Rachel Boxer Portfolio

RACHEL BOXER

DESIGN + ENGINEERING

FORM: STRUCTURED

This desk was an individual project that I
designed and manufactured during my
internship at Giancarlo Paternoster Studio
Furniture. With Giancarlo’s help I was able
to learn the trade of woodworking and
apply this new knowledge, not just through
helping him, but with my own work.

DESIGN CREATE

I wanted to make a desk that reflected the style of the furniture of My design was originally fairly theoretical. As I started to model it, I
the studio I was working at. I made a simple, natural looking desk discovered that there would be several challenges in the construction
that used only walnut wood and brass hinges. The preliminary of the desk. I had to make construction and engineering
designs were improved to accomodate construction constraints. considerations as I started to get a more detailed design.

BUILD REFINE

One of the newest and most exciting parts of the process was The final part of the process, refining the product and surfaces was
building the desk. I selected my materials at a lumber yard and online, one that I did not have much experience with. It was the hardest part
chose where each cut of wood should go on the desk, and machined of the process and required a lot of discipline and attention to detail.
the pieces based on drawings I had generated. I found it to be rewarding as the desk came together. I learned that
this skill should be applied to all work as it makes the difference for
65 4 3 21 any product.

D D
2.50 C
2.50

1.00 1.00

.25 30.00 .25
2.50
C 2.50 .25

.25

BB

87.14°

1.00 RB Desk Leg A
Quant:4
A SOLIDWORKS Student Edition. Walnut 4x4
For Academic Use Only.

65 4 3 21

FORM: ORGANIC

This lamp explores the representation of
the movement of ideas between minds. In
order to display this concept, the design
is open to allow light to flow through it.
These openings illuminate the
conversation below, and reflect
thought escaping from the mind.

TEST TEXTURE

The initial exploration of potential designs involved creating ten mock After exploring more ways to manipulate the paper, it became
designs. While these designs are not seen in the final lamp, they served apparent that using several cuts in circular formations would
as a way to get to know how to work with the paper. This process helped produce a texture more interesting than folding or weaving the
clarify the preferred structure to allow light to flow through the design. paper. With alternating cuts, the paper would pull apart to allow light
Further experimentation with the material created the desired texture. through. This texture created optimal light flow along the surface.

FORM E X PA N D

The initial concept for form was something perfect and As the lamp began to evolve, so did the shape. The organic forms of
geometric to counteract the randomness of the paper’s each panel controlled how the lamp would grow and form. Each
texture. However, it later seemed that a more organic shape connection came from the natural fit between panels reflecting the
would better serve the concept of movement and thought. Therefore organic growth of the design.
random cutouts were used for each side of the shape rather than
perfect circles or squares.

FUNCTION: PERFORM

For this project, I worked with a team and
designed, manufactured, and assembled a
working water pump. This project was
mainly focused on the mechanics of the
pump, but there was some emphasis on
originality and aesthetics which especially
captured my interest. I mainly worked with
the physical design and organization for the
pump, CADing the design, and machining
and assembling the parts.

PROMPT DESIGN

Our assignment was to design an efficient, light-weight and Double piston assembled in a “V” shape
4 inch cylinder
economical piston based water pump. It had to maintain a flow rate
5 inch piston arms
of at least 1 L/min, and be fully integrable with a 0.5 diameter shaft Single acting pistons
One input one output per cylinder
DC motor. The maximum allowed piston diameter was 2 inches and
Rotating bar
the pump could not be larger than 1 cubic feet Self-supporting structure
End plates for the cylinders
Attachment to face plate

CONSTRUCT ORGANIZE

1 2 3456

0.20 0.40 0.28 d=1/4inch
NO THREAD!
A 0.46
0.28 A

1.00 0.20 1.00
0.80 thread #8-32
0.40 tap size 29

0.92

B B

1.00

thread #8-32 1.00 0.35 0.40 C
tap size 29 0.40

C

0.28 0.28

UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED: FINISH: DEBUR AND DO NOT SCALE DRAWING REVISION
DIMENSIONS ARE IN MILLIMETERS BREAK SHARP
SURFACE FINISH: EDGES
TOLERANCES:

LINEAR:
ANGULAR:

NAME SIGNATURE DATE TITLE:

DRAWN

CHK'D I created a Gantt chart to ensure that my group remained on schedule
D and would complete all expected deadlines.

APPV'D

SolidWorks Student Edition. MFG

For Academic Use Only. Q.A MATERIAL: DWGNO. cam-to-piston A4

12 WEIGHT: SCALE:2:1 SHEET 1 OF 1

FUNCTION: EVOLVE

I created this box out of balsa wood and string
to demonstrate life using an artistic medium. The
box opens up and the people running fold out to
show four consecutive stages of a running stride.
The box is meant to symbolize life as it shows the
motion of growing and evolving in the enclosure
that is our environment.

IDEATE SKETCH

The assignment was to demonstrate life in a medium of my choice. I MANIPULATE
chose to make something that was moveable so I could express my
interest in Industrial design as it relates to mechanisms. Because I Close to the end of the process, I had to redesign the connection
wanted to do this in a medium that was familiar to me, I made it out points for the box. After making the two sides, I had to decide on the
of small sticks of balsa and CA glue, which I had worked with on my best way to attach them and hold them closed. This was a time to
project team. experiment with new materials and try different methods. In the end,
I decided on thread and a metal fastener.
BUILD

The design is organic to juxtapose the structured form of the box. I
cut the pieces at various lengths and glued them where they fit in to
create the illusion of an abstract prison.

FUNCTION: DYNAMICS

I created a bridge that folds into a hexagon.
This assignment was to make a bridge that
could hold up a brick. I decided to make it
dynamic because of a desire to make my
project display motion in an object normally
considered static.

RESEARCH Thomas Heatherwick’s Rolling Bridge which inspired my design

After realizing that I wanted to make my bridge more innovative than DESIGN
a structure that just holds up a brick, I looked into bridges that had already
been constructed. I remembered Thomas Heatherwick’s rolling bridge and One of the challenges was choosing where to use each of the
decided to base my design off of that. I had to further reseach constraints materials so that the bridge would be successful. I incorporated my
in the balsa wood and paper materials that were given along with the knowledge of Engineering to determine that the paper would be best
parameters for the assignment. in tension and the wood would be best in compression. For ease of
manufacturing, I imade 6 partitions instead of 8 which is what was
BUILD used in Heatherwick’s design.

Building was the biggest challenge for this project. I did not have a CAD TEST
model, so I had to measure by hand and through calculations how large
each piece should be. I then cut each of these pieces and layed them out In order to ensure that my design would be successful, I tested the
to get an idea of where everything should go. I held pieces together using organization of the design using building blocks. I then had time
binder clips as I glued each section individually. in between construction and competition to refine and improve my
idea. I looked up ways to strengthen the weaker parts, and put
pieces of wood to reinforce these sections.

FOUNDATION: USER RESEARCH

The tooth brush caddy was an idea that I invented
with a group as a way to safely carry a tooth brush
into a shower. We came up with the final design after
several iterations and prototypes. Then we made a
CAD model, 3D printed the caddy, and tested it. I
worked to establish the problem my group wanted to
solve. Then once we came up with the idea I was in
charge of the aesthetics of the holder and the
analysis of the function of each prototype especially
as it related to market research.

PRELIMINARY WORK THINK

We started our process with brainstorming products we believed would I sketched out designs and thought of how to make our idea a
make a difference for our target audience, college students. I led our reality. We added features such as the hooks as a method of attach-
research on peers to gauge interest, and the possible pricepoint for ment to a caddy, and the ability to connect multiple caddy attchments
the product. This helped us to develop our sketches and move to one another. I then turned the idea from preliminary sketches into
forward with a design. Below are examples of some market data I a SolidWorks model that we would later use in manufacturing.
collected.
TEST
MAKE
After creating the caddy attachment, we tested it for usability,
Most of our construction came from our SolidWorks model. We could necessary additions, and weak points. This was the point when we
analyze stress on the product using ANSYS before printing. After that, added the velcro to let units attach to each other.
all we had to do was 3D print a model. This rapid prototyping
allowed us to test out a model right away and improve
our design.

FOUNDATION: CONSTRAINTS

Cornell Baja is a student run project team within
Cornell Engineering. The goal of the team is to
create and off-road racing car from scratch every year
based on the constraints given by the competitions.
As part of the Ergonomics Sub-team, I was
responsible for researching and optimizing the seat
design, position, and style based on these
guidelines. I was also responsible for manufacturing
the seat, the connection points for the seat, and the
body panels for the car.

GUIDELINES RESEARCH

The dimensions for the seat had to fall between those of a 5th Along with researching known dimensions for the outlined
percentile female and 95th percentile male. I was responsible for the restrictions, I conducted field research to ensure our
straps on the seat, so I had to consider these dimensions along with specific drivers would fit in the seat, and that my designed
the predetermined connection points. I researched these body mechanisim would work. I created mock straps and tested the lengths
dimensions and incorporate them into the dimensions of the seat with our drivers. I then used these straps to conduct instron testing,
planes ensuring both comfort and safety. and ensure the material and connection design would not fail under
the stress of the driver
DESIGN
MANUFACTURE
One of the issues most commonly stated by team members was the
lack of adjustability. I designed a new system that used carabiners I was in charge of the manufacturing of the seat. We created molds
mounted on the frame to allow the seat to connect with different points, for the seat inserts using a CNC mill, and then used these molds to
or loops, on the strap. This provided an easy way to change the seat layup Carbon Fiber and Kevlar. These inserts were then sewn into
between pre-determined settings for each sized driver. the fabric, and the straps were sewn onto the fabric of the seat back.