Hello!
Participating in an ‘F1 in Schools’ event was when I first began designing. Being tasked to model a miniature car in Solidworks, using a CNC machine to form it out of balsa wood and drag racing with it. I have explored and experimented with other domains of designing ever since, such as graphic design using Illustrator and Photoshop, sculpting, animation and motion graphics using Aftereffects, Cinema 4D and KeyShot, and furniture design using Solidworks.
In 2014, I enrolled for a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with an added minor degree in Mechanical Design. And along with studies, I had the privilege to attend out-reach programs to schools for differently abled children and old age homes where we interacted through music and art. I was later a choir conductor and a member of a musical band. I was also an active board member of the IE Mechanical Club on campus, where we organised technical competitions and workshops. And over the course of four years at Manipal Institute of Technology, I indulged myself in product development for student projects.
Some of these projects included an inter-disciplinary initiative called project ATOM. The goal of the project was to design an inexpensive solar energy management unit for small households in rural parts, in and around Manipal. A branched out case design for the components was fabricated using foam boards, painted with acrylics and coated with high temperature resistant clear coat. The case design was aimed to uniformly distribute the heat generated with just a single fan from the individual electrical components and dissipate it through vents cut out on the top of the case.
A second inter-disciplinary project was with the biomedical department, for conceptualising a drug injector for patient medication, post-cataract operations. Conventional post-operation treatment requires a manual application of optical drops containing anti-inflammatory agents. The revised design included an additional chamber within the existing lens injector. The chamber housed the newly-developed drug which would eliminate the need for any manual application of the optical drops post-operation.
X-Grip, a personal project that started off during a certification course in Solidworks was aimed to conceptualize an adjustable steering wheel. The project focused on creating a functional mechanism and an ergonomic handle. The mechanism was designed to radially contract the wheel arms, with the rotation of a dial located at the wheel’s centre. After iterated concepts and test assemblies, the final working product was modelled and assembled in Solidworks. In addition, the central dial was incorporated with a touch-display for basic interactive operations such as media control, navigation, time and temperature control. A mock UI interface flow was created using Adobe Illustrator for this purpose.
In 2017, I attended a summer internship for a period of one month at the Apollo tyre industry in Perambra, Kerala. Under the guidance of the mechanical supervisor, I was tasked to detect problems and conduct a feasibility study to better the 4-Roll Calendering machine in the factory. Later that year, I interned for a period of one month at Ideaspice Dubai, a design consultancy firm where I was in charge of content creation for the company’s social webpages with graphic design and stop-motion animations. The following year and over the course of two months, I had the opportunity to freelance for Lumberman, a furniture company based in Bangalore where I modelled and rendered concept furniture designs.
Taking every opportunity to test myself, I placed first in a three-hour long wardrobe modelling competition and was awarded the best concept design for project X-Grip at Renaissance’18, Thrissur, Kerala.
I believe that the design of products evoke emotions in an individual which extends its form and functionality. I believe that having people relate to the products personally and culturally would bring a sense of belonging to the product-consumer relationship. I envision to create meaningful products using simple means, to help ease our daily tasks. By developing products that function creatively and are easy to fabricate.