Greenhouse Robotics

Working with a team of 4, I assembled the 3 axis Web App controlled Farmbot over a period of 6 weeks. I used the skills gained from the detailed work involved in this project to mentor the next group of students, who took over the project in the fall semester.

Having caught the eye of the co-founders of Panacea, I was offered an internship position I was happy to accept.
During my third semester at the Swanson School of Engineering, I devoted all the time I wasn't studying to ideating, prototyping, and tinkering with greenhouse gadgets. The outcome was an remote controlled camera, running on two axes, used to monitor a bed of hydroponically grown lettuce.

This experience was a great introduction to both working as an engineer in the "real world," as well as an introduction to the startup community in Pittsburgh.

Upon returning to the Panacea team, I was immediately given responsibility to build a new and improved grow-cart system, that could accommodate multiple tiers of hydroponically growing plants. This project is currently on hold, in order to further the design of the electronic control system, Panacea's primary product.

During this project I worked with our material supplier to co-design the cart details, which taught me about the importance of details in mechanical design.

Realizing that my true passion is design and prototyping, I found a new role for my skills and interests as Design Engineer where I am responsible for packaging design (above), as well as product illustrations and concept art and web design -- two things generally outside the role of a traditional engineer, but projects I enjoy nonetheless.

I am currently working with local packaging companies to move this design from prototype to production, and learning about packaging design in the process.