I have designed and built several FDM 3D Printers from scratch. This involved estimating and minimizing costs on a college student budget, designing and integrating electromechanical systems and 3D printed components, as well as troubleshooting and calibrating the machine.
BYU Magazine featured my peer and me in a video about our homemade 3D printers.
Improved design and performance across multiple design iterations.
The machine can print itself better parts.
After building a few cartesian style printers, I built a delta printer that uses three arms to move the extruder in all directions - x, y, and z.
Using the steel frame of an old, broken 3D printer, I designed an entirely brand new set of parts to fit the frame and make use of the existing holes. This printer is still being designed and built.
Date: February 2016 - Present
Category: Personal Extracurricular Project
BYU Rocketry Club
Club President, Founder
In my junior year at Brigham Young University, I founded the BYU Rocketry Club as an offshoot of the university's AIAA Chapter. The club now has over 75 active members.
As a member of BYU Rocketry High Power Team, I designed the airframe of the two 9-foot vehicles we used to compete in the 2017 and 2018 Spaceport America Cups. This was done both in simulation software, and in CAD. This included designing the vehicle geometry, stability characteristics, and concept of flight operations.
I built the airframes with the help of two other team members. We used composites manufacturing processes, waterjet cutters, laser cutters, CNC routers, lathes, mills, power tools, and various custom jigs.
Pictured below is the BYU Rocketry High Power Team at the 2017 Spaceport America.
Annual BYU Rocket Competition
To build the club from the ground up, I ran an internal rocket competition at BYU to increase awareness. Students were challenged to design and build model rockets and fly them to a target altitude of 1750 feet.
Club participation increased 340% through heavy promotion and club organization, and the competition involved 55 students.
Designed and tested solenoid hammer that actuates a balanced poppet valve using rapid pulse hammering.
Automated hammer using Arduino microcontroller, h-bridge module, custom circuitry, and code in C. Used Python, Excel to graph output in real time.
Date: August 2016 - February 2017
Category: Internship
BYU Mechatronics Competition
Team Designer
As part of a university course project, I designed and built an autonomous robot that performed in a competition of 18 teams. My teammates and I integrated the electronics, software, and mechanical systems.
The code was written in C. With my team, I debugged, tested, and calibrated robot over course of 200+ hours.
The robot was controlled through a custom built microcontroller along with other custom PCBs.
The use of 3D printed components allowed for a rapid, iterative prototyping process.
Date: August 2016 - December 2016
Category: University Class Project
Rotary Seal Testing
Design, Testing, and Analysis
Designed steel pressure vessel with ACME threads and o-ring seals for testing PTFE rotary seals in proprietary configuration at 1000 psi. Modeled and drafted test apparatus, designed component tolerances, carried out testing, collected and analyzed data.
Date: May 2016 - July 2016
Category: Internship
Flow Tachometer Development
Testing and Analysis
Designed apparatus to test turbines used in flow rate monitoring. Measured turbine RPM using solenoid and electromagnetic induction, tracking frequency on an oscilloscope. Compiled and analyzed data, comparing various turbines for use in flow monitoring.
Date: August 2016 - October 2016
Category: Internship
Flight Vehicle Design
Design, Analysis, Manufacturing, and Testing
Designed, built, and flew a UAV on a team of 5 for university class project. Selected airfoil; sized wing and tail, including dihedral, sweep, taper ratio; performed propulsion system selection, aerodynamic analysis, and stability analysis. Constructed aircraft and performed flight tests to iteratively improve the design and tune the controls. Complete mission of pilot waypoint navigation with aid of a ground station.
Date: August 2017 - December 2017
Category: Class Project
Composites Manufacturing
Process Engineering and Manufacturing
Designed and built carbon fiber composite rocket for graduate level Composites Manufacturing Processes course. Using biaxial braided carbon fiber sleeving, laminating resin, wet layup techniques, and post processing, I made components from scratch.
