Academic Projects
Manufacturing Projects & Skills
Fall 2022, Fall 2024
A compilation of metal parts fabricated by myself for my Subtractive Manufacturing, Materials Joining, and Net Shape courses. The following skills were developed throughout these courses:
Lathe turning
Fabricated a screwdriver, reinforcing my understanding of lever-operated controls on a conventional manual lathe.
Casting
Performed and became familiarized with the procedures for sand molding and investment casting. Also utilized software’s like AutoCAD and MasterCam.
Welding
Performed a number of TIG and MIG welds.
Knee Scooter
Winter 2024
A PVC pipe knee scooter, designed and built collaboratively by my team and I for our Design for Strength and Stiffness course. Its purpose is to provide mobility for individuals with below-knee injuries. The following skills were developed throughout this project:
Preliminary sketching
Sketches of several initial design ideas could be seen in the thumbnail of this project.
3D CAD & Finite Element Analysis (SolidWorks)
FEA simulation provided the high von mises stress points for the CAD model of the scooter.
Verification through Testing
FEA results were verified with a displacement gauge once scooter was built.
Architecture Portfolio
Spring 2022
A design process portfolio, compiled by me, for my third Design & Visual Communication course. It contains several projects that I worked on. Some of these were developed individually by me, while others were created collaboratively with my team. Its purpose is to showcase what we accomplished the entire quarter. The following skills were developed throughout this project:
Preliminary sketching
The fastest way to find an idea is to draw many in a short amount of time and pick the best one, at least in architecture.
Computer-Aided Design & Architectural drawings (Rhino3D)
CAD software enabled the creation of a visual model from which architectural drawings could be generated.
Craftsmanship
Small models made of basswood were crafted to showcase a structure in real life.
I have since switched my major to Mechanical Engineering.
Bike Project
Spring 2024
A MATLAB model simulating a leg pedaling motion. This coding project was developed for my Intermediate Dynamics course, utilizing two key skills:
Dynamics theory
Done initially to later validate the MATLAB script.
MATLAB
Created data graphs and an animation simulating the motion of the leg on the pedal.
I will include all information about this project in about a month. I left the device that has all the files back in Los Angeles.
Alexander Aguilar 