I was apart of a small team of project leads overseeing the design, construction, and disassembly of a three-story tall wooden castle for MIT’s freshman orientation. The structure is 44’x24’x24’ in size with three-story tall towers, two-person fixed angle rock climbing walls, and one-person angle adjustable climbing wall.
During the design phase, I used beam bending calculations, Finite Element Analysis, and existing structural engineering code to ensure the structure can handle loads from people standing, loads from people climbing, and loads from wind. Wind loads were caluated by researching referencing Massachusettes regulations, and all calculations were validated by MIT Environmental Health and Safety as well as a contracted structural engineer before construction.
During construction, I would train and direct over 100 students (primarily incoming students with no prior experience) on the measuring, cutting, and assembly of wood using power tools.