Doorstopper

This project was submitted for the Spring 2019 3D Printing and Design Competition. Participants were asked to respond to the following prompt: “We want to know how you created your project, what inspired you, what you learned along the way, and where it might lead you. In short we want you to tell us the story behind the project and reflect on the process.”

Response:

What do Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg all have in common? They all started with an idea and a passion. They knew they could fail, but their perseverance was much greater. Similarly, we had an idea, an idea for a solution to act as a remedy for Trinity College students. When we were asked the question, “How to make the lives of Trinity Students easier?” We thought back on the most inconvenient flaw in the Trinity dorms, the doors. You see, if you do not have your keycard on you at all times of the day, you are locked out of your dorm room and your bathroom. What happens when you go to take a shower, and you forget your key? I do not know about you, but it would be a pretty embarrassing situation that your classmates will never let you live down and will still haunt you as a junior.

But as we get back on topic, the Doorstopper (trademark pending) started an idea, and as our designs evolved along the way, our goal stayed the same. We had four different designs, measured endless amounts of doors. We argued and fought, shared laughs, and chai teas but we came out with a product that we are proud of, and we can put our name behind.

Like many great inventors, there were bumps in the road. Our bump in the road was SketchUp. No matter how hard we worked at it and imputed our measurements, there was always an issue. Oscar liked to make the joke “SketchUp is like your in-laws, you may hate them at times, but you love what they made.” In the beginning, we were clueless about the whole 3D printing process, but since then we have acquired the skills on SketchUp to make a fantastic product. With these newly acquired skills, our team was strengthened and determined for our dream to become a reality (insert heroic music).

In addition to learning 3D printing skills, we learned how to fail as a team and then succeed as a team. It was teamwork that held us together through the various designs, multiple attempts at printing and finally, it was teamwork that gave us the product we present to you today. No more will Trinity College students live in fear of locking themselves out. Created by Oscar Dial, Owen Fearon & Ted Loughborough.