Palo Alto, California | August 2021 - Present

Matician, Inc.

Mechanical Design Engineer

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Overview

Matician are crack team of Software Engineers, Electrical Wizards and Mechanical Nerds leveraging radical new techniques in computing and robotics design to solve problems that affect hundreds of millions of people every day. I work on the cleaning-head subsystem of our new flagship product, a truly autonomous home cleaner robot, itself a sophisticated mechatronic system comprising almost 100 parts: motors, gearboxes, sensors, flowing air & water, in addition to numerous mechanisms for a delightful UX. We are 40-something strong startup with proven founders, which means wearing a lot of hats and learning very quickly; an energy I can't get enough of.
Typical work involves proving out physics models with Rapid Prototypes and CAE simulations, enriching or creating sensor driven features with custom firmware scripts, driving CAD developments, collaborating with molders, manufacturers and vendors, or just testing in the field to make every function as brilliant as it can be.


Some Highlights:

  • Principal designer of the cleaning-head subsystem on Matician's flagship autonomous CV/AI home cleaner robot, taken from crude prototype through high-volume production model starting this year

  • Develop original mechanisms, structural configurations and sensing strategies from first ideation through production readiness using rapid prototyping, laboratory testing and CAE tools, whilst maintaining documentation, CAD models, drawings (Y14.5) and product data/BOM in Solidworks

  • Overhauled structural and powertrain architecture of cleaning head, driving a x12 reduction in noise emissions, 55% fewer parts, 60% faster assembly, reduced BOM cost and market-leading functionality

  • Create, execute and post-process reliability and functionality tests using MCU enabled custom DAQ hardware, build statistical and physics models for function optimisation and selection of OTS modules

  • Write python scripts using Rust wrappers and control theory to enable new live diagnostics, proactive maintenance and intelligent behaviors as features, work with FW/SW teams to drive integration

  • Collaborate daily with engineers, product, supply chain and user feedback teams to ensure system level integration, specification conformance and certification compliance

  • Research, pursue and correspond with international vendors & CMs to progress DfM decisions, commercial partnerships, quality assurance and timely part deliveries