Design Experience

Capstone Project:
Scalable Pediatric Niagara Foot Keel

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The goal of this project was to develop an engineering tool to gain insight on the performance of a prosthetic keel. The engineering tool was also built so that it could assist in designing the optimal prosthetic keel for any pediatric patient.

My efforts on this full-year project allowed the design to win the silver prize George Christie Design Award, the highest honour for a mechanical engineering capstone project.

This project allowed me to:

Gain experience in advanced finite element analysis (FEA) problem solving to simulate real world applications.
Communicate technical processes between team members, clients without technical backgrounds, and experts in the field.
Use data collected from trials to create design spaces as the foundation for making an open-source software.
Perform strength and cyclic testing on a design to confirm the results of the FEA and draw conclusions for design iteration.

Card Holder Assistive Device

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Working with a client with cerebral palsy, my team of engineers and occupational therapists aimed to design a solution to allow our client to play a game of cards completely independently. Accomplishments included:

Led a team of undergraduate engineers and masters student occupational therapists to collaborate on solutions to the client’s needs
Used a parallel design process and CAD software to design and prototype a cardholder for paralysis patients
Ventured out of the class scope to 3D print and deliver the device allowing the client to play cards independently for the first time in their life

Wheelchair Camera Project

Once again working with a client with cerebral palsy, my team aimed to design a solution to allow the client to take pictures with little grip strength and within a wheelchair. Tasks included:

Led a team of six engineering students to design and implement a device for assisting a client with cerebral palsy
Used CAD modelling, extensive safety and financial analysis, machinery tools, and 3D printing to present a final prototype to the project manager and client
Received the third-place position for the project process and presentation out of 200 teams

Gear Box Project

My team aimed to design a gearbox that would allow a remote vehicle to perform well in both a speed and hill climb event using the provided motor. With the team I:

Collaborated with a group to design a two stage gear system that could be switched between races
Coded a python script to determine the optimal gear ratios for both events to maximize performance
Designed gears, shafts, and the gear box using CAD software to integrate into the remote vehicle

Rocket Project

Using only a plastic tube and a parachute to fit inside this project required my team to design the best rocket model to be shot out of a pressure launcher. Accomplishments included:

Performed extensive analysis using Matlab on an initial launch to understand the forces and air streams at play on each component
Designed rocket components to be added and orientation elements to optimize performance
Acquired a final apogee of 10.3 m and deployed the parachute to safely land the cargo

Click image for device video