Work
Experience
September 2024 - May 2025
General Atomics Aeronautical Capstone Project
Mechanical Engineer Lead
San Diego, CA
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Led a cross-disciplinary team of mechanical, radio frequency, and electrical engineers to design a deployable low-frequency antenna system on a rotary-wing drone, coordinating, testing, and validating all system-level requirements
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Directed a 9-month project lifecycle while facilitating weekly discussions to integrate electrical and mechanical subsystems
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Executed structural analysis in Abaqus to assess payload stresses under aerodynamic drag from wind gusts up to 20 mph
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Assessed landing gear performance through drop-impact analysis, confirming alternative legs withstood a 6-ft fall with a factor of safety equal to 1.6
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Reduced mechanical housing weight from 2.4 lbs to 0.8 lbs by designing optimized components in SolidWorks
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Simulated thermal analysis in Ansys to assess amplifier heat buildup, leading to the design choice of external mounting to improve cooling and meet size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints
June 2018 ‑ January 2025
Luca Productions
Freelance 3D Product & Animator
Cupertino, CA
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Founded a freelance business in 3D product design, animation, and video editing, scaling it to over $30,000 in annual revenue
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Directed 50+ global clients, overseeing 120 projects from conception to publication while cultivating long-term partnerships
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Strong reputation for on-time, audience-engaging creative solutions, achieving over 100 million interactions across clients
June 2019 ‑ August 2019
Onyx Fitness
AI Software Quality Assurance Intern
San Francisco, CA
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Analyzed 10,000+ video frames to validate AI motion detection, diagnosing rotoscope masking errors, and documenting findings through test cases and structured reports
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Collaborated with founders in Python source code review to improve AI model reliability
Education
August 2025 - December 2026
University of Southern California | Viterbi School of Engineering | Master’s Degree
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Master's of Science in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering - Computational Fluid and Solid Mechanics
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Actively involved in the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship (TIE) Hub
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Critical AI Studies Reading Group
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Fall 2025 Coursework
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AME 530a – Dynamics of Incompressible Fluids
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AME 529 – Finite Element Analysis
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September 2021 ‑ May 2025
University of San Diego | Shiley Marcos School of Engineering | Bachelor's Degree
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Bachelor's of Science and Bachelor's of Art dual degree in Mechanical Engineering
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Minor in Mathematics
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Departmental GPA: 3.93
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Departmental Honors
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Industry Scholars Program – Selected for a competitive year-long program offering mentorship, professional development, and industry experience for top engineering students.
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Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity
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Relevant coursework:
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Mechanics & Materials: Composite Materials (MENG 494), Design of Machine Elements (MENG 430), Mechanics of Materials (MENG 370), Material Science (MENG 311)
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Thermal & Fluids: Heat Transfer (MENG 400), Fluid Mechanics (MENG 360), Applied Thermodynamics (MENG 300),
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Math & Electrical Systems: Applied Math for Sci & Engr II (MATH 311), Calculus 3 (MATH 250), Electrical Circuits (ELEC 201)
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Research Experience
December 2023 ‑ February 2025
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Research Project: Manufacturing Defects in Sustainable Carbon/Epoxy Composite Materials
University of San Diego, CA
(click link above to open manuscript)
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Led research on upcycled carbon fiber composites, integrating microscopy, mechanical testing, and finite element modeling to demonstrate how scrap layout drives defect formation and mechanical performance
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Implemented AI-assisted image processing in CellProfiler to quantify voids, scrap gaps, and resin-rich regions across 1,000+ microscopy images, enabling faster and more robust defect analysis
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Pioneered lab’s first computational modeling framework in Abaqus, automated with Python, to simulate void-driven failures, capturing progressive crack propagation behaviors not observable through physical testing alone
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Publications: 3 material science papers, "Effect of Scrap Size on Processing Defects in Composites Made of Repurposed Prepreg Scraps," published in the American Society for Composites (ASC) and Composites Part C journal.
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Presented findings at ASC 2024 as a distinguished undergraduate, strengthening leadership in conveying complex research
Skills
& Expertise
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Core Competencies: Thermal Analysis, Structural Analysis, CFD, FEA, CAD, AI/ML, Automation, Data Analysis, Statistical Modeling, Computational Modeling, Product Design, Composites, SEM Microscopy, Image Processing, Milling, CNC Machining, Prototyping, Hardware Testing, Physics-Based Computational Modeling, Production, GD&T, Preliminary and Critical Design Reports (PDR & CDR), Validation and Verification (V&V)
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Software: SolidWorks, Abaqus, Ansys, NX, Blender, MATLAB, Python, Java, G-code (CNC), R, CellProfiler, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop
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Foreign Languages: Italian (Native Speaker), Spanish (Basic Proficiency).