Hello! Welcome!
My name is Ellie Copestake, and this is my portfolio for the DE50X modules of the Design Engineering course. My main project was to design an acoustic bass guitar that takes up minimal physical space while also being affordable and accessible. Doing this project taught me valuable skills such as time management, task initiation, letting go of perfectionism, and the ability to effectively communicate ideas to peers. As well as the bass guitar, I took part in a group project to improve a miniature, more transportable MRI scanner. This taught me the importance of teamwork and communication, as well as priority management.
I chose this project because music accessibility is something I feel strongly about. Learning to play an instrument has been one of the largest factors in my journey to improve my mental health and learn how to better express myself. I am aware that the challenges I faced while selecting a first instrument back in 2016 are all too common (price, available space, amount of individual components), and I aim to fix these problems. This way, I may clear a better path for the next generation of people wanting to get better through music.
My biggest challenge for this project was overcoming the urge to be a perfectionist. A couple of weeks into the course I realised that my progress was being hindered massively because I was set on doing things one particular way, leaving no room for mistakes and growth. Recognising that tasks and activities are allowed and encouraged to be imperfect has boosted my productivity, as well as my general attitude towards the project.
I have taken strides in overcoming this challenge through choosing to scan in my notes in order to display the full, messy, imperfect process for each module. I have also seen personal improvements in terms of my ability to take criticism on board, as I used to let my bruised ego get in the way of crucial self-improvement.
I would consider this project a success if I am able to gather all the necessary knowledge (through research, experiments and experience) to be able to have a finished design for the bass guitar. While I do aim to have at least the skeleton of a playable instrument, the university does not have the necessary tools I would need to steam-bend wood, which unfortunately inhibits my ability to produce a full final product. I hope to continue this project in my own time in the future when I have the right funding and access to tools and materials.
You may notice that some pages are repeated among modules. This was done on purpose, as some content of these pages contain content relevant to more than one module. By having repeating pages, I ensure that I do not lose crucial marks towards certain modules through poor organisation. Similarly, I would like to emphasise that the amount of pages per modules does not effectively demonstrate the work done for each module. Some pages demonstrate extensive dives into their respective categories, whereas some pages show more bare-bones concepts (such as the Gantt Chart page)