinet, learning a different step each day. So on the first day I learned to make the design, and on the second day I cut out the rough frame of designs on the CNC machine. The work mainly consisted of loading the wood onto the machine, putting in the specs for the pieces we needed, then letting it cut, and then sorting the pieces after they were cut and rinsed and repeated for the rest of the day. I learned a lot about how the machine actually works and how to operate a machine that large as well as being safe with the equipment we were using. A photo of the machine is attached below.

For the first day of my senior project I went to the manufacturing building for the cabinet company I am working for. When I got there I met some of the workers there and got a tour of the shop and was walked through the basics of the process they use to fabricate their cabinets. After that I spent the rest of the day working with and learning how to use the design software they use to make the designs and specs for the cabinets. Since I’m not a trained professional I couldn’t design actual projects there were working on, but I learned how to use the software and the basics of how to create a 3D space. I spent the time experimenting and figuring out how to create different things until I had a 3D rendering of a complete kitchen and dining space. Although it wasn’t an actual project, I learned a lot about what it takes to design a real piece of cabinetry and the amount of work that goes into making everything perfect and fit the way it is supposed to.

This was a successful week interning at the Carrollton Bank. Some key points I learned throughout this week was:

-How a company operates

-How a bank makes money

-How to audit taxes and credit

-more about banks in general

Im starting to learn a little bit more about what business actually is. The “glamour” part of business like the cars, houses, vacations, etc are the tip of the iceberg. Underneath that is a whole lot of customer service. I hear everybody say, “make your clients feel at home”, “repeat business”, etc and to see that in front of you is a whole different experience than hearing it.

I spent the first week doing the same thing every day. I interviewed my neighbor, Arlys, in the morning and went over to Makerspace in the afternoon to work on the comic stencil.

Arlys has been telling me about her childhood, her time teaching at home and abroad, and all the places she’s traveled to (Japan, England, Norway, Germany, and Egypt so far). I’ve known her for a really long time, and I’ve been enjoying spending this time with her. I’ve been recording the sessions in my phone’s voice memo app and am using Otter.ai software to transcribe them so I can easily find information later on. I still have one more week left to collect more stories from her, and then I will start sorting them and drafting illustrations. It’s too soon for me to predict what my finished product will look like, but I have a really positive feeling about it.

I’ve attached some pictures of the stencil below. The final product will be made out of clear acrylic and will have more variety of pieces, but I’ve been making my test versions out of wood in order to not waste plastic. This is version 1.2. I made notches in the frame to help each long piece stick in place, and created a scale on the side to help divide the spaces into halves, thirds, or fourths. I have one more week left with Makerspace, and I’m predicting that it’ll get done then. Once it’s finished, it will help me a lot when I’m drafting my neighbor’s interview project (and other things!).

Most days I have free time before I go over to my neighbor’s house and before I leave for Makerspace, so I’ve been using that time to read some poetry books that I borrowed from someone. In one of the books, The Sounds of Poetry by Robert Pinsky, he advises readers who want to study poetry “to identify a poem one loves, to read it aloud, perhaps to write it longhand or type it out, and to get at least some of it by heart… For an art is best understood through careful attention to great examples.” So, I’ve been following that advice this week. I’ve glanced through The Darkness Around Us Is Deep by William Stafford, Howl and Other Works by Allen Ginsburg, and Dream Work By Mary Oliver. When I see a poem that I like, I’ve been writing it in my journal and marking the sounds that stick out to me. When I get the chance to write, I do. I’m not a poetry expert by any means, but I’ve really been enjoying this opportunity to develop my ear. (This part of the project will be ongoing.)

Week 1 

Monday (3/29)

• Tour 
• Received back back and laptop 
• Sat in on a zoom meeting with a rep from a tile company Moza presented new products 

Tuesday (3/30)

• Organized Interiors library, able to learn some materials better

Wednesday (3/31)

• Meglio group product update (lighting) 
  • Representative presented new products

• Commerce bank meeting 
  • Interior team meets with clients 
    • Different layout/floor plans 
    • Discussed different options (bigger conference rooms, where to put lounge, bigger pantry ect.)  
• Organizing fabrics in library 
• SLCL HQ (Saint Louis County Library Headquarters) Presentation
  • 3 different layout options of library 
  • Where is the courtyard going to be? Should in the front or the back of the building? Kids by the road, “No”. Where should the Main entry door be? Is the door easily accessible to older patrons? What direction should the building face to get the most sunlight. What will attract most foot traffic? Where can people access the event space without having to go through the library within hours?

Thursday (4/1)

• Graphics meeting for SLCL HQ
  • In this meeting, we met with a graphic designer (over zoom) and went over different design ideas for different walls in the library. For example, we talked about how the color in the wall will match the color in the floor and furniture
  • Different graphic options such as wall designs, colors, and photos. 
• Organize Library 

Friday (4/2)

Learned how to 3D print models for project presentations.

On Tuesday I worked on the marketing and branding side of karting along with putting together a binder filled with all the notes and mechanical things I need to remember. Wednesday we took apart a carburetor and learned how to clean it properly and adjust each setting. Thursday I helped Bobby work on a costumers kart and then worked on mine. Overall it has been a very productive and informative past couple of days.

Today I worked with a credit analyst. This was a unique insight on how to avoid taxes. I learned a lot. I learned the pros and cons to different ways of avoidance. Credit analysts, obviously, analyze the credit. This means that if a person or business’ numbers are super low or negative. It is their job to figure out why. This is important because that why goes into calculating if they will get the loan or not. Both jobs (as a teller and credit analyst) is almost like running the financials for the Makerspace Business Club. Tellers handle the transactions which is basically what I did. Every Wednesday I looked over the material buyers list and balanced the payments. This means I made sure that the payments on the sheet matched with the payment in the book. If they didn’t (which was almost every time) I would go and figure who has not paid or marked that they did pay.

My time at Granada is going well so far. I did miss the first two days due to a funeral but the third day has gone well. We talked about many things involving the business, for example what his goals have been for the past years, what the sales actually were, and staying on top of bills and inventory. I also have been working on a cycling club for the owner and drafting emails to potential members. Along with that, I’ve answered the phone and talked to many customers. It’s been very good and I think my time here so far has been very helpful to me and the owner.

My first day at Lamar Johnson Collaborative was very eventful. I was able to sit in a couple meetings with representatives from company’s who were giving product updates. I met some current Maryville students who are currently taking the interior design and architecture course that I enrolled to for Fall.

The second day I spent the entire day in the interior library putting things back in the proper spots. I helped complete some project binders to put on the shelf. I’m starting to email different company representatives to set up meetings.

Today I worked with Bobby Krug. We were working on a racers go kart, getting it ready for the first race this weekend. Most of the work was cleaning but we did replace some parts on the motor and re mounted the seat. Along with the mechanic work they explained some other key elements of the kart which will be very helpful when I get my kart. Overall it was a very successful first day.