- Masters -
During my first semester of graduate school, I worked on a semester long group project for my Precision Machine Design class. This project was focused on designing a machine capable of stripping, organizing, and cleaning 50 micron diameter optical fiber. For reference, a pixel on a normal display is typically ~250 microns across. I played a major role in my group by creating our project timeline, dividing the work between each person, assembling the final model, generating a user interface, adding sensors, and generating a logical procedure for those sensors. This project required a preliminary design review presentation in which we described our design and received feedback, followed by the second half of the semester implementing that feedback. These improvements were captured in our final design review presentation, which pitched our concept to the class (pictured to the right).
Later into my degree, most of my projects focused around developing simulations for different types of systems. This included forecasting methods, adaptive algorithms, and path planning algorithms. These models provided insight into many different fields of engineering, providing me exposure to multi-disciplinary techniques and theories. A strong example of this was my Robot Motion Planning class, which over the course of a semester provided numerous different solutions to one type of problem: path planning a robot. While the problem did begin to get repetitive by the end of the class, the unique approaches to solving it provided a lot of valuable insight into how different parameters incentivize different types of solutions. Its this adaptive type of thinking that really exemplifies the majority of my masters degree, and the value it provided me.
- Undergraduate -
There were some really standout and exciting projects I participated in during my undergrad as BU, of which there's a few I'd like to share here. The first, seen to the left, was a project built around designing a system with 2.5 degrees of freedom to preform some task. My group opted to make something a bit more humorous, but I'm no less proud of the result. We even managed to calibrate the "Band Ballista" as we called it to be able to consistently hit its target. Pictured below that is a material optimization project utilizing nTopology to minimize the weight of a catapult arm while maximizing the launch distance. After optimizing the design, we were additionally tasked with manufacturing it, which added an additional layer of DFM to consider. Finally, the project I'm more proud of from my undergrad is pictured below on the right. This project tasked my group with designing a sensor to accurately measure the position of an oscillating mass. After designing the sensor, we had to implement it and characterize the system to be able to tell the value of the input with only our sensor data. This project required a lot of creative solutions and learning on the spot over its two month duration, eventually culminating in a 42 page long report, but all that work was some of the most rewarding I've ever done. Ultimately, I usually credit that project with my interest in Systems Engineering and control in general.
