I.D.E.A. Competition

By Ross C. (Sandwich)

On March 9th our class, Drafting and Design, went to Waubonsee Community College to compete in the I.D.E.A. regional competition. I.D.E.A. is the Illinois Drafting Educators Association and it is a competition where high school students compete in a number of different drafting related competitions against other students from other schools. The different competitions offered are: Introductory board, Introductory CAD, 3D CAD modeling, 3D assembly modeling, Machine CAD, Architectural board, Architectural 2D CAD, and Architectural 3D CAD. Each student from our class had the choice to choose which competition they wanted to compete in. Students from our class that placed top 3 in their competition are: Brandon Kramer, Somonauk High School, 2nd place, 3D CAD modeling Ross Campbell, Sandwich High School, 2nd place, Architectural 2D CAD Robert Manley, Sandwich High School, 2nd place, Architectural 3D CAD. Those students who placed 1st or 2nd will have the opportunity to compete at the state competition on April 14th at Illinois State University. Congratulations and good luck at state!!!

IVVC's Drafting & Design class shows some of their favorite Mythbuster Monday projects.

IVVC's Drafting & Design class shows some of their favorite Mythbuster Monday projects.

Cardboard Frisbee Challenge

by Nathan D. (Plano)

The cardboard Frisbee was of my favorite projects so far this year in Drafting. The challenge was to make a Frisbee out of a 12” x12” piece of cardboard. The outside had to remain in the original shape and size of the square, while cutting out the inside to make it more aerodynamic.

The purpose was to throw the Frisbee accurately straight and as far as possible. My design was simply a cut out circle - and it worked just as well as I thought it would. Most of the class had a variety of designs and it was interesting to see how each of them fared. I threw mine the second farthest while it was the most accurate. This was one of my favorite projects to do on our Mythbuster Mondays, which is a day where our class takes a hands-on challenge that relates to a similar project as the TV show Mythbusters.

IVVC Drafting & Design Mythbuster Monday - Watercraft

IVVC's 201-2012 Drafting & Design class attempted the second Mythbuster Monday challenge of the year by designing, building, and testing a boat made from paper cups, duct tape, straws, and plastic wrap. After completing the design and build, students tested the boat by adding pennies until the boat failed by sinking.

Congratulations to Joey K. (Sandwich) which held 89 pennies.

Law Enforcement, Drafting Students Collaborate to Design Police Station

For the last three weeks, the Law Enforcement and Drafting & Design classes have been working jointly to create and design a law enforcement community. The project was to build a police station on 60 acres of land behind IVVC. The surrounding land should also be designed to appeal to the public. The students not only had to design the building using the latest CAD software, but also create a PowerPoint that would be presented to both the Law Enforcement and Drafting classes.



In addition, they had to build a model to illustrate the building. Before taking on this project, both classes were able to tour several police stations in the area. The Law Enforcement student was the liaison to the architects. Their job was to assist the placement of certain areas. In one design, the Law Enforcement student informed the Drafting students that juvenile and adult offenders cannot be in the same areas. This is an important piece of knowledge when constructing room placements.



The presentations were to be a minimum of 10 minutes; however, they averaged about 20, with one presentation going over 34 minutes. That particular presentation also had a tri-fold brochure which was an awesome handout.



The models were very interesting and the ideas of how a community could come together were very enlightening for most of the students.

The students had a great time presenting and learning why a police station is designed a certain way. Having the chief’s office right next to the firing range doesn’t seem to be such a good idea now.

Catapult Project - A Day In The Life - IVVC Article

Shayne C., from Plano, took time out today to tell about his “catapult project” that was going to be tested later in the period. All of the students were given a list of materials and expected to come up with a catapult that would toss a ball for a measured distance competition. Shayne was sure his would go past the 20 foot mark and his would be one of the best. He really enjoys all the project work that combines creativity and applied knowledge in this class and plans on continuing his engineering education at the Institute of Technology in Morrison, Illinois this fall. Shayne enjoys this class because it enables him to turn his creative thoughts in to a real project. You will find Shayne hard at work this spring break at his job in the Outlet Mall where he “catapults” the money into the cash register.

IVVC Drafting & Design Mythbuster Monday- Helping Hand

by Allison K. - Somonauk

Most people would say you can’t make a hand out of cardboard, but the students in IVVC’s Drafting and Design class like to disagree. Each Monday, students participate in a new and different Mythbuster Monday Challenge.

Our challenge this week: Create a helping hand that can transport 3 tennis balls, the container - and the lid for extra credit - across a distance of approximately 7 feet. Students were given cereal box cardboard, tape, and brass fasteners to create their own version of a helping hand. For each challenge the only restriction is the student’s imagination. Just like with every challenge, each student’s design was unique and had its own advantages and downfalls. Some had pivot points, others chose to make a version of a clamp and use friction, and then there are those few that you don’t know what to call their design other than different. Each student tests their prototype and then makes changes based on the results of their experiments.

The places were as follows: 1st Jake J. – Sandwich, 2nd - Ross C. – Sandwich, and in 3rd place was Shayne C. - Plano.