Academic & Personal Projects
Selected Work
01 · Featured
Drone FEA & CAD — Structural Analysis in Siemens NX
AME 308 · CAD & Finite Element Analysis
Designed a full quadcopter drone assembly in Siemens NX, contributing the battery assembly, motion analysis,
and project Gantt chart. Conducted FEA on the drone propellers under 15 N·mm torque loading using a cylindrical
constraint with fixed radial/axial growth and free rotation.
Achieved mesh convergence over 4 iterations (0.4–0.6 mm element sizes, up to 252k elements) with a final
convergence rate of 30.74% and max unaveraged Von Mises stress of 1.991 MPa. Max tip displacement was only
0.0451 mm — a 0.15% deflection ratio — confirming the polyethylene structure remained in the linear regime.
Also performed motion analysis with and without friction to characterize propeller dynamics.
02
Formula SAE Electric — Ergonomics & Vehicle Dynamics
USC Formula SAE Team · 2024–Present
Contributing to two concurrent teams on USC's electric Formula SAE vehicle. On the Ergonomics Team, designed and analyzed pedal box, steering wheel, and driver interface assemblies, and manufactured braking system components including rotors, calipers, brake lines, and ABS hardware. On the Vehicle Dynamics Team, performed suspension design, calculated shock absorber requirements from vehicle mass and load transfer data, and designed/manufactured control arms, bushings, and suspension linkages.
03
Aerospace Composites — Laminate Design & Fabrication
AME 486 · Aerospace Structures II
Hands-on study of composite material systems covering fiber types (carbon, aramid, glass), resin systems (epoxy, PEEK, vinyl ester), and manufacturing methods including hand layup, vacuum bagging, autoclave curing, RTM, and filament winding. Fabricated carbon fiber sandwich panels using 6 oz woven and 12 oz biaxial carbon with Proset epoxy, achieving a target 50% fiber-to-resin ratio. Analyzed laminate stacking sequences, calculated fiber volume fractions, and performed micromechanics calculations (E along fiber = 19.87 Msi, E across = 0.916 Msi). Studied failure modes including delamination, fiber breakage, and matrix cracking.
04
MACH-0 — Wearable Hip Protection Device
AME 441A · Multidisciplinary Capstone · Fall 2024
Designed and tested a novel deployable hip protection device using 1075 spring steel leaf arches and a buckling rod release mechanism. Validated on the Instron Dynatup 9250 HV drop tower and an inverted pendulum rig tracked by OptiTrack motion capture at 1000 FPS. Achieved 50 ± 20% peak impact force reduction — 2.5× the 20% target set by existing passive solutions.
05
Pitot Tube Turbulent Jet — Velocity Profile Analysis
AME 341B · Mechoptronics Lab · USC
Characterized a turbulent free jet by mapping air velocity profiles at downstream distances of 1D, 5D, 7D, and 9D using a pitot tube on a 2-axis traverse. Verified self-similar flow collapse and analyzed turbulence intensity to identify the laminar potential core and fully developed turbulent region. Results confirmed Re ≥ 10⁴ turbulent conditions and matched the theoretical Gaussian profile.
06
Smart Box — IoT Sensor Platform
TAC 348 · Connected Devices
Designed and built an IoT-enabled smart monitoring system using Particle microcontrollers with Blynk dashboard integration and webhook pipelines. Integrated environmental sensors (DHT20 temperature/humidity, ultrasonic distance) with real-time OLED display output, data streaming, and cloud visualization. Also implemented a pulse sensor wearable with smartwatch-style UI for heart rate monitoring.
07
Aerospace Structures I — Analysis Projects
AME 485 · Aerospace Structures
Completed a series of advanced aerospace structures projects including fishbone cause-and-effect analysis, control management plans, and multi-part structural analysis assignments. Applied theoretical frameworks to real aerospace structures problems covering stress analysis, structural integrity, and design optimization.
08
Graduate Aerospace Structures — 11-Part Assignment Series
AME 585 · Graduate Aerospace Structures
Graduate-level coursework covering advanced topics in aerospace structural analysis. Completed 11 individual and team-based assignments spanning advanced composite mechanics, aeroelasticity, structural testing methods, and failure prediction frameworks. Applied graduate-level analysis tools to problems representative of industry aerospace design challenges.
11
NASGRO Crack Propagation Analysis
AME 585 · Graduate Aerospace Structures · Project 7
Used NASGRO v7.11 — NASA's fracture mechanics software — to perform critical crack size and fatigue life analyses across four aerospace hardware cases: a pressurized pipe (TC07), a flat plate with loaded hole (SC11), a cyclic fatigue valve (EC01), and a pressurized fuselage skin (TC16). Analyses comply with NASA-STD-5019A fracture control requirements for human spaceflight hardware.
12
Linear Control Systems — MATLAB Portfolio
AME 451 · Linear Control Systems · USC
MATLAB implementations of classical control theory covering root locus design, Bode and Nyquist frequency response, Routh-Hurwitz stability criterion (including a custom symbolic solver function), Nichols charts, and full lead-lag compensator synthesis from time-domain specs (Mp, tp, Kv). 40+ scripts spanning homework, midterm, and final exam problems.
14
Composite Laminate Optimization
Ply Angle · Material Selection · Plate Bending · Vibration Tailoring
Applied Classical Lamination Theory to optimize composite laminates across four problem types: minimum ply count under strain constraints, angle optimization to maximize shear modulus (±35.9° for carbon/epoxy), mixed-integer multi-material selection under tri-axial loading, plate bending D-matrix minimization via Fourier series, and vibration frequency tailoring — simultaneously targeting two natural frequencies with a two-angle layup.
15
Flight Computer Heat Sink Design
AME 431 · Heat Transfer · USC
Designed and optimized a fin-array heat sink to cool a flight computer dissipating 1,200 W using nitrogen gas at −20 °C. Analyzed four candidate designs (Al and Cu at two thicknesses), computing Re, Nu, h, fin efficiency, pressure drop, weight, and cost for each. Selected 700 µm aluminum — 22 fins, η = 97.33%, ΔP = 201 Pa, 90 g total weight.
16
3D CAD & Part Modeling — Siemens NX
AME 308 · CAD & Finite Element Analysis · USC
Full CAD-to-FEA pipeline in Siemens NX on a structural H-bracket — parametric solid modeling, mass property extraction (COG, inertia tensor), FEM mesh setup with NX Nastran, and post-processing of displacement and Von Mises stress contours.
13
Product Design & Development — QuickPark
AME 410 · Product Design & Development · Fall 2024
Full product development lifecycle for QuickPark — a smart automated urban parking structure for Los Angeles. Applied the complete engineering design process: product planning, market analysis, customer needs identification, functional & conceptual design, concept screening, embodiment design, performance modeling, and DFX detail design. System reduces time-to-park to under 3 minutes with 25% capacity gain.
10
Enhancing PLA Strength via Salt Remelting
Mechops E15 · Mechanical Operations Lab
Investigated two post-processing methods — oven annealing (70–110 °C) and salt remelting (140–180 °C) — to overcome the inherent Z-axis weakness of FDM 3D-printed PLA parts. Salt remelting at 180 °C achieved 58 ± 2 MPa tensile strength, nearly matching the XY-printed baseline and completely eliminating layer lines through full inter-layer fusion. Tested using a load cell breaker bridge; analyzed with uncertainty propagation and dimensional deflection measurements across all three axes.
09
Construction Accounting, Finance & Strategy
CE 502 · Construction Accounting, Finance & Strategy
Graduate coursework covering corporate finance, project finance structures, and competitive strategy in the construction industry. Delivered three major analyses: a financial failure study of LEGO's 2003–2004 near-bankruptcy and turnaround; a full term paper on Skanska analyzing its $16.8B global operations, financials, and strategy; and a project finance case study on a coal-fired power plant SPV (NBEIL) including DSCR, IRR, and sensitivity analysis modeled in Excel.