I am a teaching assistant for Engineering 101: Engineering Design and Technical Communication. This course is the core of the First-Year Design Program, in which first semester engineering students at Duke take on a semester-long design project to solve a real-world problem for a Durham community client.
As a TA, my primary responsibility is to support three project teams both technically and interpersonally. I help teams by sharing expertise on the engineering design process, supporting teamwork, and giving technical input. I also taught a module on CAD and 3d printing, specifically using Onshape.
The first project I am supervising this semester is a device to keep house plants facing the sun. The second project is a playchair for a child with a developmental disability. The third is a device to feed crickets to animals in a large habitat at the North Carolina Zoo. The projects offer the students opportunities to develop their skills, but I also look forward to developing my own so as to be able to best advise them. In particular I am excited to improve my skills with electronics, as they will be crucial for the plant and feeder devices.