How to Build A Computer

When I think back to when I was in high-school, applying to colleges and thinking about career paths, I realize my decision to become an engineer was mainly motivated by my fascination and curiosity for computers. I had been surrounded by technology my whole life, frequently playing videogames, and one day I decided to build my own computer, purely so I could have a cool, new PC with flashy LED lights that I could use to play all the newest games. I thought building a computer would be a daunting, difficult task, requiring skills that I didn't have, but I turned out to be very wrong. Learning about computer parts and building a computer turned out to be much easier than expected, and the entire process was what triggered my interest in engineering.

This year, I wanted to create a presentation that would demystify computers to younger students, in hope of inspiring them to learn more on their own. My presentation discusses the fundamental aspects of computers: inputs, outputs, processing, and storage. Within these categories, I talk about the specific parts that carry out these functionalities: the motherboard, CPU, RAM, HDD/SSDs, GPUs, PSU. The goal of the presentation is to explain these parts and their functions at a surface level to the students, to avoid providing an overwhelming amount of information all at once. After explaining the parts, I talk about additional topics such as cooling, compatibility, safety, and the concept of bottlenecks.

One of the keys to this presentation is an interesting, interactive demo that will prove to students that building a computer isn't rocket science. For a virtual demo, I found an easily downloadable online PC builder game, which the presenter could play while sharing a screen, or the students could easily download/play. The game allows students to visualize the PC building process, and see that its only a matter of connecting a hand-full of parts. For an in-person setting, the best demo would be opening up an actual computer in front of the students, and walking through each part and its functionality. I am excited to give this presentation to students at some point down the road, and hopefully inspire interest in engineering.