Mechanical Clock

Dec 2007

Two classmates and I worked together to design and build a mechanical clock. The clock, made of lasercut Delrin plastic, used a Swiss-lever escapement and pendulum to keep time.

engineering model of the final clock assembly

initial design sketches

Swiss lever escapement

final, assembled clock

Daniel Grieneisen, Christina Powell

mechanical design, clock escapements, spur gear design

Bio-inspired Swimming Toy

Nov 2007 - Dec 2007

I designed a shark-inspired swimming toy for children as part of my Design Nature course. The waterproof toy was powered by a single servo motor and onboard electronics.

conceptual sketches

early CAD model

final, assembled swimmer

presenting the toy to fourth grade students

Andrea Lai, Katie Sullivan

bio-inspired design, toys, servo motors, mechanical design

Baja SAE Autimotive Design

Oct 2007 - Dec 2009

Interested by the inner workings of cars, I joined the Olin College Phoenix Racing team. Along with a team of other engineering students, we designed and built an off-road vehicle in our spare time to compete in the SAE Mini Baja competition. As part of the team charged with designing the chassis, I helped design a rules-compliant frame and performed a series of structural engineering tests (finite element analysis). I further helped with machining and designing the electrical system.

finite element analysis of 2008 chassis

vehicle during testing

team at competition

final adjustments

vehicle at competition

team of 20+ students

mechanical design, FEA, machining, Olin College

Biomimetic Jumping Mechanism

Sept 2007 - Oct 2007

I designed, prototyped, simulated, and built a mechanism inspired by a grasshopper that could jump several body lengths. The final mechanism was built with lasercut Delrin plastic and latex tubing.

engineering model of jumping mechanism

early sketchbook idea

foamboard prototype

evolution of design

final hopper

first prototype testing

bio-inspired design, design process, mechanical design, lasercutting

Physics Research Project

Jan 2006 - May 2007

After a series of electronics failures at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) of equipment near the particle detectors, I examined the effects of fringe magnetic fields (50-200 Guass) on cooling fan behavior. I found that the fan's response is highly dependent on the orientation with respect to the field – an observation that matched the failure pattern. My results were presented at BNL and CERN and I gave poster and oral presentations at the American Association of Physics Teachers / American Astronomical Society joint meeting in January 2007.

detector at Brookhaven National Lab (source: BNL)

AAS / AAPT joint meeting in Seattle

custom test solenoid

test setup

Fr. Thomas McShane (faculty)

Metropolitan Science and Engineering Fair: 1st place Physics, Computer Science, & Engineering project; 3rd place Grand Prize; 2nd place Armed Forces Award, University of Nebraska at Lincoln Best Engineering/Physics Project Nebraska Junior Academy of Sciences: Herbert Hoover Young Engineer Award; Finalist

poster

electricity and magnetism, nuclear physics experiments, Brookhaven National Laboratory, CERN, Creighton University