During my time in the learning factory, I met and followed along with the Penn State Formula 1 team. I spent my time with the team that was building and designing breakpads, steering wheel, and anything else in the cockpit with which the driver would interact, as well as other students working on batteries specially designed for the car.

Students discuss their plans with Learning Factory head Steve White (right)

I met with Erica Lee, lead of the BDS team, to discuss their goals and aspirations for this project. At the time, they) We're working on an adjustable rack for the breakpads to sit on so Drivers can comfortably reach them no matter their height.

Erica Lee (left) and Wyatt Pease (right) look over C.A.D designs.

“I remember my first year, I went to sit in the car, and my feet couldn’t touch the pedals. I just thought that was a change that needed to happen, so we did it,” Erica Lee remarked.

Student Lucas Maloney Trouble shoots a lathe

After encountering an error with one of the lathes, work comes to a halt as a necessary part cannot be machined. “We call this machine Karen… because it’s always got some problem it needs us to figure out.” said student Michael Baker.

Lucas Maloney and a friend locate the problem with the lathe

I also met with student Cooper Demark who was working on the batteries for the team’s car. The PSU F1 team switched to an electric car design only in the past few years. This means they had a lot of untrodden ground when designing this car, and they only had a couple of iterations to look back on.

“Breaking new ground is fun, that’s what being an engineer is all about. Encountering unique problems and solving them in a way only you can” said Cooper Demark

Photo Story Stage 2

Describe and analyze a multimedia video documentary photo story.

Assignment 5: Photo Story stage 1