portfolio
Summer Internships
I have had the opportunity to work with highly talented groups of engineers in very exciting groups. As an undergraduate, I spent two summers and part of a semester working in Bose’s Project Sound which is developing an active automotive suspension system. My work included modeling and evaluating composites and viscoelastic materials for use in the suspension module. For 6 months between my undergraduate and graduate programs, and again this past summer, I worked with the iPod/iPhone Product Design team at Apple, specializing in iPhone products. I participated in the full design cycle, including product architecture layout, component design, part manufacturing, drop testing, and production debugging. Unfortunately, the work I did at both companies is subject to NDA for the next few years. Until then, feel free to check out the brief descriptions on my resume (PDF).
2.75 - Precision Machine Design
The 2.75 class, since 2004, has partnered with CIMIT to bring together physicians from Boston-area hospitals and MIT engineering students in developing new medical devices. Physicians present their particular challenges then student teams work with them during the course of a semester to develop solutions. Along the way, core precision machine design principles are discussed in lecture, and applied in hands-on exercises, and in the design of the new medical device project.
One such project is the kinematic coupling. For the assignment, each student was to design, model, build, and test something that used a kinematic coupling. I decided to make a sort of graduate version of a 2.008 paperweight (see further down the page) that was both functional and aesthetically pleasing. I began by creating a model in SolidWorks, then fabricated it using a laser cutter and CNC mill, then tested the repeatability of the coupling using a Last Word dial indicator on a Bridgeport mill. As it turns out, I got very good repeatability (better than the resolution of my instrumentation) mostly, I think, because of the consistent preloading of the magnets included in either side of the coupling.
Stay tuned for more information on my team’s medical device challenge: a wheelchair that uses the pecs and lats, instead of shoulders, to drive the chair.
2.739 - Product Design and Development
PDD is jointly offered by the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering, the MIT Sloan School and the Rhode Island School of Design. Over the course of a semester, diverse student teams drawing from each of the participating programs bring a product from concept to prototype, learning about the design process, project management, and manufacturing techniques along the way. My team worked with Design that Matters to design an infant CPAP (continuous positive air pressure) machine that would be suitable for developing nations in southeast Asia. We focused on ease of operation, cost, and durability. From 12 class teams, we were selected by our professors to represent the class at the 2009 Made in Brunel Design Expo in London.
2.THU - Undergraduate Thesis
The undergraduate thesis is the capstone of the mechanical engineering curriculum. It is an individual self-motivated study, research or design project under faculty supervision. My project was to design a machine capable of testing linear bearings in high speed and very high load and torque conditions. Additionally, I programmed a control system and GUI in LabView.
2.009 - Product Engineering Processes
“In 2.009, Product Engineering Processes, students work in large teams of approximately 15 to 19 individuals to design and build working alpha prototypes of new products. Students learn about creativity, product design, working within a budget, and gain unifying engineering experience.” Each year the teams’ designs are guided by a common theme. In my year, the theme was the environment. Over the course of the semester, my team created the Solar Recycl-o-sort, a machine designed to operate on solar power, made to sort plastic, glass, and aluminum recyclables from each other.
2.007 - Design and Manufacturing I
“[The course] develops students’ competence and self-confidence as design engineers. Emphasis on the creative design process bolstered by application of physical laws. Instruction [is] on how to complete projects on schedule and within budget. Robustness and manufacturability are emphasized. [The] subject relies on active learning via a major design-and-build” a robot in order to navigate the competition table, which is changed each year, with the goal of scoring a higher score than the other competitors.
2.008 - Design and Manufacturing II
“[Students learn the] integration of design, engineering, and management disciplines and practices for analysis and design of manufacturing enterprises. Emphasis of the course is on the physics and stochastic nature of manufacturing processes and systems, and their effects on quality, rate, cost, and flexibility.” These lessons are reinforced through small group projects that students design and build: a paperweight and a yo-yo.
Nothing Special
When I lived at Sigma Chi, I spent a lot of time trying to keep the house in livable condition. I also had a little extra time now and again to tackle some small pet projects, including refinishing an antique mirror and repurposing a ‘rescued’ traffic signal.
