Design and Engineering Portfolio

Projects:

Lunar Mining Robot - 2021-2022

My engineering capstone design project was to compete in NASA’s Lunabotics Robotic Mining Competition, for which my team built a robot that can dig up icy regolith on the moon and elsewhere. My primary roles were in design of the robot’s dumping system and project management. I designed and refined the geometry of the dumping mechanism by making a 3D printed scale model, performed a static bending analysis to validate the strength of components I selected, and worked with my team to manufacture, assemble, and test the robot. In terms of management, I scheduled meetings, wrote agendas by keeping track of what needed to be done, and led in the effort of writing deliverables. Read about my team's design methodology in our Systems Engineering Paper, which won 3rd place out of the 71 teams that competed! At the competition the robot successfully collected and deposited a few pieces of simulated icy regolith, which only 10 teams were able to do. Shown above are pictures of the CAD model of the robot, videos of the robot digging and collecting rocks in sand, photos of the robot and my team at the Kennedy Space Center, a video of the dumping system prototype I made, and a picture of a laser engraved coaster/ornament that I made for my teammates as a souvenir. I had fun redesigning our logo and using several graphic design programs to create a cartoon image of the robot for the coasters/ornaments and team shirts that we wore to the competition. This project was the hardest and most rewarding engineering challenge I've ever done and the experience I gained while working on it will be very valuable to my career in the future!

The final laboratory assignment for my Measurements and Controls class was to design a closed-loop feedback control system. I made a solar tracker by controlling the position of a DC motor with a photoresistor attached to a fake solar panel on the rotor. Using an Arduino, an H-bridge, a PWM signal, and P control, I programmed the motor to follow a flashlight that moved radially above it like the sun would. Read my final report on this project here!

For my Visual Communication class, a partner and I made this device for stamping envelopes or other things. It features a toggle clamp four-bar linkage with the input at the coupler, a slider with an optional crank for moving between ink and paper, guide rails for placing the envelope in the same spot every time, interchangeable stamp attachments with velcro, and a handle for ergonomic support. First we made a quick mockup out of foam board to test the design and dimensions (left), then we made the real one more robustly with wood (right). We used several shop tools including a belt sander, spindle sander, band saw, table saw, and drill press, and basic tools like a hand saw, drill, and clamps. The device has a mechanical advantage of approximately 1.16, in addition to the benefits of efficient and accurate stamp placement. Read our final report on this project here!

Also for my Visual Communication class, a partner and I made this device for cutting sandwiches or other foods. It features a four-bar linkage parallelogram, a second class lever, a spring for smoothness and safety, and a rotating base to enable multiple cuts on the same item at different angles. Through the building process we learned a lot about quick prototyping and woodworking techniques.

I made this toy/decoration of Santa and Rudolph flying through the sky (visually based on this video by Mark Crilley) as a Christmas gift in 2023. I designed it using CAD, 3D printed it, painted it, and put it together. It took a few iterations in the design stage to get all the proportions right, and I had to do some testing and thinking about tolerances to get all the components to fit as loosely or tightly as I wanted them to. It's always fun to use my engineering skills for artistic projects.

I made this nativity decoration as a Christmas gift for my mom using Marquette’s laser cutter with ⅛’’ plywood. This was my first laser cutting project and I learned a lot of intricacies of the process, like how the machine works by reflecting and focusing the laser and why it's important to weigh down the workpiece if the wood is warped so the laser can focus at the correct height and cut all the way through. I had a lot of fun designing both the aesthetic look of the nativity and the functionality of how the pieces fit together. I love the creative side of engineering!

I made this “clatteroid” from Animal Crossing: New Horizons as a Christmas gift for my cousin who is a big fan of the game and its cute items. Once I decided that I would create the base shape by stacking laser cut pieces of ¼’’ plywood, I designed it in CAD and created the cutting pattern. After cutting the pieces I did a lot of gluing and sanding, both manually and using shop tools like a belt sander and lathe. I made the arms out of a wooden dowel and I cleaned all of the pieces with an alcohol solution before painting. First I painted a white base coat to make sure that the burned edges wouldn’t show, then I mixed the colors and painted each piece by hand, and finally glued it all together. Working on this project reinforced my passion for combining artistic design and engineering by using engineering tools to create something that is solely cosmetic.

My lab partners and I made this acrylic elephant for Manufacturing class using Marquette’s laser cutter. We first made a cardboard mockup to communicate the design to each other, and then we created the cutting pattern in CAD and cut it and put it together. It features two moving parts, the trunk and the tail, which are friction-fit pinned by cylindrical erasers.

Drawing has been a hobby of mine for my whole life, but I learned techniques for drawing manufactured objects in orthographic, isometric, and oblique views specifically in my Visual Communication class. These are several sketches I did of my glasses and a wine box valve. Additional sketches are shown as part of other projects above.

These are just a few miscellaneous examples of CAD and 3D rendering that I have done in NX, SolidWorks, and KeyShot for both school and work. Additional designs are shown as part of other projects above. Doing CAD is one of my favorite parts of engineering because I can make parts that are both functional and attractive.

Before the other projects for my Visual Communication class, a partner and I made this four-bar linkage and slider-crank to learn, experiment, and demonstrate how those mechanisms work and get experience with building. The paths of the outputs are traced and numbered to show their geometry and speed at each point.