Tinkering

tinkering example. Students pursue self-led hands-on practice as a precursor to being involved in more significant activities. Photo by The Onion Studio.

Tinkering is the first step in the experiential learning continuum. Students pursue self-led, hands-on practice as a precursor to being involved in more significant activities. Tinkering projects are a great way to build a foundation for future engineering endeavors.  

Get started with tinkering at UB Learns.

On this page:

Tinkering Spaces

Design Studio

416 Bonner Hall

The Design Studio comprises a Reverse Engineering Lab (RevEng Lab) and the Da Vinci Lab. The studio consists of a variety of tools, measurement devices and materials to support tinkering via product teardown, ideation and modification. Concepts can be implemented through the complementary tinkering spaces.

Reverse Engineering Laboratory

A great way to start tinkering is with a reverse engineering project. Come to the RevEng Lab, work with your peers to tear down a product, and gain a better understanding of how engineering brings together innovative thinking and analysis to solve problems.

Reverse engineering will help you to build some fundamental engineering skills and inspire you to create — evolving the product to improve some aspect (e.g., change a component to improve performance or reduce cost) or radical modification (e.g., integrate a Raspberry Pi to make an Internet of Things device). 

To get started with reverse engineering and gain access to the lab, check out lab hours and activities on UBlearns.

Also See:
Students can get started in reverse engineering in the SEAS design studio.

Digital Manufacturing Laboratory

118 Bonner Hall

digital manufacturing lab.

The Digital Manufacturing Lab houses a variety of 3D printing/ additive manufacturing technologies, software and capabilities for modeling and digital design, and manufacturing and analysis. Home to high-definition 3D digital scanners, desk-top and professional grade printers, the lab provides capabilities for precision rapid prototyping, tooling and manufacturing of 3D objects and parts.

To get started with digital manufacturing and gain access to the lab, check out lab hours and activities on UBlearns.

Electronics Tinkering Laboratory

104C Jarvis Hall

The Electronics Tinkering Laboratory has scheduled hours for students to work on fabrication and tinkering with electronics under guidance from lab supervisors. Students will learn a range of skills and tools, including bread boarding, soldering, circuit design and simulation software, and power supplies and function generators. The lab is accessible most evenings and on weekends. You can sign up for a session here.

To get started with electronics tinkering and gain access to the lab, check out lab hours and activities on UBlearns.

Students collaborate in the electronics tinkering lab.
Sign up for a session in the Electronics Tinkering Lab.

Engineering Machine Shop

105 Jarvis Hall and 111 Jarvis Hall

The SEAS Engineering Machine Shop is a great place to get started with tinkering and the experiential learning program continuum. You will be using the Machine Shop throughout your time at UB, so there is no better time to get accustomed to it than right now.

In general, the SEAS Engineering Machine Shop supports experimental research, student clubs and course requirements. Highly skilled staff provide technical support for faculty, staff and students.

Before you can enter the machine shop, you must complete and pass the safety certification. More information regarding this orientation/certification can be found here.

Students and machine shop staff work together in the Engineering Machine Shop.

The Engineering Machine Shop is the largest and most comprehensive shop on UB’s campus. The shop recently added a brand new CNC lathe and CNC milling machine, three new engine lathes with digital readouts, a TIG welder, and a 3D printer.

Learn more about the Engineering Machine Shop.

Tinkering Resources

Tinkering resources are available to all SEAS undergraduate students via the Tinkering course on UBLearns. If you do not see Tinkering in your course list, please email seas-exl@buffalo.edu to be added to the course.

CAD for Mechanical Engineering and Product Design

  • Autodesk AutoCAD  (2D and 3D CAD and drafting package)
  • Autodesk Inventor  (3D CAD environment)
  • Autodesk Fusion 360 (Complete engineering platform supporting CAD/CAE/CAM)
  • PTC Creo  (Paremetric modeling software)
  • SolidWorks  (Parametric modeling software used by many small to medium size design and manufacturing firms)
    NOTE: You will need to log in to access this software.

CAD for Structural Design and Civil Infrastructure

  • Autodesk Civil 3D (Civil engineering design and documentation solution that supports Building Information Modeling workflows
  • Autodesk Revit (Building information modeling software used by architects, structural engineers and MEP engineers)

CAD for PCB and Analog Circuit Design and Simulation

  • DipTrace (PCB design software for Windows)
  • EAGLE (Circuit design and schematic creation)
  • KiCad (PCD design, schematic capture, 3D Viewer)
  • idealCircuit (Analog circuit design and simulation)
  • Pad2Pad (PCB design software)

Embedded Systems and Microcontroller Prototyping Platforms

  • Arduino (buy online at Amazon, etc. OR come try one in the Design Studio)
  • Raspberry Pi (buy online at Amazon, etc. OR come try one in the Design Studio)

Software Engineering

There are numerous books and websites to help you get started coding with the languages below. 

  • Python
  • Ruby
  • HTML & CSS
  • JavaScript
  • PHP
  • Objective-C
  • C/C++
  • SQL
  • Java
  • .Net
Visit Tinkering on UBLearns