Dan L. answered • 10/09/20
Masters in Mechanical Engineering with 3+ Years Aerospace Experience
Hi Terence, what is the timeline of your project? Budgetary constraints? Equipment and manufacturing machinery available to you? Is the project prompt as open ended as "create a widget that solves a problem" or are there more requirements?
There are a whole slew of projects that you could potentially tackle, but we have to first clarify the boundary conditions to be able to come up with something that fits you best.
Dan L.
So from what it sounds like you're tasked with writing a report? Will you be required to prototype the project? It sounds like you're interested in renewable energy, there are a bulk number of articles online with multiple different ideas of how to harness energy from the environment around us. An oftentime underutilized methodology would be wave power for example.10/09/20
Terence O.
hi dan A bulk of this will be writing a detailed report explaining findings, experiments done, testing, process of what I did. my main idea at this time involves space and renewable energy actually so your advice could be amazing. when it comes to prototypes yeah depending on what the project is it may involve doing some type of prototype type. I have one main idea but in the next week or so I need to put forward the idea i'm going to use to a mentor (which I will be assigned next week) i'm hoping to have a few more ideas to put forward so I have options to use instead of been stuck with one idea. I had the idea of using wave power too for underwater power. a lecture has told me at this time to try and write a one page synopsis on my idea which i'm struggling with to do. I've studied Mechanical, thermodynamics and a bit of materials. used software such as Matlab and solid works but I don't have extensive knowledge on building a project which is new to me. thanks Terry10/10/20
Dan L.
One idea that might be cool looking into is the feasibility of solar satellites. Essentially large solar panels that beam energy back to Earth thru microwave (or other) radiation. This was a concept studied back in the 60's but project interest died out largely due to the impracticality of launching so many tonnes of solar arrays into space. I think something like this could demonstrate significant engineering prowess and skill depending on how in depth you go. For a project like this, you wouldn't necessarily focus on detailed design aspects (what it would look like, the shape size etc...). Instead you would focus on order of magnitude and back of the envelope calculations relying on engineering first principles. What I mean by first principles is something such as the inverse square law for power transmission and intensity. A combination of assessing engineering first principles will tell you what basic sizing, launch frequency, cost, orbital trajectories, etc... you would need for this concept to be economical, or if it is practical at all. A process like this is very much how we do things at SpaceX when we are trying to break ground where no-one has before.10/11/20
Terence O.
hi dan Coincident the only good idea I had which my lecture though was interesting was I suggested a space solar panel. I like the idea of this and had a few ideas. a lot of the things you have suggested I didn't really think about so thank you.i think this will be the project that I go forward with as my final choice. the main thing I was considering was the design of this but didn't think of the other concepts you mentioned. I will have to do some research into some of the things you have mentioned but this Will help me push forward. not sure if this is something you are in favour of or that you do but is there another way to contact you in the future for adivce ? Also is there any areas you advice I do some research in to complete this project thanks Terry10/11/20
Dan L.
Hey Terence, feel free to give me a private message and we can talk in more detail.10/12/20
Terence O.
hi dan thanks for that, do you know how I contact you on here ?10/13/20
Terence O.
Hi Dan is there a way on here for me to send you a private message or for me to find your profile ?10/14/20
Melanie P.
Hi Terence, please visit our Help Center at https://support.wyzant.com/hc/en-us, and ask your question. Or let our Customer Support department help you! Contact us at [email protected] and we will follow up as soon as we can.10/16/20
Terence O.
Hi dan Thanks for taking time to comment It’s a final year uni project which normally takes till about April to do. I have to do a maximum 50 page write up and do a project. There’s no real limitation on the project but if it’s too simple it will be done too quick and most likely not get many marks. On the opposite side if too complicated might not get finished or be very decent. For example one idea I suggested was to use wind turbines on motorways which would be powered from the air generated from cars. Unfortunately my lecture said that properly wouldn’t be a good idea. I’m just looking for some ideas that I can write a one page synopsis on and suggest as a final year project at this stage Thanks terry10/09/20