Being the first technical hire in a startup after the CTO resulted in my position often falling outside the lines of a traditional “mechanical engineering” role. I’ve taken on mechanical, electrical, software, project management and design roles within the company since I joined. I’ve also had the opportunity to contribute to the company vision and culture as a whole, performing interviews, helping set company values and being part of long term planning / strategy conversations. My specific project contributions over the placement time were: Christmas demo robot - Cargo Section Design Lead, Junction Project Lead, Zima Architecture - Drivetrain and Electronics Lead, LA Tech Week Demo - Electronics and Software Lead, Pandora Architecture - Drivetrain and Electronics Lead. I have slotted into a position where I generally take on the design of systems and subsystems that require tightly integrated hardware, firmware and software design. In addition to product related work, I have been assisting the setup of our new office and machine shop. My current project is the development of a high speed order loading, unloading and caching system for our pilot project.
