Hello my name is Ian Sullivan and I am a Mechanical Engineering student at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. I am studying mechanical engineering because our world is would not be the same without engineering, from the buildings live in, to the pens we write with it has all been engineered. My aspiration of engineering was formed by looking at products and objects. I break them down in my head and try to understand why and how they were made, as well as how to improve them. Within the Engineering field I am most excited about learning about the processes to form and create products and how to best manufacture them for cost and life expectancy.

                In my research I have found a few items that have had a tremendous impact on the quality of life such as piston driven-combustion powered transportation, air conditioning, and printed circuit boards. Piston driven-combustion powered transportation allows goods and services to be moved around the globe in a timely and cost-effective manor, essentially granting access to unconnected economies and goods to the rest of the world. Air conditioning is one of my personal favorites, living in the south temperatures frequently exceed 100^oF during the summer months which makes living uncomfortable. And last is printed circuit boards, which is the foundation for modern electronic devices and processing, this invention has allowed a technological boom from calculators to refrigerators to cars and even laptops and cell phones.

               My previous experiences in life give me an unique perspective as an engineering student, I attended a technical college when I was 18 for automotive. Since then I have worked in a variety of industries such as construction, automotive repair, automotive racing, and medium-heavy duty diesel repair. These experiences in life have given me insight to manufacturing issues and assembly issues, to which I will apply my knowledge in order to make a superior product. As an individual it hurts my soul to see poorly designed machines and products, so I promise to always make the best effort for efficiency, reliability and cost. 

                Below I have shown an ordinary coat hanger, a coat hanger will hold clothes by the sloped tubes, with a J-hook attached to provide positive engagement on a rounded bar. The hanger also features a recessed portion with protruding tabs to hold and create a positive engagement for straps in order to hold clothing such as a dress. The body of this hanger is made of rounded plastic tubes, which can include ABS, Polystyrene or PVC. These plastics are injection molded to create the shape of the hanger and have the excess cut off while they are still warm and soft. The body also features a triangulated design for strength and rigidity as well as gusseting at the joints to reduce deflection. The edges are rounded to allow ease of installment and removal of clothing items. Hangers made of metal are also available but are manufactured much differently and can bend and deflect much easier than a plastic hanger, causing difficulty hanging clothes neatly. The rigidity of a plastic hanger is much less than that of a metal hanger, but will have enough elasticity to pop back into its original shape. Meanwhile a metal hanger will also possess more ductility allowing it to bend. The ductility of a metal hanger can have a positive and negative effect; on one hand the ductility is good because the hanger can be bent and not snap easily as a plastic hanger would, but being too ductile the shape of the hanger will not remain in the original design once bent and can be bent with a heavy garment. This process of injection molding hangers was invented and patented in 1991 by Stanley Gouldson, Roland Harmer, Olaf Olk. Patent no.US5785216A United States. 

                On a different note, personal hygiene is something I believe everyone should take seriously. Travel toothbrush kits are bulky and do not contain everything needed to properly brush one's teeth. A typical travel toothbrush kit will contain: a case, a mini toothbrush, and possibly a small tube of tooth paste, all of this is around 3"x6"x2" which is far larger than most people would want to carry in their pockets, plus it does not contain floss. I am motivated to create an innovative packaging solution to allow floss, a full size toothbrush, and tooth paste into a package half the size. 

              This initial project and research has taken six hours of my time.