Version 2.08
Updated on Sept 19, 2022
I am currently an undergraduate student studying Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London. While I'm Indian, I can't really say that I feel like I'm from anywhere in particular. I'm lucky to have grown up in Oman, Libya, Brunei and Qatar, all of which I consider home. Have fun exploring the map below to find the countries I've lived in and the ones I've visited.
I made this website as an expanded 'resume', mainly to highlight some of my experiences, skills and the interesting projects that I have been involved with, both course-related and personal. Aside from these, I also like to spend my spare time playing tennis, cooking and drawing, some of which you can find here.
Note: This website is brand new (not any more) and there may be a few errors and twitches. I'm working on fixing these and I'll try updating the page with new information. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated and please feel free to drop me a message using the contact section at the bottom of this page.
Worked with a group of third year mechanical engineering students to design, make, and test an urban electric bike from the ground up. Was specifically responsible for the engineering design, validation, manufacturing, and testing of the frame in a 5-member subgroup.
The bespoke geometry is designed around human anthropometrics under urban
commuting
conditions. In the most basic form, the frame is dual triangular in structure
with
silver brazed steel tubing. The cold-drawn, low-carbon Omnicom tubes provide
high
tensile strength, fatigue resistance and transition temperature. Each tube is
butted
for added thermal resistance near braze joints while saving material weight
elsewhere.
To be compatible with disc brake callipers while having a chain-tensioning
mechanism, custom sliding rear dropouts were designed. The three-piece design
allows
the entire rear wheel assembly to move horizontally without conflicting with
other
parts. Furthermore, motor and battery integrations were achieved through a
square-sectioned seat tube and downtube for increased easier manufacturing.
Extensive Finite Elements analysis and incremental load tests using strain
gauges
were used to iterate and validate the design.
As part of the final project of the Embedded-C for Microcontrollers module, we developed an
autonomous mine rescue robot. The buggy can navigate a conceptual mine using a set of
instructions coded in coloured cards and return to its starting position – simulating a scenario
of determining the location of trapped miners.
Enjoy exploring the set of slides which explain the key functionalities and features of the
buggy. Slides 4 onwards have calibration demos before a full demo run on the final slide.
Hardware: PIC18F67K40 microchip, Clicker-2 PCB, Tricolour LED, TCS3471 Colour
Light-to-digital convertor, 3.7V 2000mA LiPo battery, DRV833RTY differential
motor drivers.
Six core functions: movement, colour-detection, lighting, memory, calibration,
and a set of fail-safes.
Mobula ray is a personal underwater propulsion device rated for a depth of 15m. Powered by a
dual-motor drive train and lithium-ion batteries, it is designed to have a battery life of
2hrs for an average speed of 2 kph.
I worked with a highly
talented team to complete the entire design process in one week, from the initial idea to
the final engineering delivery. See our final pitching poster below.
Worked as a pair to perform a heat transfer analysis of a hot long rectangular rod being quenched in a cold fluid. Using python, we modelled the temperature distribution through the rod in the x - y directions, as it changes with time.
A mixed composition of brick and steel (AISI 1010) was chosen for the rod,
although this could be modified to fit any composition. The rod was long enough
that the heat transfer along the longest length could be neglected, hence was
modelled in two space dimensions, and time.
The location and area of the secondary material was chosen to be a small
rectangle, slightly offset from the centre, however, could easily be adjusted to
model different problems.
We assumed each section of the rod to have uniform density, uniform specific
heat, and no internal heat generation. Overall, the model was described by a 3rd
order parabolic partial derivative equation.
As part of a 5-member team, we designed, manufactured and tested a miniature motorised car to race against 30 other teams in the cohort. Sonic is an ultra light, rear-wheel-drive car featuring an all plastic spur gear drive transmission. Design elements were carefully considered to maximise the ease of manufacturing, reduce the race completion time and many other criteria. Find out more about the complete design and manufacturing journey down below.
An individual project to design a drive transmission for a lift door, including the complete
CAD
assembly and engineering drawings.
The design features a
two-step speed increase and converts rotary motor motion to double-acting linear motion.
Selected to complete in Citadel's 2021 week-long Europe Regional Datathon. The problem statement was to discover and analyze patterns related to online user behavior for practical or scientific purposes using the Upworthy Research Archive dataset.
As a group of 4 Imperial and Cambridge students, we focused on identifying the key parameters in online articles which affect user clickrates before the article is read. More specifically, we analysed the effect of images, headline sentiment, and headline topics on user behaviour.
Participated in 2021's Making for the Moon Hackathon with a group of five inter-university and cross-disciplinary students. The challenge was to design a solution to deploy SpaceBit's Asagumo rover from a height of 1m on the moon. Our proposed solution went back to the basics and relied on a simple winch and hook mechanism to both deploy and retrieve the rover. I was responsible for designing the mechanical actuation system, CAD, and rendering.
The actuation subsystem houses a 1W DC motor, a 1:30 Planetary reduction
gearbox, the spool-shaft assembly and the control system for motor control and
sensors. Additionally, the unit was carefully designed to meet Asagumo rover’s
specifications and Astrobotic Tech's Peregrine lunar lander's payload dimension
/ weight specifications.
The slotted and sealed casing design also featured methods of minimising loads:
sine-vibrational, random vibrational, acoustic and shock. The casing and
internal components were designed for a nominal temperature range of -120°C to
100°C.
The grasping subsystem featured a self-orientating magnetic hook and clamp
mechanism for attachment and detachment. This allows for both deployment and
recovery of the rover.
Designed and prototyped a compact bike storage, focusing on increased functionality and
aesthetics compared to
existing market solutions.
Bispace was designed by a group of four Imperial mechanical engineering students. A prototype
made of MDF was also developed as a proof of concept. I was responsible for the overall design,
CAD, rendering and core website (discontinued).
General Design: 3-part design constituting of a beech platform, ABS centre piece
and ABS side panels. The wooden platform provides a low CG for added lateral
stability has an inbuilt back plate to act as the rear wheel pivot for
effortless mounting. The centrepiece has an integrated wheel slot to avoid
slippage and the material choice allows for customer preference colouring. The
side panels feature locking slot pins and auto-retracting tension hooks for
added mounting security. Additionally, the outward tapering top maximises
compatibility of varying bike frame geometries.
The stand is compatible with 95% of bikes of varying frame dimensions and wheel
sizes - based off testing and analysis of bikes in London.
Work in progress! How cool would it be for everyone to have a car distance alert system and a sign-board reader while driving without the need of any inbuilt sensors? This gave me the idea of making an app which would utilise the phone's camera to perform these tasks. The basic concept relies on deep learning to detect the exact model of the car in front. Based on the screen real-estate taken up by the car, the app could output an estimated distance.
Knowing nothing about object detection and neural networks previously, learning
more about these was a good place to start. So far, using OpenCV on Python, I've
made a few basic programs which receive real-time video feeds. These include a
basic motion detector, road lane-detector and a generic frontal face detector.
The next step is learning about mobile application development, and I'll try to
keep this page updated with any new progress.
I'll be honest, stuck inside during the lockdown was making me think of things to do
everyday. So alongside my OpenCV journey in python, I thought that it was the perfect time
to learn a bit of
web-development with HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
It turned out to be a pretty fun process and this website served as a playground to test out
the
new things I learnt.
As a group of four, second-year mechanical engineering students, we participated in the
annual
five-day hackathon hosted by Imperial College Business School. This year's competition
involved
finding a sustainable health-tech solution to tackle the global non-communicable disease
epidemic.
We proposed an app to improve medical data collection and accessibility, which would, in
turn,
allow for more informed medical and lifestyle decisions for both users and healthcare
providers.
Currently, healthcare systems are out of date and there exists an information imbalance between patients and doctors, leading to less accurate advice. With an improved database of information and a deep learning model that considers family medical history, we can provide personalized assessments of a user’s health risks, reducing the strain on healthcare systems.
I finally got around to doing something I've always wanted to do, build a computer. After
doing
a fair amount of research and digging, I put together a parts list (see below) that was
compatible with each other and that fit my budget. Since building it, I've tweaked a couple
of
things, such as overclocking the graphics card, CPU and the RAM.
Overall, I'd say I am very
happy with the build and it definitely inspired a computing-themed summer.
Designed two bespoke fly-away rail guides for two Imperial College SpaceSoc supersonic
rockets,
participating in the UKSEDS National Rocketry Competition 2020.
The
fly-away rail guide securely attaches the rocket body to the aluminium rail and ensures a
vertical take-off.
They are designed to automatically detach from the rocket body without needing any external
electronic feedback.
Daedulus is a cockpit overhaul concept for 6th gen jet fighters. This concept provides improvements over current HOTAS systems in areas such as reaction time, programmability, functionality and intuitiveness.
The design features a calibrated cueing system to eye movements. This is done by
the
integrated
iris trackers in the edges of the helmet visor. The reticle will be able to
interact with:
-Onboard targeting systems such as air-to-air radar, FLIR and others to
designate singular or multiple targets.
-The front panel of the aircraft, with the reticle acting as a “mouse
cursor.”
-Controls on the throttle will simplify to two buttons, equivalent to left and
right mouse buttons.
Navigation of options will be done through the sight-controlled reticle,
and alternatively through voice commands. Similarly, the control stick will only
have
buttons
for countermeasures,
trigger and weapon release, with a multi-axis hat for trimming.
These changes allow for pilots to
achieve at least 80% of the aircraft’s combat and
logistical functions without ever removing their hands
from the throttle or control stick.
2019's SpackHack hosted by OneWeb tasked us with finding a solution to the ever-growing low-Earth orbit space debris problem. As a group of 6 aeronautical and mechanical engineering students, we proposed implementing optimally positioned nodes in the current satellites network. Each node would house a booster module containing a deployable net mechanism to capture 'dead' satellites which have malfunctioned in the process of self-deorbiting at the end of their life-cycle.
A soft capture is ensured with our net proposal and is important to reduce the
risk of debris being created from an impact. Once captured, the booster module
could accelerate the dead satellite into an exaggerated elliptical orbit,
forcing disintegration on re-entry at a much faster pace than current
procedures.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience coming together as a team and was
ecstatic to be awarded 1st place out of 40 teams for our idea. Furthermore, we
were invited to OneWeb's head office in London for the official launch event of
34 of their satellites.
As part of the Imperial Horizons, Making and Prototyping course, the final project required a device to be manufactured to actively detect cell growth and count. This project proved to be particularly challenging for our team of three, which comprised of students with no bio-related backgrounds.
Our design involved the detection of fluorescent proteins produced by the GM
bacteria culture used. A servo motor based pump system was implemented to
introduce a chemical inducer into the sample to start this process.
A photodiode was used to measure the intensity of light from an LED after
passing through the fluorescent sample. As the light intensity was proportional
to the cell count, an Arduino code was composed to translate the voltage output
of the photodiode to a meaningful cell count reading.
Worked within Microsft Search Assistance & Intelligence (MSAI) team developing within the Windows OS code base.
Second of two 6-month placements with Rolls-Royce Defence in Bristol.
- Worked within the Fans & Compressors Systems Design team on RR's COLIBRI AI project. COLIBRI project.
First of two 6-month placements with Rolls-Royce Defence in Bristol.
- Worked within the Artificial Chief Engineer (ACE) team, developing RR's new autonomous machinery control system for Naval vessels.
The spring internship was modified to a fully virtual experience due to COVID-19.
-Attended virtual seminars and learnt about BP’s upstream activities and strategies to
meet
future carbon emission goals.
-Discussed technological innovations being implemented in BP to aid upstream operations
such
as AI-driven seabed robots and advanced seismic imaging.
Selected to participate in a live role-playing challenge, meant to simulate the global
market transition to a lower-carbon future. Participants were assigned to the roles of
industry, consumer, government, energy provider or NGO, with different associated criteria.
-Obtained the highest profit amongst other participants as an energy provider by negotiating
unit prices of either renewable or non-renewable energies while selling to industries or
governments with green energy-based subsidies. Practised my negotiation skills and developed
a deeper understanding of the challenges associated with the current energy transition.
-Discussed the prospectives of a greener future with the manager of Shell UK's Energy
Transition Programme.
-Developed a basic understanding of marine civil engineering.
-Gained insight into the Thames Tideway Scheme and the construction of cofferdams on
Victoria embankment.
-Designed initial phased development plans on CAD for an upcoming port project in
Kamchatka
Krai, Russia.
-Understood the basics of functioning breakwaters and the different wave propagation
prevention techniques used in
ports.
One-day insight day programme organised by the Imperial Energy Society and BP's Energy
Trading division.
-Understood more about BP's supply and trading business through Q&A sessions with senior
staff and by networking with previous graduates.
-Participated in a crude-oil trading simulation game.
-Received a trading floor tour at BP headquarters in London.
-Received a two-day insight into the workings of an integrated steel plant.
-Observed the functioning of different multi-disciplinary groups in large
scale production lines.
-Experienced a full day of work shadowing and had the opportunity to
spend
time with a team of wells engineers.
-Got provided with a basic insight into well engineering and the production of oil and gas.
-Was shared an overview of the Pearl GTL plant at Ras Laffan, Qatar.
-Completed mini assigned tasks based on the upstream sector.
-Gained a valuable perspective of the economics involved in the petroleum industry from a
wells
economist.