Engineering Projects
Built, tested, iterated.
Bison Tonsil Swab Tool
National Park Service
Designed and built a reusable, hand-held medical device for the National Park Service to collect tonsil swab samples from wild bison for Mycoplasma bovis testing — a disease that can kill up to 30% of an infected herd with no currently safe collection method.
The tool uses parallel 304 stainless steel spring bands to flex the swab downward by 101.6 mm inside the nasal passage — reaching the tonsils — while a locking handle mechanism and bubble level ensure animal safety and user control. A threaded swab holder accepts standard proctology swabs.
Key deliverables: QFD and House of Quality, iterative CAD in SolidWorks, fatigue and deflection analysis, alpha-prototype tensile testing (≥145 N swab pull-out strength), FMEA risk analysis, and a validated disinfection protocol (target <0.001% cross-contamination).
Led design and fabrication of an offensive RC vehicle for CSU's two-on-two robot soccer competition — placing 2nd overall. Built an agile buggy-chassis car using a 1000 RPM motor, limited-slip differential, and custom servo-based steering linkage, all mounted to a laser-cut aluminum chassis with 3D-printed PLA mounts. Partnered with a second sub-team who built a pneumatic defensive robot with swing-out PETG doors and 6-wheel center drive.
Designed and built a speed-activated license plate concealment system for a motorcycle. An Arduino mega reads an ADXL345 accelerometer to estimate velocity; a 20 kg·cm servo motor flips the plate 90° at a user-configurable speed threshold. Three operating modes (on/off/automatic) are controlled by a handlebar-mounted potentiometer. Custom 3D-printed mounts secure the servo and plate frame to the bike's tail cowl.
Full mechanical design of a rotating power transmission shaft for an industrial furnace blower transmitting 85 HP at 800 RPM. Material selected: AISI 1045 steel quenched & tempered at 600°F. Used DE-Goodman fatigue criteria (MATLAB) to size shaft diameters (1.5–1.75 in stepped), designed keyways, set screws, hubs, and retaining rings. Selected SKF cylindrical roller bearings (NU 209 ECP, NU 1008 ML) with estimated L10 life of 57,559 hrs — nearly 3× the 20,000 hr design target. Completed SolidWorks assembly.
Preliminary structural design and weight optimization of the wing spar for the Lockheed C-130 Hercules. Performed complete shear/moment analysis under uniform and elliptical lift distributions via MATLAB. Iteratively sized I-beam cross-sections for three candidate materials; selected Titanium Ti-6Al-4V as optimal at 6,301 kg — 38% lighter than AISI 4340 steel. Achieved FOS ≥ 1.5 across all load cases.