Aspiration and Ambition
As a mechanical engineering student at the University of Pittsburgh, my passion lies in human centered design. I believe that by placing people at the heart of innovation, we can create products and solutions that truly meet their needs and enhance their lives.
When it comes to my work, I strive for excellence and aim to make a positive impact. Whether it's improving everyday objects or designing life-saving devices, I am driven by the desire to improve the world through design.
My journey in engineering has taught me the importance of collaboration and continuous learning. I am constantly seeking new knowledge and skills, pushing myself to grow and innovate.
Previous Projects
Contributed to sustainable design initiatives by employing CAD for precise modeling and mechanical design for efficient systems. Incorporated human-centered design principles in interface development and used MATLAB for performance simulations, enhancing reliability and energy efficiency across various engineering applications.
B.O.P.S X-Project: Developed a pediatric bundled orthopedic surgical simulator for "just in time training," equipping emergency medicine doctors with hands-on experience in addressing nursemaid elbows and shoulder dislocations. The simulator integrates realistic dislocation scenarios, employing advanced haptic feedback and interactive simulations to enhance procedural skills. This innovative tool aims to ensure rapid and effective training for medical professionals facing urgent pediatric orthopedic cases.
The Bag Buddy: Designed an assistive technology solution for elderly individuals with mobility issues, featuring a large mechanical drive train that aids in transporting belongings up and down the stairs. Users can easily control the system through a button or joystick interface, ensuring a user-friendly experience. This innovation enhances independence by providing a reliable and efficient means for seniors to navigate stairs while carrying their personal items.
The Stolen Banana: Created a life-sized arcade device for an immersive Temple Run experience, featuring large pads on the top, bottom, left, and right of a human-sized box. Players interact with the game by pressing these pads to control in-game actions, adding a physical and engaging dimension to the popular mobile game. The device provides a unique and entertaining way to experience Temple Run in an arcade setting.
Ginger Bread Benedum: in collaboration with a team from the Pitt Makerspace constructed a gingerbread-inspired Benedum Hall, home of the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, for the holiday season. Using a pre-existing computational model of the building, the team used a laser cutter to carve the individual pieces from cardboard. In lieu of frosting and gumdrops, a hot glue gun was used for assembly. The structure was then painted to make it more cookie-like.
The Roller Rack: Myself and two other mechanical engineering students, developed a working design and prototype to allow for vertical foam rolling for a sponsor in the Pittsburgh community. To ensure it would function effectively, we developed CAD models of the prototype using AutoDesk’s Fusion 360. We also developed python code that mathematically proved the function of this prototype for multiple life times. This project also included multiple presentations as well as physical documentation of the project throughout. This ended with a binder for hand off to future teams, as well as a final presentation at the MEMS symposium.
Statics Bridge Project: Utilized MATLAB and SolidWorks in a bridge design project to calculate and optimize forces and stresses on structural members. The project aimed to meet specific criteria, including a load capacity of 225 lb-f and adherence to a price index of 30, ensuring both structural integrity and cost-effectiveness. Through detailed analysis and optimization, the final design successfully balanced these constraints for an efficient and economically viable bridge.
The Autonomous Hotdog Roller: Myself and a team of 2 other students, developed a mechatronic system that cooked, and served a hotdog. This system used heated, temperature sensors, motors, mechanical pulleys, timers, and on off switches. The system was entirely coded in c+ and electronics were developed on a breadboard. There is also a full circuit schematic of the system that can be used to develop PCB’s of each circuit in Eagle.
Party On: Introducing a portable "Party in a Box" device that instantly transforms any space into a festive atmosphere. By connecting to your phone via Bluetooth, it plays a curated playlist, activates a vibrant light display with the phrase "party on," and inflates a miniature car salesman figure for added whimsy, providing a quick and easy solution for spontaneous celebrations on the go. This all-in-one device ensures an instant party ambiance with music, lights, and a touch of fun.
Palatability of a Peach Experiment: In collaboration with a team, I worked on developing a procedure to determine the “palatability” of a peach for a typical audience. We did this by using measured temperature, sugar content, and “juiciness”values for a large sample of peaches, and having peach consumers taste test them then rate them on a scale from 0-10. These values could then be run through a multilinear regression to develop a peach Palatability equation, which was accurate to +\-1. We additionally did a design stage uncertainty analysis, a full design of experiments, and cost analysis.
Various Wood Working Projects: using Various Hand tools, CNC Routers, and Laser Engravers I built multiple Wooden projects. During my time as a makerspace mentor and Art of Making TA I ran multiple workshops to teach how to design accommodating wooden materials, and how things would be different with other materials.