Pneumatic Lab Capstone Profile: Felicia Shadoan

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“This iPhone glitch is frustrating,” Felicia Shadoan writes. “Hopefully it does not mess up again.”

When chatting with Shadoan over email, it becomes apparent why she might be frustrated by the iOS 11 bug that changes the letter “i” into strange symbols – she’s thorough in her answers, giving multiple versions for everything asked. It’s on-character for Shadoan, who tells us that she’s hoping to gain a deeper understanding of intricate industry topics while working on the Purdue-Proportion-Air capstone project.

A senior from Noblesville, Indiana, she is one of two mechanical engineering technology majors on the four-person group working through the Purdue Polytechnic Institute to redesign a course for the university. With her expertise and industry experience in pneumatics, Shadoan says, she can bring something unique to the group.

“I’m looking forward to collaborating on a team and working on a real industry project that applies to my field,” wrote Shadoan, the group’s budget manager. “This class has prepared me best for going out into the industry.”

While stereotypes may tell you that a group of four different college students might have trouble getting things done, she isn’t concerned—in fact, she said that the best part of the project is “collaborating with my group mates for so long.”

“I think we all get along well and share a common goal for the project. We all really enjoyed going to Florida and getting hands-on experience in the research lab with Dan [Cook, founder and president of Proportion-Air] and getting creative ideas for our project.”

In the future, Shadoan is aiming for completion of all the required lab exercises for the course. Completing this, she says, is key to picking a final design and building the physical model because it requires a deep knowledge of all the parts required. Further down the line, the process will move toward making the physical model.

As for the partnership with Proportion-Air, she is pleasantly surprised: “It has been very helpful that Proportion-Air has been so involved with the project and allows us to use them as a resource.” Because of the relationship, Shadoan writes, both sides can better understand the project’s outcomes and make sure everyone is on the same page on the final design.

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