Overview

To work in the lab, you’ll need to complete the tasks and on boarding/training activities below. This will equip you with a base level of materials, knowledge and skill sets required to conduct research and to mentor/teach others to do so.
- [ **** ] Complete within 4 weeks of term start
- [ *** ] Complete within 3 weeks of term start
- [ ** ] Complete within 2 weeks of term start
- All others, complete within one week of term start

Items / materials

Desk and materials - Graduate students obtain desks in 35-010 or 35-135. MechE administration usually takes care of this automatically, however if the semester is about to start and you do not have a desk, please e-mail the lab admin - Katherine Eisenbach (keisenba@mit.edu) - and cc Prof. Culpepper so that we can trigger the process to get you a desk. If it is important for you to have materials for your desk that are necessary for your research, community contribution or TA (e.g. laptop lock, monitor, etc.) email Prof. Culpepper with what you want, cost and justification. He will consider the need and make a decision on purchasing.

Engineering notebook - Determine the type of lab notebook you would like, see below, and then email Katherine (keisenba@mit.edu) with your request. She will place the order. Make sure to tell her to put this on the lab discretionary account, provide the link to the item, and provide a picture of the item in your e-mail:
- Spiral bound notebook
- Hard cover (recommend the 312 page version)
- Tape bound notebook

You must keep an up to date notebook, this is work product that belogns to MIT and MIT will retain this after you graduate (in case needed for IP/patent issues or legal disputes with companies over patents). If you would like a copy of the notebook before you leave, this will be provided as long as MIT allows us to do this (no IP issues).

Lit. search template - You'll need to keep track of your literature search efforts. There is a template here (or on the lab drop box under the Lab Documents folder) that you can adapt to keep track and provide synopses of your literature search. You don’t have to use this specific template; you can make your own format if you like (e.g. google sheet) as long as it contains the same information. Keep your literature search synopsis, and all of the results of your literature search (PDFs of papers), in your personal folder (already created) within the "literature review" folder in the lab google folder.

Grammar and writing guidelines - See below in the “Lab accounts” section [Lab Dropbox - Culpepper lab -> Lab documents ] . Prof. Culpepper is not here to proof read your documents. It is poor form for any scientist or engineer to hand a document over for checking and it has these types of errors. You are expected to know how to write without making grammar or spelling mistakes, just as you are expected to do algebra or calculus without errors. High-quality scholarly writing is expected in this lab. Our job is to accurately, clearly, and concisely disseminate knowledge. There is no excuse for poor writing. The accuracy, clarity, and quality of your writing need to at least equal that of legal documents. Every student shall demonstrate an ability to generate high-quality scholarly documents before they start writing a thesis. I will withdraw from advising any studnet that will not give their best effort to become a good technical writer. We will help you learn, but you have to do the work.

Lab community contribution - Everybody in the lab has helps out with a community contribution. For example, someone takes care of the server… another takes care of the 5 axis mill, etc… Contact Prof. Culpepper to ask about what you can do to help the lab and others have a productive experience.

Access

Culpepper Lab - Contact the lab admin - Katherine Eisenbach (keisenba@mit.edu) - trigger the process to get your MIT connected to the lab door (35-029).

****MakerWorkshop - If you aren’t a member of the MakerWorkshop, make sure to join (attend a general training event first, see their web site). You can use this shop for research, class and personal projects. For the lab’s purposes, you want to get trained on the following:
- Large waterjet
- Laser cutter
- Manual lathe

****LMP shop (35-125) - Our lab is part of LMP shop and so we get to use this shop for research purposes. Get trained on the following:
- Large waterjet (good to have as a back up and often in better shape for what we need). You’ll need an account to use it, ask Katherine (keisenba@mit.edu) for the account number associated with your research account.

Safety

Assessment & online training - Go to atlas.mit.edu —> Learning Center —> My Profile —> Update PI/Activities —> Save and Continue to complete the self-assessment. Then, complete all the trainings under My Training Needs.

**Lab specific training - Once this is complete, contact the lab safety representative (Jay - jayx@MIT.EDU) to schedule a lab specific chemical training.

Software

MIT software - You can find software for download at the MIT IST website - https://ist.mit.edu/software-hardware. You will need to download and install the following

- SolidWorks (Make sure to install SolidWorks Simulation - the FEA component and CAMWorks - when prompted for options to install)
- Microsoft Office (installed at minimum Excel, PowerPoint and Word)

**Commercial software
- Bambu studio (for 3D printer)

Lab accounts

Google account - E-mail Prof. Culpepper with the subject “Red M Google Account request”.

Server account- Contact the lab server guru (Yasin - yhamed@mit.edu) to set up your account. You can use the lab server to run demanding simulations and to store information.

Drop Box - E-mail Prof. Culpepper with subject “Lab drop box account request“. There are many resources in the lab Drop Box, take a look around to see what you might find useful in the future.
It is important that you look at the contents of these folders, and sub-folders, so that you know what is available to you… and where you need to store certain kinds of things:
+ Culpepper lab -> Lab documents (templates and very importantly the grammar/writing guide)
+ Culpepper lab -> Technical and design resources (back up copies of the CAD/CAM files for major hardware you design/build)
+ Culpepper lab -> Literature reviews (you will have a folder in here where you can keep all of the PDFs of papers for your search, do not keep too many on your ‘literature search’ folder in the lab google drive)

Lab fabrication skills to obtain

**Bambu 3D printer – You can self-teach this machine via videos on the web. Please learn this and print a demo part for your research or personal interest.

****MDA 5 axis mill – Contact the temporary trainer (Evan is temporarily covering this - comiskey@mit.edu ) for training on the 5 axis mill, and again make a part for your research or personal project.

**** HAAS CNC lathe – Contact TBD for training (machine being added mid-Fall 2026, more details to come)

**** HAAS 3 axis mill – Contact TBD for training (machine being added mid-Fall 2026, more details to come)

**** Standard 5 axis EDM – Contact TBD for training (machine being added mid-Fall 2026, more details to come)

Software skills to obtain

CAD - We are standardized on SolidWorks in the lab, do not ask to use any other CAD software. Make sure you know how to do everything in the tutorials listed below – if you already know you don’t have to do them, but make sure you *know* how to use/do. If you don't, I recommend repeating the respective tutorial a few times until you can do this without leaning on the tutorial instructions. Open SolidWorks. In the upper right corner of the screen, click the question mark (?) symbol, and select Tutorials. NOTE, in the new window that pops up, there are different sections per the buttons/tabs at the top of the window that show different tutorials.
- Lesson 1: Parts
- Lesson 2: Assemblies
- Revolves and sweeps
- Pattern features
- Fillets

***CAM - At present, we use Fusion CAM for the 5 axis, however in mid-September of ‘26 we will be shifting all CAM in the lab to CAMWorks.

****MSWord - You must learn how to use the Styles in MS word. All of our documents (papers, theses, etc…) are created and archived in MS Word. Do not ask to use another program. You can learn more about MS Word Styles (they make it very easy to use word… if you don’t use them it will be a pain) here.

***FEA- We use multiple FEA software in the lab. You can use other FEA software, but you must be able to use SolidWorks Simulation/FEA (i.e. you must complete these tutorials). In SolidWorks, select: Simulation -> Help -> Tutorials. Make sure you know how to do everything in the tutorials listed below – if you already know you don’t have to do them, but make sure you *know* how to use/do. If you don't, I recommend repeating the respective tutorial a few times until you can do this without leaning on the tutorial instructions. NOTE, in the new window that pops up, there are different sections per the buttons/tabs at the top of the window that show different tutorials.
- Analysis of a part
- Symmetry restraints
- Frequency analysis
- Thermal analysis

Other useful and highly capable FEA programs include Abaqus (can get from the MIT IST website - https://ist.mit.edu/software-hardware. ) and Comsol (when covered under/needed by specific projects).