industrial design, mechanical engineering, and UI/UX projects
I spent four years at Autodesk working as a mechanical engineer masquerading as an industrial designer on a marketing team at a software company, so every thing I made served a variety of unconventional purposes, from datasets for tutorial videos, to testing the limits of new Fusion 360 functionality, to showcasing new CAD features.
The bulk of my projects that were built/manufactured were done in conjunction with some of our customers (like a purse at Calvin Klein, or a circular keyboard played by Lady Gaga's pianist in the Superbowl), and unfortunately aren't shareable projects, but I'm pleased to discuss them in person!
I've also done a number of projects while working towards my BS at Olin and my MS at MIT.
15 PROJECTS
Primarily utilize Fusion 360, Solidworks, Illustrator, and Keyshot
INDIVIDUAL WORKS UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED
CAST CONCRETE SINK 2015 With new animation features rolling out, I designed a cast concrete sink to share in a tutorial video, using the modeling/pouring/and assembling of the system as an example. Video of mold animation below: ANIMATION
SMART CLOCK 2014 We were working on projects that change the way we think about smart devices. One of the designs I worked on was a smart clock with an analogue interface that interfaced with the alarm clock on one's cell phone. The idea was bring character and story into a morning routine and onto a nightstand near you.
TESSEL MICROCONTROLLER CASES 2013 Through Autodesk's sponsorship of Greentown Labs in Somerville, MA, I partnered with Technical Machine to design and prototype 3D-printed cases for their Tessel microcontroller. Having created a Javascript-enabled wifi microcontroller, Tessel's mission is to empower web developers to reach into the physical world - to bring the internet of things to life. In that spirit, we created designs that, rather than being costly and mass-produced, could be given away for download. Using Fusion 360, their customers can download, customize, and 3D-print or laser-cut the cases.
LUXURY BATHTUB 2016 Sometimes things are just for fun.
JACK-IN-THE-BOX 2012 This semester-long project to design and prototype a children's jack-in-the-box with moving visible front gears was meant to cover the entire process of designing for manufacturing. Our final deliverable was a full manufacturer's package containing both drawings for a fully manufacturable injection-molded product, as well as manufacturing and assembly instructions. We also created a 3D-printed looks-like/works-like prototype (video demo below). COLLABORATOR: CASEY LANDEY
UNDER-ACTUATED HAND 2013 In this course-culminating project, I worked on a team of four to design and build a sheetmetal, plywood, polymer, and plastic Under-actuated hand. The final prototype (video at left) lifted the most in the course (12 pounds), and was ranked highest in aesthetics by students in the course. The system was designed in SolidWorks and prototyped using a laser-cutter, water-jet cutter, 3D-printer, and polymer molds.
REMOTELY-OPERATED RESCUE SUB 2016 In a semester-long project, my team of four engineering students designed a production-ready remote-operated vehicle to rescue crashed submarine robots for the college. We designed Power, Structure, and Transmission systems through three iterations, with the final iteration employing a candle-wax-controlled lasso to grab the sunken robot.
COFFEE MACHINE 2016 In a semester-long project, my team of four engineering students designed a production-ready remote-operated vehicle to rescue crashed submarine robots for the college. We designed Power, Structure, and Transmission systems through three iterations, with the final iteration employing a candle-wax-controlled lasso to grab the sunken robot.
SMART TV REMOTE 2016 Designed to test and showcase new simulation features in Fusion 360, as well as new focal length functionality in Fusion's native rendering engine. Nothing revolutionary here, design-wise.
PLANAR MECHANISMS CAGE 2012 For In this prototyping project I worked on a team of four to design and build a laser-cut plywood board of planar mechanisms. The system was powered by a pendulum and escapement, driving a belt drive that utilized a cam, rack-and-pinion, planetary gears, and lever to actuate a Mario character over obstacles on a spinning world.
ACTIVITY SENSOR 2015 My team at Autodesk partnered with Hackster.io to put on a "Hack the Home" design challenge. My example project submission was an electronics sensor casing that's 3D-printed and hidden in the trim of a door. A more advanced maker project would be cutting a piece of trim and cnc-machining the interfaces for the electronics. The initiative was a big success, with hundreds of submissions and a notable amount of community engagement.
MICROFLUIDIC RESPIRATORY MODEL 2010 For In this prototyping project I worked on a team of four to design and build a laser-cut plywood board of planar mechanisms. The system was powered by a pendulum and escapement, driving a belt drive that utilized a cam, rack-and-pinion, planetary gears, and lever to actuate a Mario character over obstacles on a spinning world.
COLLABORATOR: TORY BIRD
MULTIPLE GENE PROMOTERS 2010 Bit of a curveball here, but I was on a member of a team of three that designed a genetic plasmid that investigated the ability of e.coli to express computing logic through the probability of gene expression given multiple gene promoters presented before encoding to produce lactose (LacI gene). The results were inconclusive, but the methodologies and experiment were a fascinating learning experience.
COLLABORATORS: KENDALL PLETCHER & HANDE PIRISTINE
OLIN BOX 2012 Given the directive to design a laser-cut plywood box with six different types of joints and four different types of fasteners, I designed and built this laser-cut box with butt, stepped-dovetail, rabbet, mitered rabbet, mortise-and-tenon, and dado joints. Walls feature a sunrise, skyline, hourglass, equalizer bars, and "Olin College."
HOPPER 2009 Tasked to design a child's toy after a jumping mechanism in nature, I researched the design of nature's click beetle to create a similar mechanism for this freshman design course. Two iterations led to a third and final prototype that jumped over the 1m goal, and spun according to project goals as well.
PRAIRIE SCHOOL BUILT-INS 2017 Just some built-ins for Mom's guest room. Featuring laser-cut prairie-school panels.
2ND-EMPIRE HOUSE 2017 Dream home that I will one day build and later haunt.
