Micah’s Custom Laptop Cooling System

George Mason Universities' Deans list student within Mechanical Engineering and the Honors College, and avid MIX User, Micah Weisenberger, created an innovative solution using Fusion 360, 3D printers and modified off-the-shelf products to create a custom solution for his laptop that seemed to heat up quite quickly. Read below for Micah’s personal account of details and his development process.

After developing his product, Micah learned about the Student Innovator Mastermind Short Course Microcredential being offered by the MIX and joined to learn more about how to turn his invention into a viable marketable product.
See More about the MIX Mastermind Short Course Here >>

Read Micah’s self-described process in creating his innovative solution below:

The following is a brief overview of my creation and procedure for making my laptop cooler:  

1. Beginning

1. Summer was just starting

2. Wanted to find a project to occupy myself with to give me something other than my summer calc 2 class to do

3. Got a new computer and noticed that it got very hot very fast

4. Did some research on how my laptops thermal system worked

5. Determined that I should be able to find a way to get more air into my device

2. Middle

1. After setting my constraints and restraints I found out that I needed a device that was:

1. Portable, cheap, easily iterated upon design which could

2. blow air into my computers rear air intake, receive power from the computer, and have an on off button

2. I started with researching fans, buttons, and power solutions

1. I ended up finding a small blower fan,  small switch, and a 90degree usb cable

3. I used fusion 360 to start my iterative design process

1. I would take measurements of my laptop, make a part in fusion 360, 3d print it, observe how it worked and fitted, made modifications, repeated the previous steps, and then move onto the next part/step of the project.

4. After several weeks of the previously mentioned design process, I had made a working, full scale, prototype, even though I had to modify it post print to make it work.

3. End

1. Through this prototype I could finally see the light in the end of the tunnel, however, it still had some issues, and I saw some room for improvement.

2. At this point, I ended up adding some more goals. Snap fit rubber feet, a comfortable lap-able design for portability, a 5gps usb hub to make up for the usb port it used, a mesh cover to protect the fans, and a secure location to secure a small usb thumb drive  seemed like good additions

3. This was a bigger change than I initially expected. The additional parts made this problem more complex. Through more test prints and trial and error I have to a solid design

4. I ended up with a device that could snap onto my computer, weighs 230grmas, takes power from my computer, gives me 2 extra usb ports, blows air into my computer, and can lay comfortable on my lap.

5. With my project’s completion after 2.5 months, several dozen test prints, a hundred save instances on fusion 360, about 300 item on my fusion 360 timeline, along with weeks of failure and second guessing myself, I have finally created something that I may be able to turn into a product using GMU as a leaping board.  This project could very well change my future if I have the determination to go further.

Thank you,

       Micah Weisenberger

Visit Micah’s LinkedIn profile for more >>>
www.linkedin.com/in/micah-weisenberger-76mw