Nick Phan

Nick Phan

Mechanical Engineering Student at McMaster University

Projects

Academic

Towing Vehicle

  • Effectively collaborated with 4 team members to design a vehicle to tow a given load, provided the propulsion system does not use wheels
  • The design’s final report can be found here
  • Designed a 3D-printed spoke on Autodesk Inventor and conducted finite element analysis on the model to simulate operating stresses
  • Made design changes based on FEA to increase part strength by over 3 times
  • Created a dynamic simulation to simulate the vehicle’s propulsion system
Initial design not strong enough to withstand operational stresses based on static analysis
New design effectively withstands applied stresses based on static analysis

Full assembly of tow vehicle design

Human-Powered Generator

  • Designed a device to transfer power from a human operator to a generator
  • Implemented a piston mechanism and a 1:625 ratio gearbox to accomplish the task
  • Performed a DFMA analysis on the design
Final design of piston assembly has potential to output 37500 RPM
Video showing device operation

Prosthetic Hand Prototype

  • Designed a 3D printed, easily assembled prosthetic hand prototype to move 2 fingers at a given speed using a reduction gear box attached to a motor
  • Designed components to snap onto each other, requiring less fasteners
3D printed assembly requires only 2 fasteners. In this prototype, the crank on the top right of the left image represents the motor input

Personal

Self-Feeding Catheter

  • Received 3rd place overall in the McMaster Designathon 2020
  • With 3 group members, came up with the idea for a semi-automatic implementation of the Seldinger technique

CAD model created by group member Hans Park

Sumobot

  • Design, built and programmed an autonomous sumo robot, combining 3D printed parts, an ultrasonic sensor, line sensors, and an Arduino Uno

Model Aircraft

  • Made a foam model airplane from household materials
  • Implemented full control surfaces and attached propeller and electronics
  • Made a big mistake and realized that the connector from my LiPo battery is an XT60 connector, and does not match with the connector from the ESC I purchased (oops D: )