Taylor Gaskins designed and built a custom tool chest for his truck as his senior project to practice engineering skills. He researched improvements in civil engineering education and standards. His largest challenge was preventing the tool chest from sliding into the gas tank, which he solved by cutting an arch in the base to fit around the tank and attaching it with a locking pin. Through the project, he learned he prefers aerospace engineering over civil engineering and plans to study it at Southern Polytechnic State University.

1. April 11, 2012
Judges, Senior Project
Creekview High School
1550 Owens Store Road
Canton, GA 30115
Dear Judges:
My name is Taylor Gaskins, and I am an 18 year old senior at Creekview High. My goals after high school
are to attend Southern Polytechnic and pursue a career in aerospace engineering. This is why I decided
to incorporate a branch of engineering into my senior project. For my project I designed and built a
custom fit tool chest for the back of my 1987 G.M.C Jimmy. This product came from my best idea to
practice and research all the skills that engineers need in order to be successful at their occupation.
For my research paper I chose to focus on the improvements in education, product quality and product
efficacy that civil engineers need to take in order to remain an important engineering power. I learned
from my research that the education standards for civil engineering are not as high as other branches,
such as aerospace or mechanical, and in the next few years many engineering schools are going to be
requiring higher math grades and more advanced courses. The largest obstacle I had to overcome in my
product was preventing the tool chest from sliding into the gas tank when the vehicle is moving. I
overcame this dilemma by cutting an arch out of the base board to fit around the tank, and then
attached the entire product to the vehicle using a wooden locking pin. I learned from this project that I
enjoy creating my own solutions to problems that I am faced with.
My topic, civil engineering, and research are very important to anyone trying to get a career in civil
engineering. Civil engineers are faced with large and small scale construction projects every day, and my
intent for my product was to create a small scale project and follow it through using the same steps a
civil engineer would. I learned from this project that I am not a very organized person and have a
difficult time remembering where I placed certain items if I don’t record where I placed them. However,
this project taught me that I would rather pursue a career in aerospace engineering and attend college
at Southern Polytechnic State University. This career path will better suit my individual skills and desires.
I feel that the senior project was probably very beneficial to people who have not thought about what
they want to do after high school or college. However, I have known I wanted to be an engineer since
grade school, so this project became more of a hobby to me than a project.