DTech seniors show off final project in Trade Show format
During after school hours, DTech dynasty five gathered up at Spirito Hall located in Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech). A company named “Rubik’s Rincon” made a product replicating a Rubik’s Cube with built in speakers. They have provided a rough draft of the cube using a three-dimensional version and finalizing it with quality material. Rubik’s Rincon also prepared a booklet showing the process and how it was made step by step.
May 23, 2023
For their last semester in the program, seniors in the DTech Capstone class have been building a bluetooth speaker. They presented this final project in a Trade Show format on May 18, 2023 at Foothill Technology High School’s (Foothill Tech) Spirito Hall. Here, students displayed their bluetooth speaker prototype; a model of the speaker, their process book that showed the progression of the project and a custom display stand. The students also had to make shirts and stickers for their product.
Upon walking in Spirito Hall, guests were greeted with groups of seniors displaying and giving elevator pitches on their product. At their stations they explained how they built the speaker and why they chose the brand they based their speaker on.
Students started the lengthy process by researching brands of interest and then forming groups. Once settled on a brand, the groups drew ideation sketches on what they wanted the product to look like, took the best sketch and constructed a model. Then, the students began 3D printing, gluing all pieces using a strong adhesive, then priming and painting the speaker to get an overall smoother look. “It was a really nice learning experience,” detailed Kenna Paul ’23.
For the most part, students chose brands that would make them stand out or that they admired. Raymond Shellgren’s ‘23 group based their speaker on the car brand Mitsubishi Motors naming their product Matilija.
“The Mitsubishi Starion is a very esoteric car,” shared Shellgren, “Because of that, we were able to create this very distinct design and I think that desire to pop out and show something a little odd was what wheeled us into that.”
Dr. Tiffany Morse, part of the NewCo foundation, which supports high school and college entrepreneurship, observed students’ pitches and products. NewCo helps with DTech funding and offers internships to students in the program.
Dr. Morse found the speakers with rounded parts the most impressive as students had to overcome the obstacle of using rounded parts to build the speaker. Dr. Morse and the NewCo Foundation appreciates the real world application that students experience.
For the past semester, DTech students strived at making their final project a success. The Trade Show allowed students to showcase the skills that they have learned over the past three years, while also gaining experience important for future careers.
