Engineering Showcase Highlights Creativity

Photos by Kenny MacBain

A tray for your car that provides a convenient way to eat, work, and stay organized. An ultralight computer mouse that causes less fatigue. A combination soap holder and toothbrush slot designed to keep your bathroom decluttered and hygienic. All of these items and more were created and produced by St. Mark’s students as part of the first Engineers' Holiday Showcase, highlighting the work of students in David Palmer’s Engineering and Design 1 class. 

For Machias Poreda ’25, inspiration for his “Sink-Side Soap Hub” struck after he began to sketch ideas for simple solutions to everyday problems. “That’s when I noticed my soap bar in the bathroom was always soggy, slippery, and sitting in water,” he says. “It was gross. I thought a soap holder with a removable tray to keep it dry would solve that. I sketched it the next day and stuck with the idea because I thought, ‘What else could I add to this idea?’ I noticed a lot of people have cluttered bathroom sinks, so I decided to integrate a toothbrush holder and toothpaste slot. That’s how it became the ‘Sink-Side Soap Hub’—a hub for bathroom essentials.” 

Carson Brown ’27’s car food tray is another solution to an everyday issue. “I came up with the design because I recognized that commonly in most people's lives, they struggle to eat in the car without making a mess,” he says. “Additionally, sometimes you want to work in your car, and straining your neck is no fun. I wanted to solve a problem that many people face daily and create a product that would make their lives just a bit easier and more comfortable.” 

Kyle Chu ’27 is “a big tech guy,” so with his product, he wanted to improve one of the most common technology tools—the mouse. His ultralight mouse is more precise and causes less fatigue than heavier alternatives. “The mouse is the tool you use most when interacting with a computer, so I wanted to see how I could improve it,” he says.

All of the projects produced as part of Palmer’s class were created using 3D printers in the School’s Fab Lab. It was during this printing process that challenges often surfaced. 

“During the process of printing the tray, I didn’t realize I had too little filament for the supports, causing the print to fail,” Brown says. “I ran into an issue because I didn’t add supports for the toothbrush holder, so it failed,” Poreda explains. “Fixing that took another day. I just cut off the top part that failed and reprinted it, saving material and time.” 

All of the students reported valuable takeaways from the class. “One big lesson I learned,” Poreda shares, “is the value of following the design process. It’s interesting to see how you can take a simple idea and turn it into something much better.” 

“I think the most important thing I learned was to be adaptable,” Brown adds. “Adaptability can come in a variety of ways in our lives, such as relationships, school, and sports. This key lesson, which I discovered through overcoming the challenges in this project and class, expands far beyond the classroom walls of my engineering class.” 

A final lesson comes from Chu, who says simply: “Have fun. If you choose something you like, it won’t feel like busy work.” 

To see all of the projects and share your feedback, select this link.