Projects

CHALLENGE

The hub motor, planetary gearbox, brake caliper and temperature/pressure sensors take up most of the space in the wheel, so the upright can't be treated as an individual suspension component. It has to hold suspension geometry and low compliance while wrapping around a fixed powertrain, and still come off a 5-axis machine.

ENGINEERING WORK

• Defined geometry around the packaging envelope set by the hub motor, gearbox and brake package.
• Iterated between FEA and geometry updates to balance stiffness targets against the available space.
• Applied GD&T and tolerance stack-up analysis for reliable fitment within the corner assembly.
• Produced BS8888 manufacturing drawings and design output for CNC manufacture.

KEY LEARNING

Packaging decisions aren't secondary, early envelope choices shaped the structure and the machining more than any later local feature did.

CHALLENGE

Replace a steel steering column mount with a carbon fibre structure and aluminium bushing housing. The Formula Student rules template imposed a strict geometric envelope inside the chassis. That constraint, not idealised geometry, drove the design.

ENGINEERING WORK

• Worked with the composites sub-team to confirm ply-layup feasibility and manufacturing constraints.
• Modelled tooling placeholders, checked tool access and machining sequence for the aluminium housing.
• Ran interference and clearance checks so the steering system could be assembled and serviced.
• Produced BS8888-compliant drawings for manufacture.

KEY LEARNING

Rules envelopes and clearance checks belong at the start of a design, not as a sign-off step, recognising the limits early made every later decision cheaper.

CHALLENGE

The 7075-T6 stock was needed elsewhere, so the clevises had to be reworked for 6061-T6 mid-build. A weaker material means larger sections, which means more unsprung mass. The trade wasn't "make it stronger" but "find the acceptable balance" without derailing the schedule.

ENGINEERING WORK

• Excel hand calculations to establish baseline geometry and cross-check the analysis.
• Ansys static structural to verify a minimum safety factor of 2.0 on yield.
• Accepted a controlled mass increase rather than preserve a lighter, riskier geometry.
• Machined in-house on a 3-axis mill, with fixturing and operation sequencing planned beforehand.
• Verified critical dimensions with micrometers, calipers, dial indicators and bore gauges.

KEY LEARNING

A material change is never a local substitution: it affects section sizing, mass and validation. Treat it as a large design change..

REPRESENTATIVE WORK

• Custom sensor brackets for potentiometers and load cells.
• Press tooling for suspension bushings and gearbox bearings.
• Dimensional verification with micrometers, calipers, dial indicators, bore gauges and gauge blocks.
• DFM input on CNC shop quotes, reviewing for cost and complexity reduction.

WHY IT MATTERS

Machining and inspecting parts myself is what makes it obvious when a nominally correct CAD model will still be awkward to fixture, inspect or assemble.

REPRESENTATIVE WORK

• Measured strain in a loaded beam with a quarter Wheatstone bridge, with data acquisition and calibration against known loads.
• Assembled and demonstrated an alpha-type Stirling engine, connecting build quality to thermodynamic cycle behaviour.

WHY IT MATTERS

The lab work backs up the vehicle work: measurement fundamentals, mechanics of materials, and comfort with both experimental setup and hands-on assembly.

PROBLEM

Manual handling of harvest data risked errors at a point where delays meant spoilage. Reliability mattered more than speed.

IMPLEMENTATION

• Automated the data handling between the ERP system and Excel tracking with Power Automate and Power Query.
• Cut manual translation errors and freed time for higher-value work during harvest.

WHY IT'S HERE

Not an engineering part, but the same habits: find the failure points, simplify the process, validate the result.