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Its most busiest time of the year

This past meeting was the first day of the spring semester and many of us are trying to get back within the rhythm of school once again. This semester is the beginning of busiest portion of the senior project class as many of the teams have to produce and test their designs within the span of these few months. We must work diligently as the date for Maker Faire approaches ever-so quickly. My focus for this week is to finalize the bogie design as changes are needed to be made to allow our bogie to switch tracks effectively. This must be done promptly as the small-scale track team are dependent on the design of the bogie.

Utilizing the knowledge of our global engineers

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This past week, the Spartan Superway team has been doing various research for their separate projects. So far, I have researched the currently existing suspended railways that currently exist. It is surprising to see many of the currently existing suspended railways are in Germany. Although many of the designs are slow and inefficient, one design stood out. The H-bahn in Dortmund Germany stood out as it was the only suspended railway that had the ability to switch tracks. Although I have other ideas for a track switching mechanism, incorporating some of the research that the engineers have done may be a good idea as they have been successfully using this track switching mechanism since the 1980s. However this system also requires an overhaul of our current rail and track system. Maybe I can design a track switching mechanism that is similar to the H-Bahn but uses our current plans for the track structure. Back to the drawing board!

New role and the value of team work

This past week, my team presented our specifications to the entire Spartan Superway team. Although many of the specifications that we wanted to work on were not logistically feasible, we received a great amount of constructive criticism that clarified what needs to be done and researched for the 12th scale bogie. We currently need to focus on creating a bogie that is compatible with the Futran track and to fix our current bogies. I plan to communicate as much as I can with not only Izzy but with the entire 12th scale team and the entirety of the Spartan Superway team. We are all resources to each other and we are all working towards a common goal. Each of us have skills that we can provide that will help us move forward within the Spartan Superway. This week's agenda is to create a clearer specification presentation with research and evidence to support our specifications! Lastly I also have been appointed to be the 2017-2018 Treasurer for the Spartan Superway organization. I pl

Week 2: Teams have been made

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This was the first time all of us were introduced to the Spartan Superway workshop. It was amazing be able to see all of the hard work and effort that was placed into this workshop. You could see projects sprawling across the area.  During this day we also were all assigned our respective teams based upon our preferences, interests and skills. Today I was placed within the 12th scale bogie team with one other colleague. This was an exciting process as were one step closer into our project. I am excited to finally use my engineering knowledge and abilities and apply it into the Spartan Superway project. Once the teams were formed, the entire 12th scale team met up. The 12th scale team consisted of the bogie team, controls team, track-manufacturing team, and the cabin design team. These were the colleagues that I am working with for the rest of the semester. We were then given specifications of what each team should individually work on. We were then each tasked to create a presen

The Spartan Superway

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Hello! My name is Bryne Jocson and I currently am a senior mechanical engineering student at San Jose State University; Home of the Spartans and located within the technological powerhouse known as the Silicon Valley. I love San Jose as I am surrounded by urban sprawls and at a close distance to many forests and parks. I love to spend time outdoors by either biking, running or hiking. I also enjoy being here as I am surrounded with technology and like-minded individuals who share the same passion for engineering and technology as I do. However, living in San Jose has exposed me to many issues that currently exist with our cities' infrastructure. The roads are not always bike-friendly, the VTA can be slow or in-efficient and various dangers exist for pedestrians. This is why I am incredibly interested in working on the Spartan Superway project and working with the Spartan Superway team. As a bicyclist, public transportation user, and pedestrian, I believe the Spartan Superway is

Collaboration and Team Work

Today we settled on the tasks that each of us needed to accomplish to successfully complete our bogie. I will be working mainly on the master bogie system which involves all the active components. My team-member Izzy will be in charge of the slave system which holds most of the weight of the pod. We need to make sure that we stick to schedule to ensure a smooth project completion.