Bethany – General Engineering
I'm Bethany, and one of my most transformative experiences was during my Interdisciplinary Design module, where I created a Water Bottle Rocket.
This project was centered around using a huge array of tools machines and manufacturing equipment inside the Workshop and the iForge. Before this, I'd never used most of these tools and felt quite intimidated by the idea of operating serious industrial equipment.
My confidence completely transformed when I first used the lathe. Starting with plastic, then moving to aluminium, we were taught these advanced manufacturing skills from scratch by attentive teaching staff who made me feel extremely competent after just one session. This gave me the self assurance to approach creating my own parts which I devised and manufactured independently. We then moved on to milling machines and stand drills, as well as pewter casting for the feet of the rocket. Exploring all of these amazing and diverse processes really helped me envision how parts can be created in real life, how important engineering tolerances are, and how design choices have a massive impact on manufacturing methods and cost.
This whole experience of this project in the Diamond developed both my practical and problem-solving abilities while giving me a strong foundation of hands-on engineering skills. I now have the knowledge and capability to tackle future academic projects and real-world engineering challenges. The Diamond didn't just teach me about manufacturing – it gave me the confidence to turn ideas into reality.