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Contact Information
| Name | Oliver Zhang |
| Professional Title | Mechanical Engineer |
| oliverzhang1@yahoo.com | |
| Website | https://oliverzzhang.com/ |
Summary
Versatile engineer expert in developing highly integrated electro-mechanical systems. Has excellent analytical ability and a deep understanding of the product development process. Thrives in fast-paced, highly collaborative teams.
Experience
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2019 - present San Francisco, USA
Senior Mechanical Engineer
PA Consulting
Collaborating with diverse engineers and designers to find the path through complex challenges and turn inventive ideas into innovative products.
- Delivering projects across many different industries, from medical robotics to industrial food production.
- Coordinating highly disciplinary teams spread across multiple geographies.
- Breaking complex problems down into key interactions and applying first principles analysis and modeling.
- The team’s go-to expert for robotics, systems engineering, and analysis.
- Building prototypes at the right fidelity to rapidly drive to the optimal design.
- Growing the team’s capabilities through weekly forums and training sessions, covering topics like analysis, sketching, or programming.
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2017 - 2017 Pittsburgh, USA
Project Engineer Intern
Autel Robotics
Implemented tracking and gesture recognition systems for embedded execution on a quadcopter.
Education
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2015 - 2019 Pittsburgh, USA
Bachelor of Science
Carnegie Mellon University
Mechanical Engineering with an additional major in Robotics with University Honors
- Completed a wide range of course work from mechanical engineering fundamentals to computer vision, artificial intelligence, and systems engineering.
Skills
Programming: Python, C++, ROS
Mechanical Engineering: Concept development and prototyping, Analysis of complex systems, DfM
Systems Engineering: Requirements development, System architecture design
Languages: English (native speaker), Mandarin (native speaker)
Patents
US11058204B2 - Automated total nail care systems, devices, and methods
Projects
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Novel Machine
Developing a consumer facing electromechanical machine.
- Owned design of an Alpha prototype system with 7 actuated degrees of freedom.
- Designed complex motion systems in heavily space constrained and finish constrained environment.
- Balanced industrial design intent with mechanical reliablility, while meeting aggressive schedule.
- Interfaced with a diverse team of systems engineers, electrical engineers, software engineers, and industrial designers.
- Led prototype build effort and ensured successful delivery to client.
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Novel Cable Splicing Machine
Developing an underground cable splicing machine that automates a complex process typically done by a trained technician.
- Built complex set of system requirements drawn from multiple different stakeholders, and managed key risks.
- Designed system architecture to maximise reliability while meeting stringent weight and space constraints.
- Created system workflows to validate concept of operation.
- Developed multiple electromechanical mechanisms that each perform dextrous operations that previously required highly coordinated human actions.
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Novel Smart Fitness Machine
Devloped a novel fitness machine that is controllable wirelessly and can report data from multiple integrated sensors.
- Implemented and refined controls algorithms to realistically simulate inertia with an electric motor.
- Built custom dyanmometer rig with custom software which simulates human motion and displays metrics in real-time.
- Led systems engineering effort to manage the integration and testing of the prototype across multiple locations globally.
- Coordinated a highly cross-functional team with industrial designers, electrical engineers, firmware engineers, and mechanical engineers
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Optimising Industrial Food Production
Analysed an industrial food production line to identify root causes of defects and improve throughput without changing line footprint.
- Analytically modeled complex dynamic behavior of key components in the production line leveraging high-speed camera footage collected on-site.
- Developed several concepts for improvement, covering the full solution space.
- Client implemented designs and achieved 1.75x increased throughput without increasing line footprint.
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Optimising Commercial Appliance
Analysed airflow through a commercial appliance to optimise efficiency.
- Built thermodynamic model of the system based on lab data collected from dozens of sensors.
- Created simulation software that allowed quick iterations through different designs.
- Developed a feedback control system that dynamically adjusts air flow rate for best system performance.
- Coordinated with firmware engineers and technicians to deploy and test control system.
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Electromechanical Security Product
Rapidly developed concepts and prototypes for addressing a critical issue in a electromechanical security product.
- Analysed the existing design, identifying root causes of issues found in the field.
- Brainstormed ideas and mapped the solution space with a dozen key architectures.
- Built multiple prototypes that successfully demonstrated five leading concepts.
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Medical Robot Arm
Developed mechanical designs for one of the arms in a medical robot.
- Optimised structural components with stringent weight and stiffness requirements.
- Analysed and designed parts with extremely tight tolerances to ensure assemblability while minimising clearance.
- Built comprehensive analytical model of a linkage mechanism to predict motion, loads, and deflection.
- Modified existing designs to improve ease of integration and manufacturability.
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Novel Subsystem Prototype
Developed a proof-of-principle prototype to de-risk a key robotic subsystem.
- Developed a complex analytical model of the behavior of elastic materials fed from a spool.
- Exprimented with medical grade extruded tube materials, coatings, and cross-sectional profiles to generate desired properties such as bending stiffness, resilience, creep, and friction.
- Designed and built a robotic system that process various sensor inputs to drive a custom control algorithm. The system uses clinical trial data to simulate real user motion, allowing high fidelity testing of expected behavior.
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Evolv Express® Threat Detection System
Developed manufacturable prototype in support of client electronics, addressing challenging structural, materials, mobility, and environmental requirements.
- Architected mechnical structure to improve stiffness, assemblability, and serviceability.
- Converted fiberglass sheet-based design into structural foam/RIM plastic extrusions.
- Developed integrated mobility design to allow users to move system around with ease.
- Performed comprehensive Six sigma tolerance stack analysis and implemented GD&T tolerance controls.
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Novel Human Machine Interface (Harman International)
Developed robotic device to support client invistigations into novel human-machine interfaces.
- Developed concepts through brainstorming, cross-pollination, and down-selection proccesses.”,
- Built an integrated electromechanical prototype that was displayed at a major international trade show.”,
- Built a graphics user interface to prove prototype usability and reliability.”