Noteworthy Projects

A New Deck for My Parents

Summer 2017

Immediately after graduation, I was still job hunting. In the meantime, my parents asked for a pretty major deck overhaul. I took this as my excuse to learn Sketchup! I used the design to meticulously shop for material and construct the new deck.

1" x 42" Strip Sander

Spring 2017

Inspired by a youtube video by Matthias Wandel, I designed this strip sander for fun.

I later convinced the BU department of engineering that building this sander should meet the requirements for my undergraduate manufacturing concentration. Fortunately, they accepted!

Engraved Glasses for a Friend

Winter 2019

Using my iPad, I traced the outline of a photo of a friend's dog. I exported that image, laser cut some special stickers, and media blasted the sketch onto a set of glasses as a Christmas gift.

PCNL Patient Positioning Device

Spring 2017

Our senior capstone project at BU paired us with Dr. Brian Eisner at the Massachusetts General Hospital. We were tasked to create a novel patient positioning device for his PCNL kidney stone removal surgeries.

When finalizing the design, I made considerations for everything from radioluscent properties (X-ray transparency) to strength and safety.

Remote Controlled Dog Toy

Spring 2017

Inspired by the BB8 robot from Star Wars, my teammate Summer and I set out to design our own RC-controlled, ball-shaped dog toy. The entire toy was built inside a Jolly Ball, a large HDPE dog toy. I was responsible for CAD, component selection, fabrication.

POUED Controller and Power Electronics

Fall 2019

I had just a week to design, assemble, and test this miniature, PLC-based controller for testing Point of Use Electrodialysis Desalination. It had three power supplies, an optional Raspberry Pi mini computer, digitally controlled buck converters, and a full schematic for easy debugging.

This project was the first time I learned to respect flyback in circuits driving inductive loads . One of the PLC channels was quickly killed by flyback after switching a solenoid a few too many times.

Improved Gravity Feeders

Spring 2020

The gravity feeders used in the Automated Design and Manufacturing Laboratroy were a mess, comprised of terrible sheet metal and thumbscrews. I rebuilt the feeders into hulking HDPE slides. No matter how many times a student crashed a robot, these feeders would stay in place and feed stock consistently.

Check out the rest of this project: Teaching Principles of Automated Manufacturing

Universal Vise Jaws

Spring 2020

The Automated Design and Manufacturing Laboratroy desperately needed standardization. Students were provided with seven unique pieces of stock material and were responsible for cutting their own soft jaws. This ruined the repeatability of the robots as students exhanged different jaws in and out of the CNC machines. I designed and manufactured universal vise jaws that could accomodate all of the stock pieces used in the ADML.

I used to manage some of the social media for the BU Engineering Product Innovation Center (EPIC). Watch these vises in action on Instagram!

Check out the rest of this project: Teaching Principles of Automated Manufacturing

Squaring Fixture for Reliable Automation

Spring 2020

As a robot collected a piece of stock material from a gravity feeder, it sometimes would catch or slip on the gravity feeder, ruining the repeatability of the process. I created these small "squaring" fixutres that allowed the robot to bump the piece against a known 90 degree reference. The robot then collect the part again before placing it on a pallet or in a milling machine.

Check out the rest of this project: Teaching Principles of Automated Manufacturing

Face Shields

Spring 2020

In the spring of 2020, EPIC began making face shields comprised of a bent strip of polycarbonate and transparency films. I programmed one of the class robots to bend the headbands for me while I worked on other components.

Reverse a Wiper Motor

Fall 2023

Wiper motors are dirt cheap and make great high torque actuators. Unfortunately, most are wired to operate in only one direction. Just a few minutes with a multimeter and a pair of snips and you can easily remove the park circuit, allowing the motor to rotate in both directions!

Check out the rest of this project: Automated, Effective Fish Feeding