Zachary Kuzel | University of Pittsburgh Industrial Engineering 

The design team had to use mechanical and material properties of acrylic to suspend 45 pounds with two members, each having a fixed support that could not be changed. To do this, the team found where the least tensile forces were exerted on each member. A stress analysis on these members was done and the material properties were used to design each member with a minimal cross sectional area at the center-point of each member without breaking, and a factor of safety was chosen based on the elastic modulus and the stress analysis' that the team ran.