Professional

My work across multiple companies, where I’ve combined engineering, manufacturing, and problem-solving to drive innovation.

During my internship at Parallel Fluidics, I led multiple engineering projects across manufacturing, automation, and process development to scale production of microfluidic valves and lab-on-chip devices. My work directly improved reliability, throughput, and yield across the company’s core product lines.

Automating Optical Inspection for Injection-Molded Microfluidic Parts

My largest project involved taking Parallel’s fully manual inspection workflow and converting it into a scalable automated system. 

Prior to my work, all inspections were done manually on a SmartScope CMM by engineers and operators who had no dedicated quality team to support them. Although the machine already had powerful automation capabilities, none of these features had ever been implemented. My role was to unlock that potential - designing custom fixtures, building automated Zone3 programs, creating step-by-step operator guides, and clearing a substantial backlog of parts waiting for QC.

The Challenge:
Molded components and injection mold tools required detailed dimensional inspections, but the existing process was slow, highly manual, and prone to variation. The company needed automation that could handle small plastic features, optical differences due to material properties, and multi-part inspection at scale. For context, the largest tolerance on these parts is 100 microns, with 5-20 microns being the typical threshold.

Contributions:

• Designed and machined custom acrylic and aluminum inspection fixtures for every R&D and commercial product at Parallel.

• Built fully automated Zone3 programs for QVI SmartScope Flash 200, integrating custom lighting, planar corrections, image capture, operator prompts, autofocus logic, and inspection logic for multi-feature parts.

• Authored a comprehensive, 40-page work instruction and training manual outlining system operation, inspection workflow, programming standards, and best practices for both engineers and operators. View document.

• Led hands-on training sessions for operators and engineers covering SmartScope/Zone3 measurement techniques, fixture usage, automated routine development, and data validation.

• Served as the primary point of contact for troubleshooting, continuous improvement, and scaling QC capabilities.

Impact:

The automated system reduced inspection cycle time by over 80% across all of Parallel's product portfolio, standardized operator workflows, and generated ~$80K in projected annual labor savings. It also enabled QC to keep pace with rising production demand without adding headcount. This framework will rise in value as the company scales its production.

Modernizing and Expanding the Valve Leak-Testing Pipeline

One of Parallel's key products is their MV-1 valve which needs to perform as intended under various conditions.  I took ownership of restructuring and stabilizing the leak-test software, transforming it into a versatile and production-ready tool.

The Challenge:
Valve leak testing was a bottleneck for R&D efforts and customer orders: the existing fixture was slow, cumbersome, and required serial testing. The legacy Python script was significantly inefficient.

Contributions:

• Significant Python refactor to eliminate inefficiencies, streamline logic, and improve overall stability.

• Determined optimal timing for every test stage on Uson SprintMD through extensive experimentation and data-driven iteration.

• Added multithreading to provide a constant live pressure readout, allowing operators to monitor test progression in real time.

• Implemented a fixed-status monitor that logs and displays each action as it occurs, dramatically improving transparency and debuggability.

• Added an interrupt functionality that allows operators to stop or skip failed tests without crashing the script.

• Expanded test capability, enabling the same setup to handle:

  • Standard valve leak testing

  • Pipette interface leak tests

  • High actuation cycle endurance tests for valves

Impact:

The updated software reduced leak-testing cycle time by 58%, dramatically accelerating production throughput during high-volume orders. What was once a brittle one-off script became a multi-mode testing platform used across several product lines, enabling faster debugging, higher throughput, and more consistent leak-testing performance.

At Nth Cycle, my work blended significant CAD modeling with hands-on manufacturing, directly supporting the company’s core tech development. A significant part of my role involved CNC toolpathing and fabrication, ensuring the precise production of PVC, PP, and PMMA components for both prototype and commercial-scale systems. Operating a 4’x8’ vacuum CNC table, I developed and executed over 50 custom Fusion toolpaths, maintaining tight tolerances and quality standards. Beyond machining, I tackled solvent welding, epoxy work, and custom jig solutions to retrofit and refine in-house technology and perform various feature tests.

One of my key projects involved developing a simplified fluid flow model of Nth Cycle’s core technology to analyze how expanding the cell stack would impact the rest of the system. I also collaborated on design for manufacturability (DFM) and design for assembly (DFA) initiatives, optimizing in-house production and standardizing processes to shift assembly from the engineering design team to a dedicated team of plant operators. From modeling to machining, my work played a direct role in refining and scaling the company's cutting-edge electro-extraction technology for commercial deployment.

During my six-month co-op at Alloy Enterprises, I focused on creating demonstration parts that showcased the unique capabilities of the company’s novel aluminum manufacturing process. A major part of my work involved pioneering external texturing on as-built components - using SolidWorks and Ntopology to produce knurling, floret patterns, diamond-mesh, and other complex surface features that had not been achieved before. I also developed lattice-based structures for thermal applications, including the gyroid-filled cube shown below, which was later CT-scanned to validate internal fidelity and demonstrate complex internal channels.

In addition to demo development, as part of the Applications team, I worked directly with engineers from more than ten companies to help them understand the process’s constraints and redesign their components accordingly. Although those customer projects are protected by confidentiality, they represent some of the most impactful work from my time at Alloy.

Pioneering External Texturing on As-Built Aluminum Parts

One of my most impactful contributions was developing a method for applying complex external textures directly onto as-built parts. Prior to this work, Alloy’s process was primarily used to create smooth, functional geometries; textured surfaces were considered out-of-scope due to limitations in the forming and bonding stages.

I challenged that assumption and led a focused effort to extend the technology’s design envelope. Using a hybrid workflow between SolidWorks and Ntopology, I developed and validated texture strategies that worked even on curved, multi-angled, and inorganic shapes. These included, but were not limited to:

• Male and female knurling

• Diamond-mesh and crosshatch patterns

• Floret and organic textures

This capability became a significant showcase for Alloy’s sales and applications teams, demonstrating that the process could produce parts with both functional and aesthetic surface features - without secondary machining or post-processing.

Lattice Development for Internal Channels and Thermal Use Cases

Alongside texturing research, I worked extensively on lattice integration for heat-transfer and light-weighting applications. This included developing gyroid and custom hybrid lattice structures, testing their manufacturability, and evaluating their performance.

One example shown below is a gyroid-filled cube that I designed, which was later CT-scanned and cross-sectioned to verify internal bonding uniformity. These studies in lattice density, wall thickness, and unit cell scaling helped the engineering team refine internal channel design guidelines.

Demo Cubes w/ Gyroid Infill for Heat Dissipation

Applications Work and Customer Part Manufacturing

Beyond internal R&D efforts, I collaborated directly with engineers from more than 10 companies across automotive, robotics, defense, and industrial markets. My responsibilities included:

• Educating customers on the design rules of Alloy’s manufacturing process

• Redlining part drawings to meet process constraints (wall thickness, internal channel geometry, feature sizes, etc.)

• Creating concept-to-manufacturable CAD iterations

• Producing demo parts for trade shows, investor meetings, and customer qualification runs

Impact:

My contributions helped expand what was thought possible with Alloy’s proprietary aluminum process and strengthened the company’s library of demonstration parts used for business development. The texture and lattice capabilities I helped pioneer became key talking points in technical presentations and customer engagements, positioning the process as not only manufacturable but highly customizable.