User:Dms5982

Thingiverse Things

Useful: ATX Computer Rear Panel I/O Plate Construction Set [1]

This is an easily editable CAD file for printing your own I/O panel for the back of a computer case. Anyone who has ever tried to dump a new motherboard into an old Dell case would be glad to have this.

Artistic: Screwless Companion Cube Gears [[2]]

Thingiverse user, Lochemage has edited the SCAD file for producing the Screwless Heart Gears into the shape of a companion cube from the Portal videogame series.

Pointless/Useless: Brain Measuring Cup [3]

This is an oddly shaped container that does not conform to any established measuring unit. No, I wouldn’t put my brain in it.

Funny/Weird: Oreo Protector [4]

Finally! It’s a device that I can use to store my emergency rations while on my disorienting quests through Penn State’s engineering buildings.

Scary: Sheath for a Kitchen Knife [5]

Hmm… Yes… A sheath for my kitchen knives. I have always needed to holster my “kitchen” knives. (Alright, I tried to find something scary.)

Tinkering

I would like to think of myself as a tinkerer, but I often lack the confidence to start a project on my own. I do not think that anyone consciously makes a decision not to develop an understanding for the inner functions for their wrist watches or learn how to troubleshoot the hardware in a broken computer. From my own observations, I have formulated the assumption that most people are simply uncomfortable with taking apart electronics that were manufactured using technology and information that is not easily available to them. However, with nearly infinite sources of information and tutorial videos on the internet, nobody has an excuse not to attempt their own repairs.

Current advertising strategies in the electronics industry help to reinforce the notion that the hardware within their electronic devices is too advanced for commoners to understand or manipulate. When we are presented with seemingly magical devices with limitless capabilities and seamless construction, It is hard to make the realization that the actual assembly of many handheld electronic devices or computers is done by hand, or at least had been done by hand at some point in the product’s development. Similar parallels can be made between electronics repair jobs and automobile garages. Many simple maintenance procedures, like swapping out hard drives in a PC or performing an oil change on in car can usually be performed with basic hand tools, but most people opt to have such tasks performed by professionals.

David Kelly

David Kelly has abandoned the notion of a linear product development cycle and replaced it with a truly collaborative approach that allows improvement to come from multiple sources, simultaneously. He attempts to design product by focusing primarily on user experience and stretches the collective background of his design teams as broadly as possible. It is interesting that David Kelly would be building a 3D printer with his daughter. It is almost as though he recognizes the potential for 3D printing to revolutionize the modes of product design for the next generation of innovators.

Anyone can be a designer or a tinkerer.