Design Engineer


	Scott Dillman Design Engineer Animals and insects build structures for many reasons. A wonderful example of good engineering is that done by a honeybee. Draw an illustration of their structures and discuss the geometry that you see in its design. Why is this a good example worth investigating? What properties does it have that influence its strength? Bees create a chamber of vertical of six sided hexagon looking cells. All the bees work together to make a hive of hexagonal cells. It is worthy to investigate because bees know the exact angle to build at. Find other objects in nature to investigate, such as spider webs, sea shells, etc. What did you find out about the strength of the design(s)? Spiders create spider webs by weaving them and attaching them to something. There are strong because bugs get caught in them and stay to give them nutrition. Although someone could come by and destroy the web altogether. When items are packed and/or shipped, they are often sent in cardboard boxes. What are the characteristics of corrugated cardboard that make it stronger than paperboard (like that in cereal boxes)? Is this corrugated cardboard stronger in some situations than in others? How do tension and compression affect it? It is a combination of paperboards which makes it a lot stronger than just regular paperboard. The more combinations you have the stronger the final product will be. This material does better under compression because it is stronger than your regular paperboard. Your structure may be subject to potentially damaging shocks, such as during the placement of weights on your structure. What types of design might help your structure withstand these shocks? More cushioning might help withstand from damaging shocks like shock and vibration. More base structure would help withstand from vibration. What 3-dimensional shapes did you explore and which ones seemed to be the strongest under tension? under compression? I found that the strongest shape under compression was the tringle.The strongest under tension was the rectangle. What other questions do you want to find answers to while working on this project? No others. After working with the journalist in your group, get a copy of the interview questions and the name of one person to interview. You will need to complete an interview worksheet for the interview that you do and attach it to your research notes and turn it in with your report.	Researching for the project! Building the Project!
	Some helpful websites..... http://www.honeybee.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_web http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardboard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cushioning	Interview I interviewed my dad Bruce Dillman. He told me that corrugation would help within our cylinders since we are trying to build for strength. He also had said that we needed a strong base to hold the weight but also we needed it to be strong throughout the whole structure for reinforcement. He was very helpful in giving us ideas to work with.
	Our design was 11 1/2 inches and withstood 180 pounds. It was suitable to meet the height and weight of the criteria for the project but once it started leaning one way the whole thing went down. I think if we balanced the weight on the top of the structure better, than our structure would of held a lot more weight than it did. Some benefits to our design though were that we had in the cylinders inside the structure. Also, our walls were pretty strong and so was our base. We used a lot of corrugation and shapes inside of other shapes to make sure that everything was really strong. A weakness in our design was the leaning of the structure, if it didn't lean then it would not of fell so fast. We should of made sure that every little piece was equal and even to the other pieces and to the base. Overall it was a good, fun experience that put your mind to work and made us really think about the concepts of geometry.