1977 Batavus HS 50
This was the first moped I bought and fixed. Reviving this retro bike involved the following:
Carburetor cleaning, rebuild, and float replacement
Cylinder cleaning, honing, and reed replacement
Rust removal on frame, in gas tank, on fenders, and on rims
Tires and tubes replaced
Wiring harness repaired
Initial purchase price: $100
Total cost for repairs: $200
Sale price: $1200
Tomos Sprint
These were the second and third mopeds I’ve owned. Tearing down and fully rebuilding each of these helped me to understand the mechanisms they use to run. Working on these two mopeds is what gave me the confidence to replace brake calipers on my car, do dirt bike engine rebuilds, and work at a moped and motorcycle repair shop.
Flex Sensors and Servos
This project was the start of my fascination with the idea of a mechanical hand. I used an Arduino Uno to take analog inputs from a flex resistor to run a servo. This was one of my first experiences with writing code that translated to the real world. This was inspired by the InMoov Project
This was the start of my robotic hand project. I first designed the glove and prepared the files to print.
Photometrics Testing
At Fraen Corporation, I worked in a photometrics lab testing the efficiency and beam shape of injection molded LED lenses. These lenses are used in flashlights, stadium lighting, light shows, street lamps, and countless other applications. In my year and a half of working there I tested hundreds of lenses and built 30 different testing rigs and convention sample kits.
Intro to Mechanical Engineering CNC Project
This was a project in which I built three CNC axis’ and was tasked to make them move. Using MatLab, I programmed them to play music. This was particularly difficult because I had to spend hours mapping and remapping feed rates with musical notes. The final product was meant to be a way to visualize music using the motors to move a laser or pen. However, the semester ended before I had time to complete the initial ideal. The final product ended up just making music.
3D Printing and Design
In 2015, I purchased an Ultimaker 2 Extended. I used this printer for trinkets, school projects, and for prototyping. My first paid prototype was a door handle for the 2018 Cadillac ATS. This part was printed for Fraen Corporation so a Fraen light bar could be designed to be embedded into the door handle.
In my freshman year of college, I was hired to work at the UMass Lowell Innovation Hub as the Prototyping Lab Manager. One of my responsibilities included training members in the use of the Formlabs Form 2, Stratasys F123 series, and Stratasys Polyjet printers. This also included writing detailed guides on operation, troubleshooting, and post processing for these printers.
