The portable power bank, perfected.
Fast charging, high capacity, plus ultra drop and shockproof. Saber is the ultimate external charger complete with a USB-C port, 2 USB ports, and an AC outlet for your laptop, tablet, mobile phone, and more.
As part of the Consumer Electronics group, I was one of three mechanical/ manufacturing engineers who worked on this project. I worked closely with the electrical, firmware, Industrial Design and Test engineers to deliver Saber to market.
For one of my capstone classes, 2.009, at MIT I was on a team of twenty and the theme that year was "Magic". For our project we designed a multi-purpose climbing device that acts as another layer of protection against catastrophe. Every year climbers die or are severely injured by falling off the bottom of their rope. We went through multiple rounds of brainstorming and validation to finally settle upon this as our project. After talking to potential users we learned that it had to be robust, free of electronics and light. Using a mechanical trigger and a camming mechanism we were able to catch falling loads of 110kgs at 3 m/s and hold static loads of 407 kg (900 Lbs). The device weighed 260g which is about 100g more than products like the Petzl GriGri but Petra has the built in functionality as an ascender. I was part of the design and fabrication teams. I was responsible for the architecture of the device as well as turning and machining various parts of the alpha prototype that was presented. During this project we learned that small seemingly simple problems can be tough to solve and sometimes it is better to focus a lot of time on making something that works consistently than bouncing around trying to find a work around.
Synapse has been working with Valve on their VR program since 2014. As Synapse gained more experience supporting the development of trackable objects, it was decided that the best way to support and promote the licensees of SteamVR in their ventures was with a class provided by Synapse. For this class, it was decided that an easy to use and edit object be designed and built for the class. This decision was made a week before the next class. During this time, I was in charge of designing, prototyping and assembling the objects. We started with a quick discussion of what we wanted the object to look like and how it would be used in the class. After that, I designed the first version and printed a prototype in house to see what we wanted to change and improve about the object. We repeated this a few times and the now the objects are currently being used to help teach the class. For more information visit synapse.com/steamvr
Inspired by the LEGO MOVIE , these yoyos were designed and manufactured by a team of 5 MIT students for Product Design and Development II. The design's overall geometry was built to resemble the studs that are present on LEGO blocks. The face plate on either side of the yoyo has useable studs. The LEGO mini-fig is held in using his hands, (no adhesive is used in the assembly of the yoyos). Fifty yoyos were injection molded using molds that the team designed and then machined using CNC Mills and Lathes. My responsibilities on this project included designing, machining and manufacturing the face-plate and trouble shooting various problems that occurred along the way. One issue we saw along the way was assuming there would be a punch the size we needed to allow the clear "bubble" to sit properly on a ledge we designed. The first solution that we thought of was to make another punch, but we recognized that this would have a large lead time. A second solution was to machine the ledge such that it was larger and the "bubble" would fit. Finally we recognized that we didn't need an entire ledge to support the "bubble" that's when I came up with the idea to machine a few holes (would be posts when injection molded) that would support the "bubble".
While at Synapse Product Development, a project was approaching an engineering validation build and an ICT(in circuit test) fixture to verify that boards coming off the production line are working correctly. On this project I was in charge of modifying and improving a preexisting design. This was a difficult task because on the board there were no easy to use, precise locating features on the board design. To get around this we decided to make a board carrier that fit into the test fixture. In doing so we had to verify that our tolerance stack was tight enough to verify that we could make contact between the two circuit boards in 36 distinct 1.5 mm diameter pads.
For 2.013, Engineering Systems Manufacturing, students were tasked with redesigning and building a 3KW power supply using aluminum as fuel. Aluminum is very reactive with water but when you typically see it there is an oxide layer preventing this reaction. When treated with liquid gallium the nano-structure of the aluminum is made accessible to the water. The reaction between aluminum and water emits aluminum hydroxide (a common ingredient in deodorant), hydrogen, and a lot of heat. In our supply we chose to only harness the hydrogen's energy. Harnessing this discovery in a usable way was the goal. My task was to design and build the reaction chamber for this demonstration. The chamber needed to be able to withstand 100C+ temperatures at elevated pressures and be reasonably hydrogen proof. During this process I learned that the integration of multiple components and systems into one cohesive product is a tough problem. It turns out system integration was one of the most time consuming parts of the project.
C-Strands is an interactive public art installation for the City of Cambridge, MA. I assisted MIT’s Skylar Tibbits in the development of the piece. I did all of the Solidworks models for the piece and I also developed the mounting system that allowed for easy transport of the strands yet a sturdy base for the installation. C-Stands demonstrates how a seeming simple structure can have so many orientations. This idea demonstrates that a brute force method may not be best and a potentially passive method may provide revolutionary results.
Worked with in the Self Assembly Lab at MIT with Skylar Tibbits, Marcelo Coelho, and the Formlabs team on the Hyperform project. The goal was to optimize a print within a limited bed space to create a much larger piece. Won Next Idea Award Ars Electronica: Linz 2013 (http://archive.aec.at/submission/2013/NI/48876/). The work that I contributed to the project was developing and designing small scale tests for initial connection geometries. During these tests I became intimately familiar with the Form 1 from Formlabs.
Fluid Crystallization is an installation that emulates the inter and intra-molecular bonds of Carbon atoms. In order to do this, we wanted the spheres to move freely in space. To accomplish that I determined the mass necessary to achieve neutral buoyancy in water, and designed a system to add the necessary weight. When trying to achieve neutral buoyancy we originally wanted to hold a larger central mass but we found the masses we needed were not easily accessible. So instead we decided to include the central sphere that had multiple lead balls in it .The project won an Architectural League Prize: NY 2013 at the New School (http://archleague.org/2013/11/sjet/). The project attempts to emulate carbon atoms on the macro scale. By watching these and other natural processes we hope to find more efficient ways of making and assembling items in the future. More about this project can also be found at this website.
Part of 2.00b, a Toy Product Design class offered at MIT. I was a member of a four student team mentored by alumni of the class and graduate students. Together we designed and made a marshmallow plush toy that heats up and turns a golden brown color to show its love when you hug it. I came up with the initial idea and was in charge of design and light filtering.
