week 15 end

11/28/14 

• I figured out the total surface area of the computer case, which is 1468 inches. The area of a plastic 24" by 48" sheet is 1152". This means that ordering 2 sheets should suffice. I will use the first sheets for the sides of the case which end up taking most space, and he other for front,back, top, and bottom. 

week 15 goals

11/24/14 

• Instead of continuing on the project proposal, I'll work on finding out the area the case will take up. This will allow me to decide which size of plastic sheets I need to order from US plastic. They didn't respond so since Christmas is coming up next month I'll spend some of my money on the project. The dimension I'll be using for the case are 20" x 20.5" x 8". 

week 14 end

11/21/14 

• I got some of the project proposal done. I completed the front page, and started working on the introduction. I spent a good time researching for the background in the essay. Essentially, I'll discuss how plastic cases are much easier to manufacture, are cheaper, and eco friendly while still having the same quality as regular metal ones. 

week 14 goals

11/17/14 

• This week I'll work on writing the research project proposal. It's a part of the senior project, and I will need to include it in the handbook when I present at the end of the year. The paper needs to be 8-10 pages long, CSE format, and needs to have bibliography.

week 13 end

11/14/14 

• This week i revised the letter. Overall it sounds more professional and it is ready to send. During the course of the week, I looked at various sites for writing which discussed sponsorship letters. This gave me a better idea of how to write the letter, and caused me to revise what I previously wrote. 

week 13 goals

11/10/14 

• This week I'll work on revising the letter. I will peer review it, as well as look online for writing and  revising letter tips. Hopefully, the letter sounds more professional. 

week 12 end

11/7/14 

• I finished the letter for sponsorship of my project. I won't send it right away though. I'll revise it and peer review it. This way, it's more professional and the letter won't have any possible mistakes. 

week 12 goals

11/3/14 

• This week, my goals will be to write emails to the different websites that sell the recycled plastic. I will ask them if they could send me the sheets for free, or reduced price. I will include my drawing in the email to sound more professional. I asked Shaina from the solar club how they write sponsor letters. She helped me by sending me one of their old letters and giving me tips on what to do and what not to do. 

the helpful letter

week 11 end

10/31/14 

• I researched plastic materials some more and found out several things. HDPE is one of the most quality-cost efficient materials. A 3/32 in. thick, 24'' by 48'' sheet costs approximately 20 dollars. That is a good deal. If i used this material, it would cost me around 60 for the sheets, as 3 would be enough. The recycled plastic sheets can be quite expensive, coming out to 60 dollars for one 24' by 48' sheet. If i won't be able to get sponsored, I'll have to settle with HDPE instead of recycled plastic. I found one site which sells the recycled sheets for a good price(4' by 8' for 57 dollars), but you have to order at least 7. 
• 
  

hdpe sheets

recycled sheets, but with a minimum order of 7

week 11 goals

10/27/14 

• My goals for the week are to research plastic sheets more, regarding prices and sizes, and material. I will look on new sites, as well as the ones i visited before, like U.S. plastic

week 10 end

10/24/14 

• I accomplished my goal and completed the drawing sheet. 

the drawing sheet

inside view.

week 10 goals

10/20/14 

• My goals for the week are to put the case on the drawing sheet, showing all the dimensions. It's a short school week this week. 

Week 9 end

10/17/14 

• I completed my goals, finally finished the case! I extruded all the sketches on the sides, and added slots for HDD and cd/dvd drives. The only thing I didn't do is put it on the sheet, showing all the dimensions. That shouldn't take me too long to do next week, i can get it done in a day. I made sure all the dimensions are correct, and there is no errors in any sketches or extrudes, like over-defining. 

the hard drive and cd/dvd slots inside of case. Positioned so the fan blows on it

week 9 goals

10/13/14 

• My goals for this week are to finish up the design, and extrude cut everything. If I finish the design early, I'll check all the dimensions to see if they are accurate and make have everything is finalized. Next, I'll put it on a sketch plane to show the design and all the dimensions. 

week 8 end

10/10/14 

• I accomplished almost all of my goals for the week. The only thing I am missing is the back fan and motherboard slot, which should be a quick fix. Making the front wasn't too bad, but the fan was a little tricky as lining up all the holes at once was something I had never done previously. The back wasn't a problem. The only issue i had was finding the standard dimensions for the PCI i/o shield dimensions (The rectangle slots on back where you plug in ports to extension cards). I had to do some searching, but once I discovered it, it was easy to sketch. 

the fan was drawn in mm, and expansion in IN. currently showing IN.

The standard dimensions for PCI and MOBO slots on
the back panel

10/6/14 goals week 8

10/6/14 

• My goals are to continue working on designing the case. The things I need to add:
  - Front fans
  - Front CD/ floppy drive bays
  - back power slot
  - back expansion card slots
  - back fan slot
  - power button
• For a lot of these, I will need to search the standard dimensions, such as for the xd drive bays, or back slot for psu.

I found this dimension of standard cd drive
www.overclock.net is very useful for this type of info

some more dimensions. This is the power supply

10/3/14 week 7 end

10/3/14 

• I made the dimensions for the case design, and started adding features. I figured out what fan sizes I should use (120mm and 200 for side panel), and how the fans are going to be added(1 side, 1 front, 1 back). Ill cut extrude all the holes and spaces for bays once everything is sketched. 

side of the case, where the fan will be

9/29/14 goals week 7

9/29/14 

• My goals for this week were going to be writing a letter to the potential sponsors but I decided against it. Instead I'm going to create a design for the case, and will present it in the letter. This way, I have a higher chance of getting sponsored.  

  

  I looked up some case designs, and these look like standard dimensions. Ill use these

  
  

9/26/14 week 6 end

9/26/14 

• I found a nice list of potential sponsors for the project. They are:
  -Cooler Master
  - Nvidia
  - USplastic
  - NZXT
  - Rosewill
  - Antec
  - Lian Li
  - Thermaltake

These companies manufacture computer hardware, as well as computer cases. I believe they might be able to sponsor me due to this. 

logos of some of the companies

9/22/14 goals week 6

 9/22/14 

• My goals for this week are
  - Find a list of companies that could be potential sponsors for my project. I will most likely be ordering the plastic from usplastic.com so I am also considering asking them.
  
  
  
  
                         

9/19/14 week 5 end

 9/19/14 

• I accomplished my goals for the week and made my timeline. My project will stretch to january if all goes according to plan. 

9/15/14 goals week 5

 9/15/14 

• My goals for this week are:
  come up with a formulated timeline of my project

i might make it look like this,but ill probably do a different format

9/12/14 week 4 end

 9/12/14 

• I accomplished my goals and came up with a budget.
  Some things might still change, but it should be fairly close to it.

9/8/14 goals week 4

 9/8/14 

• My goals for this week are:
  - Come up with a formulated budget
  - Figure out exactly what I'm going to use and where I'm going to get the money from.
  - What i was thinking of doing is asking USPlastic if they would sponsor me.

calculate a budget

9/5 end week 3

 9/5/14 

• I accomplished my goals for the week:
  - wrote proposal draft
  - asked Ms.Handler to be my mentor and she accepted
  - Mr.Martin is my senior project teacher
  - I also did some more all around research

Mentor form from ms.Handler

My proposal so far

9/2/14 goals week 3

 9/2/14 week goals

• Goals: Come up with a budget estimate for project
  research my project more
  write proposal for project
  Find my senior project teacher and mentor

have to fill this out

Looking through these prices, Im starting to get an idea of how much my budget will be

8/29 end week

 8/29/14 post

• I accomplished my goals on researching what to do. I am considering building a computer case out of recycled plastic. I still have to do more research, but so far it seems like a solid idea. It would look something like this: 
  
  
  
• I also read much of the senior handbook, so now I have an idea of what needs to be done. I started looking into sheets of recycled plastic, and they were hard to find as some of them required you to order excessive amounts as the minimum order, or weren't recycled to begin with. 

A website i found that sells plastic sheets

First post week one

First Post! - 8/25/14

• Goals: Come up with ideas for my senior project
  - study the requirements for senior project/ the senior project in general
  - Get the blog set up
  

  

  Editing the layout for the blog

  

  reading over the senior project handbook