Cat Alley Sign, Manchester, NH

Designed a sign to showcase the entrance of Cat Alley in Manchester NH. I was given the wonderful opportunity to work on this project while I was interning at Raven Laboratories. The client came to us with their idea of displaying the entrance to the alley. Cat Alley is an open air art gallery with dozens of cartoon cats. You can read more about Cat Alley here.

Cat Alley Sign prior to LED screen installation

My job on this project was to prototype and design the sign. I was given the wants and needs of the project and went to work. I was also in charge of calculating factors of safety for the sign.

Calculations:

As engineers, we must think about our projects in a holistic fashion. This means that we must think about more than the item itself; we must also think about its location, safety, and construction.

I calculated the strength of the frame itself using SolidWorks simulations, and also tested its dynamic load with hurricane force winds. I also calculated the necessary strength of the bolts that affixed it to the wall.

I also completed worst case scenario calculations and simulations of a person hanging from the furthest end. I had to design the sign to make sure that if this were to happen that the sign would not give way and potentially injure the person. To accomplish this, I completed many free body diagrams and simulations, followed by many iterations to strengthen the sign.

Using these calculations, I was able to calculate a factor of safety for the sign and meet the design requirements of at least a factor of safety of 2.5.