My Work History
My interest in manufacturing and engineering started in high school, when I developed and performed an original research project investigating the use of additive manufacturing in closed-cycle product lifecycles for use in future Moon or Mars colonies as part of the SUNY Albany UHS Science Research Program. As part of this project, I taught myself consumer 3D printing and purchased my own machine to make experiment specimens.
The next year I founded my manufacturing company, Venator Technologies LLC. Through Venator Technologies, I was able to learn more about the manufacturing workflow and the balancing of engineering demands with manufacturing capabilities.
During high school, I held two summer internships with the Orange County Office of Emergency Management. My experiences working on real-life problems helped me to appreciate the importance of meticulous documentation, working as part of a team, and how to keep calm and effective during stressful situations.
As a Freshman at RIT, I was a subsystem engineer for the RIT Launch Initiative. I was responsible for developing systems to retain and deploy payloads from sounding rockets the team developed, as well as ensuring proper integration of all the subsystems in the vehicle. I also started working at The Construct, RIT's student makerspace, as a Lab Manager. My duties as a lab manager included maintaining equipment, assisting students with their projects, and ensuring safe and proper use of all tools and equipment in the space.The summer of my Freshman year, I also expanded Venator Technologies with 2 other students, to significantly increase our manufacturing capacity and the variety of services we offered.
In my Sophomore year, I was appointed the Project Manager of the RIT Launch Initiative, and was responsible for overseeing more than 40 student engineers working on 5 major projects. I coordinated fundraising efforts with corporate and community sources, developed safety and technical trainings, assisted in refining certification programs, and trained many other students in effective project management to oversee their vehicles and systems. I also led the development of multiple smaller engineering projects, such as a propulsive-landing payload. During this time, I continued my work as a Lab Manager at The Construct, expanding my skill set by teaching myself CNC and more advanced CAD/CAM, and taking advantage of trainings and mentorship from upperclassmen and staff.
At the end of my Sophomore year, I began a 9-month internship with Addison Precision Manufacturing, a Rochester-based CNC aerospace job shop. During my time at APM, I gained hands-on experience with the operation, setup, and programming of more complex CNC lathes and mills, as well as experience with metrology, GD&T, and the manufacturing logistics chain. My main project at APM was developing an organization and storage system for the tools, workholding, and collets, to help save space in the new facility and time for machinists.
While working at APM, I was promoted to Director of Operations for the RIT Launch Initiative, and oversaw an increasing number of students and projects. My main focus was increasing the variety of manufacturing methods the team had available to better achieve their mission goals, so I taught myself more advanced CNC and CAM, as well as multiple forms of composites manufacturing. I then developed trainings and mentorship programs to help pass this information on to other members of our team, allowing us to realize designs that we never could have before.
Upon returning from my internship with APM, I resumed my position as a Lab Manager at The Construct, where I taught myself how to operate and program all of the CNC machines that the space had, to better serve students and assist in their projects.
I hope to continue to find new and exciting engineering problems in both my personal and professional work, so that I can continue to challenge myself and learn to utilize more advanced manufacturing and engineering practices to better solve these problems.