Hi, I'm Gillian. I design hardware and then build it.
I take parts from CAD to the machine shop: modeling in SOLIDWORKS and Fusion 360, iterating fast with 3D-printed prototypes, and finishing on the CNC mill. Most recently I led mechanical design on a wave-powered battery charger that beat its power target by 2.5×.
Selected work
Each project shows the full loop: define the problem, design in CAD, prototype, test, and iterate until it works.
Float Goat V2: Wave-Powered Battery Charger
A portable wave-energy converter that charges a battery from the rise and fall of a buoy. Senior capstone; I led mechanical design.
Custom Cryogenic Sample Holder
A copper sample mount for a Montana Instruments cryostat that cut measurement noise by up to ~79%.
Sheet Metal Mounting Plates
Compact sheet-metal plates that tidy the inside of a dental laser chassis and make it faster to service.
Mist Nozzle Removal Tool
A slide-twist-pull hand tool for swapping mist nozzles on a dental laser handpiece without a service visit.
Welded Sheet Metal Organizer
A 36-inch steel rack with 19 welded dividers, drawn as a three-sheet drawing package and fabricated by hand.
Design, build, analyze, iterate
I'm a mechanical engineer working toward an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Boston University, after a B.S. in Engineering from Wake Forest University in May 2026. I like the part of engineering where a model becomes something you can hold, and I'm happiest switching between CAD, the 3D printer and the mill until a part fits and works.
I've run regulated SLA, PolyJet and FDM builds of patient-specific medical devices at Ricoh 3D for Healthcare, designed sheet-metal plates and a service tool for dental lasers at Convergent Dental, built a copper sample mount for a research cryostat, and led mechanical design on a wave-energy converter. Across all of them I care about designing for the person who has to make, assemble or repair the product.
I'm looking for mechanical and product design engineering roles on teams that prototype quickly and ship physical products.
CAD & documentation
Prototyping & fabrication
Analysis & testing
Leadership & communication
Education
- Expected Fall 2027Boston UniversityM.S., Mechanical Engineering
- May 2026Wake Forest UniversityB.S., Engineering (Mechanical). GPA 3.64, departmental 3.90
Experience
- 10/2026–presentCAD & Product Design Intern, Loris SOSCAD and photorealistic renderings of consumer accessories, designed for manufacturing.
- Summers 2025 & 2026Mechanical Engineering Intern, Convergent DentalDesigned a mist-nozzle service tool and sheet-metal mounting plates for a dental laser; organized 300+ parts into a multi-level BOM.
- 08/2025–05/2026Additive Manufacturing Intern, Ricoh 3D for HealthcareRan regulated SLA, PolyJet and FDM builds of FDA-cleared, patient-specific medical devices and inspected them by laser scanning.
- 2025–2026Mechanical Design Lead, Senior CapstoneFloat Goat V2 wave-energy converter: owned the drivetrain, designed and machined the custom parts.
- 2024–2025Research Assistant, Kandada Optical Spectroscopy LabCopper cryogenic sample mount that cut measurement noise by ~79%.
- 2022–2026Lab & Studio Student Manager, Wake ForestTrained every new student worker on every machine in the Innovation Studio.
Let's talk
I'm open to mechanical and product design engineering roles. The fastest way to reach me is email.