Fixtures and Jigs
I was responsible for fixture design and manufacturing for two consecutive years. These fixtures aided in chassis, suspension, and drivetrain fabrication. Each year I had over 60 unique fixtures that needed to be CAD, drafted, and machined. My organization skills improved significantly as a result, and the team saw a significant decrease in fixture manufacturing time. All my fixtures were designed parametrically in reference assemblies. I developed good CAD practices and saw my fixtures update automatically when a reference component underwent small changes.
I really enjoyed designing parts with manufacturability as the primary objective and learned quite a few practical lesson. The most important of these was that people will use fixtures incorrectly unless there is zero room for confusion. This led me add functionally redundant features, like notches and clipped edges, so that fixtures could not be mistaken for one another. While drafting drawings I developed basic GD&T skills, and my attention to proper ASME guidelines was a significant factor in reduced machining time.