Welcome to my blog!
My name is Will, and I have too many hobbies. These range from music production to 3D modeling, Java programming to sewing, and writing to stage tech. Almost all of my hobbies include making in some way, because I find that my worries fade away as I create, and working with my hands is what makes my life enjoyable.
I'm currently studying Electrical Engineering at the University of Utah (though thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic those plans are a bit wobbly at the moment). I'm also studying for a CCNA (Cisco Certified Networking Associate), and I'm Dante level 1 certified with plans to pursue levels 2 and 3. I currently work on a Networking Operations helpdesk, a job I really do enjoy. I'm also a tool mentor for a makerspace on the bottom floor of my dorm building, Lassonde Studios.
Needless to say, almost every aspect of my life is encompassed by STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math). If you enjoy that sort of thing, hopefully you'll find this blog is for you. Even if you're just a bit curious about learning more about technology I hope you'll enjoy the posts here. I hope to create a documentation of my various technological ventures so that readers are able to see what I'm creating, and maybe even learn a thing or two for themselves!
It's a pleasure to meet you! I hope you enjoy reading this chronicle of crazy adventures in making things!
How did we get here?
It's the summer of 2020. I originally planned to take eight credit hours at the University of Utah but due to COVID-19 those plans kind of fell through.
I was one of the fortunate ones to maintain employment, so at least I've got that. But all of the events I had planned out for the summer got cancelled. One of these activities was the Above & Beyond Acoustic III concert, which I was going to go to in June. Additionally, I hear I won't be doing stage tech for Snowbasin's Blues Brews and Barbecue like I did last summer, which really sucks. But maybe this time is a blessing in disguise, but only if I put it to good use.
I now face a summer off, but it wouldn't be any fun if I didn't plan out a whole bunch of projects to try and complete before the school year starts up again.
Summer goals.
I was challenged by my dad to draft up a checklist of things I want to do before the summer ends. I did so on the whiteboard in my room at home, however to save on time and clarity I'll give you the abridged version.
1. Cisco CCNA Class
For those of you who don't know, the CCNA is an associate's level networking certification offered by Cisco, the largest networking company in the world (last I checked, correct me if I'm wrong). I'm currently enrolled in an online class to teach everything that would be on the certification exam, which is mostly networking fundamentals. Even if I don't get certified this summer, I'd like to make my way through the class.
2. Save up for a Portable Rack Case
I should clarify that I'm saving up for the materials to build one, not to buy one. I recently came into possession of a Cisco 2951 router and Catalyst 3650 network switch, and while these look okay being stacked onto my desk, I'd like to build a rack to mount them in. My first thought was to buy a standard stage rack box on wheels, but I ran into two problems with this. First, they were way too tall and expensive, and second, they wouldn't fit the router.
Standard mounting depth for stage racks is 19". This works great because stage equipment isn't longer than 19". The switch would fit in a pre-built rack just fine, but the router is exactly 19" and if I bought a rack with that depth, there wouldn't be room for optimal air-flow to cool the equipment.
My solution is to build a custom rolling case with a 22" rack depth. I've already started design for this project in Autodesk Fusion 360, my CAD (Computer Aided Design/Drafting) software of choice.
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| 3D render of my rack case, not including hardware, mounting rails, or clasps. |
3. Build Lab Configuration
This one kind of goes hand in hand with 1 and 2, which involves building the configuration for all the devices in my network lab. The explanation for how I plan to do this is a bit complicated so the details will come in the post about that project.
4. Java Lighting Control
This is a project I've been ruminating about quite a bit, but I want to build my own custom lighting control software in Java. There are many motivations for doing this and I've planned quite a bit out so far, but I've still got a long way to go. This is the project that I feel closest to completing right now, and I'll cover as much as I can on this project in the next blog post!
5. Custom Lighting Fixture with Arduino
In addition to building my own custom lighting control software, I also want to build some custom lights to go along with it. I'm going to base the project off an Arduino Uno but make the whole circuit as small and inexpensive as possible.
6. Produce 3 songs by the time I move out
Whether or not I actually finish this one is to be seen, but I want to write and produce 3 songs by the time I move out. Lately I've been in a rut with music production so this one might be a challenge.
7. Turn 19
This one is more of an inevitable milestone but I put it on here anyways.
Closing
So there you have it, my abridged goals for the summer of 2020. I'll hopefully keep to this blog thing going and document the process of building all of these things, and maybe even surprise myself and finish them all.
I will try to post on a regular schedule rather than when I write articles, so I'll leave the original date of the articles on when I wrote them but post them every Tuesday and Friday so keep posted for those! For now I think I'm going to wrap this up. Thanks for taking the time to read through it! Keep an eye out for a post about the Java Lighting soon, I'm sure all of the other projects will follow!
Keep Making Things,
Will
Excited to see you progress on these goals
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