DARWIN ZHU

PORTFOLIO
 DARWIN ZHU

I have been identified as an extremely talented

learner and a highly curious person ever since my child-
hood, and I continue to search out the skills and abilities
that will help me thrive in the work I do in design. With
requirements for various software modeling, machining,
and project management skills in present-day engineer-
ing positions, I have sought to acquire these abilities by
experiencing them in hands-on work for engineering
design teams, classwork, and personal projects. Because
for me, mastering skills relevant to my passions help me
enjoy my work, and achieve more in what I do.

You can’t use up creativity. The more
you use, the more you have.
Maya Angelou - 1982
This portfolio will showcase the highlights of
my design experiences, and briefly cover the respon-
sibilities and skills required for each kind of work. The
hope of this compilation of past works is to help the
reader better understand my background, and to further
express what I love doing in life. I hope that by sharing
my personal work, I will be able to offer a glimpse into
Table of Contents

05
UBC Rocket - Hollyburn

09
UBC Rocket - G-Rockets UBC Rocket
12 UBC Rocket is a design team that builds high-propulsion
rockets, and it has sent meticulously engineered rockets to
MECH 226 - Technical Communication the Spaceport America Cup competition for all 3 years of
the team’s existence. I have had the opportunity of working
on our current competition rocket Hollyburn, which we will
16 be competing with at IREC 2019 and CREC this year. I have
worked on modeling and production of the rocket’s internal
 MECH 223 - Mechanical Design assemblies, as well as communicating design decisions with
other sub-teams for proper integration.

19
Art and Animation
 Upper Assembly
I created this SolidWorks assembly for the design of Hollyburn’s upper assembly, which
is used to hold small research-related devices during launch. This year’s CubeSATs are
non-deployable, so I also created a removable top plate to contain the devices during
rocket separation at apogee.

Nosecone
My design for Hollyburn’s nosecone is currently being used as a mold
for a more rigid, durable carbon-fiber layup of it. The nosecone’s 3
pieces are small enough to be 3D printed, which allows for us to more
accurately create the desired conical shape.

Lower Assembly
The lower assembly of Hollyburn is used to store the motor and motor casing securely
during launch. After obtaining new parts for this design, I re-dimensioned and modeled
each part in SolidWorks so that the motor would still fit with dimension changes.
 G-Rockets
In addition to working on competition
rockets, I have also spent time making
smaller G-class test rockets, in order to
test our recovery systems and avionics
(flight electronics). Creating a rocket
from scratch means that I get to learn
about more aspects like simulation,
research, and software that I am not
typically required to do as an internals
machinist for Hollyburn.

Machining
The majority of the internals components were fabricated on lathes,
with some work like hole-drilling being done on mills. More complex
parts like the 6-legged support rings were waterjet out of aluminum, to
save time on manual machining.
 Nosecone
An early design for my G-Rocket nosecone involved 3D printing in two pieces to allow for
it to be longer. I scrapped this idea for the final design because the printed parts tended
to have warped dimensions, which prevented a proper fit between components.

OpenRocket Simulation
Simulation in OpenRocket software is a very important part of my rock-
et design, as it determines the stability of the craft during flight, and
provides an accurate estimate of its trajectory. Using measurements of
the masses and materials of our components, I was able to locate the
center of mass of the rocket in the simulation mock-up, and compare
its location to that of the center of pressure. Stability is determined
by the distance between these points, and is typically around 2 for a
stable rocket (the design has stability of 1.63).

Once the simulation model is constructed, I fitted it with different mo-

tor configurations and determined the rocket’s flight path. This helped
me choose an ejection charge that deployed the parachute as close to
apogee as possible. This is important because deployment of recovery
systems before or after apogee can severely damage them.
Airfoil fins
The G-Rocket’s fins were created using a 5:1 airfoil, which was found in simulations to
significantly reduce fin drag without changing center of pressure. The fins were 3D print-
ed with a curved inside edge that matched the outer curvature of the rocket’s body tube.
 Oral Presentation - Sustainability
I focused primarily on the aesthetic component of the presentation, incorporating
relevant images and graphics as much as possible, while leaving most information and
words as spoken content. The final grade on the presentation was 5/5.

MECH 226
MECH 226 is a technical communication course that provides
valuable experience in writing business and engineering docu-
ments, presenting data orally and graphically, and using profes-
sionalism in all forms of communication. During this course, I
have worked in two major projects: a research project on sus-
tainability at UBC, and a technical presentation for the HyperRail
project from MECH 223.

Technical Report
I presented my research on energy and materials in food production in the technical
report, in the form of data tables and informative paragraphs. This allowed for a balance
of visuals and text that made the document more readable. The report received a total
grade of 9.7/10.
 B2
our team
Our team is diverse in
talents and skillsets.
From left to right, our
members are:
B2 PLA Nosecone casing

Francesco Pero Acetate film pane

Marcus Leeson
Jeff Wu
Andrei Popescu Flanged cylinder wheel
Stephan Maras
& Darwin Zhu
Bogie

INFINITE POSSIBILITIES. AA Batteries

We focused on generating creative solutions to various elements of our
model, like the chassis, wheels, and exterior. We selected our final model
based on each component’s feasibility, aesthetics, and ability to be inte- Lower Chassis
grated within our design.

From virtual...
CAD software modelling was essential throughout the design process,
as it helped us better understand assembly and aesthetic, and provided
models for 3D printing.

...to reality
We used prototypes of our bogie system to analyze their max speed
around turns, and used 3D prints of our wheels to analyze their effective-
ness during banking. We tested the coefficient of friction of PMC 744,
a polyurethane rubber, and built a motor control prototype using bread-

Strategy for success

boards and an Arduino microcontroller.

We used a simple and effective method throughout the entire design pro-
cess, that can be summarized by three points:

1. Any design questions should be answered by prototype testing.

2. All decisions should be communicated through the whole team.
3. Manufacturing should be started earlier rather than later.
4. All ideas, regardless of feasibility, should be considered by the team.
the final product
General guidelines Welcome to the future.

HyperLight
Throughout our project, we maintained a set of guide-
lines for our vehicle performance and characteristics.
Here’s some of them:

• Vehicle must travel at max speed of 2m/s.

Technology
• Vehicle must weigh under 500g
• Components must consist of 80% or more recyclable
Our proposed hyperrail vehicle is built
material by weight, includes aluminum and steels to stand out in today’s urban biomes. It
• Design must be visually aesthetic, with form befitting masterfully blends aesthetic, function-
its function. ality, and efficiency in a simple, com-
pact design.

Posterboard - HyperRail
This posterboard has been one of my most audacious design projects to date,
where I aimed for a fully minimal design with plenty of eye-catching visuals. I
created the center illustration and sketches on the left panel, and compiled
SolidWorks renders of our vehicle for the visuals, and finally placed them in the
overall posterboard using wireframes in Adobe InDesign. Overall, the poster-
board received a 9/10 grade after TA evaluation.

Oral Presentation - HyperRail

I tried to eliminate text altogether in this presentation, focusing only on images and key-
words in the PowerPoint while delegating content to speakers instead. This has helped
me learn a bit more about minimalist design in technical communication. The overall
grade received for this presentation was 5/5.
MECH 223
This course is focused on hands-on project work that connects
skills of machining, modeling, and project management in a
single design. I worked on the HyperRail project for this course,
which was a wheeled vehicle capable of going around curves, up
hills, and across sections of damaged track. This experience has
taught me how to make design decisions and coordinate them
with other teammates.
Prototypes
Prototyping is a major part of design for me, as it helps me determine physical aspects
of the design that I cannot simply determine through modeling or virtual simulations
alone. I was able to determine the vehicle’s center of gravity, behavior around curves,
and optimum gear ratio through physical prototypes that included 3D printed chassis,
wheels, and
 Double-Bogie Design
By doing an external search, I found that some existing train models use a twin bogie
design, with two swiveling 4-wheeled cars at the front and back of the vehicle. This is
advantageous for quick turning and stability.

Art and Animation

As someone who is passionate about design in general, I have
also acquired a lot of artistic and visual skills in addition to
engineering design. The works listed here represent my hobbies,
passions, and works done of my own volition, and they include
examples of my animation sequences.

SolidWorks Modelling
I performed the majority of virtual modeling and assembly for our team project, and I
was able to gain an in-depth understanding of the SolidWorks software in the process.
Shown above is a render of the final train model done using PhotoView 360, which high-
lights the final look of the vehicle with material effects in place.
 Still Life Drawings
I am currently learning advanced sketching techniques with an art tutor, to help me
understand fundamentals of light and shadow on a variety of different objects. Shown
here are a couple drawings of objects that I have done from reference, highlighting my
abilities in illustration and visual art.t
Portrait Drawings
I perform a lot of portrait drawings to hone my skills in human form and figure. These
were done from reference, of a variety of subjects. While drawing portraits, I try to focus
on learning the general guidelines of the human face so that I will eventually be able to
apply it from memory, without using reference.
 Art and animation
As a hobbyist artist and animator, I have learned all of my skills entirely by self-taught
methods such as reference studies and unorthodox software editing techniques. I
currently animate simple motions and drawings in Photoshop, where there are sufficient
frames and versatility in animation for practice and improvement.