Design projects

The lines between are always blurry

engraved brass Keychain Medallions

The fronts of these keychains are engraved with a traditional Chinese cloud pattern that symbolizes good fortune. On the backside are the names of my close friends and family in their native languages. I wanted to thank everyone for supporting me throughout my school years as a graduation gift. What better way to show my appreciation than a custom keychain that crystallizes the skills I have gained in engineering, art, and design over the years?

Engraved aluminum NAMEPLATE

My Chinese name engraved on an aluminum plate using the CNC mill. All the work-holding and milling processes for the CNC machine were planned and programmed using Mastercam to minimize the number of setups required to machine the part. In the article I discuss how the illustration was generated and the steps that went into engraving this product.

ALuminum one-handed grocery bag holder

A device that allows you to hold several bags using one hand by placing them on the hooks. Machining this part was mainly a test of my CNC milling abilities due to its complex geometry. In the article, I discuss the work-holding considerations I made to minimize errors due to material deflection or vibration and the setups and milling operations to machine this part.

Among us Cookie cutter press

This cookie cutter press uses several bolts to press a 1/16 in steel sheet into the shape of an among us character. The challenge with this project was producing tonnes of force without using a hydraulic press using accessible and quickly manufacturable parts. The 3d printed prototype cracked under the pressure so the final version is milled from aluminum.

portable Water turbine

This water turbine is designed to funnel flowing water from a river into its mouth using a plastic tarp, allowing it to generate greater flow rates while still being portable. Water spins a turbine in the core PVC pipe. Magnets embedded into the exterior of the pipe generate 3-phase AC power in the 6 wire coils on the outer walls.

Akira Bike toy computer model and injection molding rig

The bike from Akira was my first ever Solidworks CAD I made in my freshman CAD class, and what got me obsessed with digital manufacturing. As a homage, I decided to redesign the CAD model to be injection molded in my senior year manufacturing class. This required many geometry fixes of the CAD. Additionally, every part of the toy was partitioned such that the plastic would eject cleanly from the mold and be ultrasonically welded together to form the final toy.

JJK Cosplay sword

I had one day to put together a cosplay of Toji from Jujutsu Kaisen before Animecon the next day. My solution was to use laser cut wood, PVC pipes, thermomoldable plastic and spray paint to throw together a replica of the Inverted Spear of Heaven. Pictured is me as Toji and my friend Alex as Gojo, absolutely dripped out.

Custom leather bracelet

These leather bracelets were designed as a Christmas gift to my family members. I wanted a simple but elegant design that was customizable for each of their wrist sizes and color preferences.

Finger Bouldering toy

This finger bouldering toy allows you to design your own routes to climb across the surface of the toy using one hand. Rocks made using oven-baked clay can be fastened to threaded inserts on the plastic body to customise your climbing route.

Arcane signet

I made the Arcane Signet from the card game Magic The Gathering as a parting gift to my German exchange student friends. The body is made using laser-cut metal and the gems were made using coloured acrylic. This design used UV resin to glue everything together and protect the metal from rust. Future iterations of the design used stained glass soldering to attach each gem instead.