Pursuing a lifelong passion for construction and architecture, senior Matt Mshooshian designed a storage shed this semester that the school may build.

Mshooshian created the design during his Engineering Graphics 3 class after it was proposed to him by applied arts and technology teacher Dan Strickland.

“What I liked most about [designing the shed] was seeing something from nothing come into fruition,” Mshooshian said.

The shed was originally conceived as a storage unit for the school’s golf cart. Currently, the facilities department has found an alternative space for the cart, so the construction of Mshooshian’s shed is on hold indefinitely.

However, the knowledge Mshooshian acquired during this process will be invaluable to him in future years as he is planning to enter the field of construction management.

“It’s good to know the structure of a building,” Mshooshian said. “Going forward in college I see that helping a lot because I learned how to build a wall and how to frame a doorway and how the structure of a roof works.”

Taking Engineering Graphics 1 as a freshman and Engineering Graphics 2 as a junior, Mshooshian has taken advantage of Algonquin’s elective offerings to further explore his interests.

“[Engineering Graphics is] where I got the skills to design the shed,” Mshooshian said.

Through the class, Mshooshian gained experience with SolidWorks, the software which was used to create the design. This experience will be a useful tool as he enters college and the professional world.

“Students who learn SolidWorks here, it transfers directly into internships and jobs,” Strickland said. “…[Mshooshian] was able to adapt [the software] so it made a series of small parts like the pieces of wood, and then he can assemble those pieces of wood into a shed, so it worked out pretty cool.”

In order for the design to be functional, Mshooshian had to dedicate time to learning building regulations.

“There are building codes for each state and each town, so [Mshooshian] was able to look into that,” Strickland said. “Because there are different laws or building codes involved, you have to make sure that you comply to all of those different rules. You can’t just make [the shed] and put it up.”

Though the shed will not be built in the near future, Strickland remains optimistic that Mshooshian’s design will one day serve the school.

“There’s still a need for [the shed] it’s just whether we find a good spot for it and stuff like that,” Strickland said. “I hope that we can actually build it in the end.”