Hello, My Name is Arni !
I am studying Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo
I love to learn about new technologies, apply my knowledge and skills and create deployable solutions
About Me
Here is a little information about me
I completed my education uptil grade 10 in India where I was involved in co-curricular activties like Bharatnatyam, drawing and painting competitions and was also a
journalist for the school's monthly magazine.
I immigrated to Canada in grade 11 and attended Laurel Heights Secondary School (formerly known as Sir John A MacDonald Secondary School). There I was a
part of various clubs such as the Science Fair Club, DECA (Decathon Competition club) and the Key Club. As a member of DECA I participated in the entrepreneurship
competition and cleared district level. Through the Key Club I had the oppurtunity to volunteer at the Volunteer Action Centre (VAC). I received my OSSD (Ontario Secondary School Diploma) in August 2021 and was admitted
to Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo.
At UWaterloo engineering I was a part of design teams like WARG (Waterloo Arial Robotics Group) and UWAFT (University of Waterloo
Alternative Fuels Team). I am also a part of the digital arts club where I am learning techniques of digital drawing.
I love connecting with people and learning about new technologies. I aspire to be part of projects and teams focused on machine learning
and software.
My Skills
My Projects
Here are some of the engineering projects I have worked on so far
I enjoyed the process of learning new skills and implementing them as I worked on creating these projects.
I am proud of how these turned out.
I endeavour to keep learning new skills and apply them to create solutions to real-life problems
Portfolio Website
I wanted to improve my web development skills and decided to create a website which showcases me and my skills. The website was made using HTML5, CSS and Javascript , in addition I also used different web development libraries and CDNs to improve functionality and performance. These incude JQuery, Google font API and Font Awesome.
BeatMaker
I wanted to expermiment using Python to create games and created this fun little minigame which uses the Pygame library to allow users to create new beat sequences from the pre-existing sounds. It also provides additional features to reload saved beats, increase tempo and number of sequences.
Hall-E
An open-ended group project which I made with my friends Nivey and Emily using C++ and Lego Mindstorms bot. Hall-E is a hallway cleaning robot capable of cleaning the very edges of the hallway where grime and dirt tends to accumulate. It is also capable of obstacle detection, auto cleaning-loops and auto-positioning.
Cloud DB-Creation
Cloud development has always interested me and hence I coded a small local cluster project which used a cloud node created in Minikube to take database creation requests from Mongoexpress and forward them to MongoDB. I learned a lot through this project especially how to code yaml files, configuring and using VMs and passing commands through Kubectl.
Flipper!
A Sumobot which I made using custom PCB made by UV radiation etching and designed using Traxxmaker software. The robot chassis was made using various woodcutting tools. It is capable of opponent detection, pit-maneuvers and edge detection. I designed this robot from the groundup and am very proud of how it turned out. It won 4th place in the local robot fighting tournament.
EduBubble
An education platform coded using HTML, CSS and DJango for Holiday-Hackathon. Me and my team wanted to create a web-application which made it easier for the teachers and the students to create different class groups and be able to make a discussion forum for class queries and projects. The application also provided a login for every user for additional security.
People Counter Circuit TinkerCAD
This is one of the many projects I coded in TinkerCAD using an Arduino Uno. Created during a time when the COVID pandemic was still ongoing the purpose of this design is to help in social distancing. It uses a light sensor to sense the number of people in the store and display instructions on whether more people can enter or if they should wait.
Measure-io
Measure-io was created as an alternate measuring device capable of measuring (with an accuracy of 4 decimal places) objects less than 1.5m in length. The program was written in C++ in Arduino and used the change in the voltage of the potentiometer derived through the moving rack and pinion to generate length calculation. The graphing simulation and calculations were done in Microsoft Excel
Catenary Bridge
As part this project, we were tasked with building a bridge which could withstand 200 kN of load using 2.5 meters of plywood and some dowels. We were able to design and build a bridge which could withstand 203 kN of load. The design simulation was done using an online 2D truss analysis tool and we created a prototype using laser cutting.
My Experience
My Workplace Experiences
My work experience includes different aspects of engineering ranging from software, mechanical, design and journalism.
All these experiences have allowed me to connect with brilliant people and learn about their unique disciplines. I believe that
the skills, knowledge and experience I have gained will aid me in my journey of becoming a good engineer.
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May 2023 - Aug 2023 Design Engineer
Lifestyle Home Products
- Made construction drawings in AutoCAD for custom sunrooms and provided engineering with a complete set of architectural drawing plans for manufacturing. Suggested a change to better use the manpower by grouping the construction jobs per region, the installation schedule was accordingly adjusted. This change increased engineering resource efficiency by 26%.
- Attended "feedback meetings" with clients and presented the prototype drawings of their proposed sunrooms. These meetings enabled me to make adjustments to the construction drawings before they were passed on to manufacturing.
- Created performance and accountability sheets (PAR) and ensured any outliers were addressed in weekly meetings. These changes were then communicated with the sales department for them to rectify by following up with the clients. -
Sep 2022 - Dec 2022 Teaching Associate
University of Waterloo
- Worked with a team of six to mark exams and assignments as per professor's instructions. Created resources and held study sessions to help students grasp important concepts. In addition, drafted midterm and final exam question banks.
- Drafted a "Dimensioning Guidelines" document which summarized the major dimensioning rules (according to ASME standard) to provide the students with a comprehensive starting rulebook for engineering dimensioning.
- Conducted team sessions for the midterm and final robotics project guiding students through the engineering design cycle and helped in C++ coding for the Mindstorms/Claw bots. Marked the projects according to the teams completion of project scope. -
Dec 2021 - April 2022 Software Engineer
Stackpole International
- Collaborated with the quality specialists and manufacturing team to design a "CMM measure" program in Anaconda Python capable of extracting data from the CMM machine and running calculations to find percent deviation from tolerance. The program reduced the need for manual calculations thus speeding up faliure response by 22%.
- Developed a "Tool life tracker" program using Visual Basic, Auto-scheduler and Excel which logged real time tool usage for the 105 CNC machines on floor. The program created performance data for each machine increasing tool usage efficiency by 42%.
- Collaborated with the development team to design and create a new prototype transmission holder for deep washing manufactured parts.
- Kept all factory work instructions updated and created factory layouts in AutoCAD. -
April 2019 - June 2019 Drawing Assistant
Chitranjali Drawing Classes
- Assisting the teacher with drawing assignments and stocking drawing supplies for the junior batch.
- Managing scheduling of individual students and re-scheduling in the case of an absence.
- Helping the Academy with managing of "Summer Drawing Poster competition" -
June 2017 - April 2019 Lead Reporter and Editor For Monthly Magazine
Hutchings High School and Junior College
- Coordinated a team of 6 junior reporters, delegating individual responsibilities like taking photos of important events, documenting school competitions and writing relevant articles.
- In charge of writing and conducting interviews for the "On the know!!" section of the magazine which included life lessons from a prominent personality.
- Participated in bi-weekly meetings to decide the topic and theme of the next magazine issue, listening to reader's feedbacks and pitching ideas about possible improvements.
My Hobbies
A collage of all my hobbies!!
In the busy engineering schedule including projects, coursework and work experience, I have strived to take some time out for my hobbies.
In my spare time I love to grab some art supplies and paint my worries away. Here are some of my art pieces made over the years.
Bhatarnatyam is a classical dance of India involving telling a story through dance and music. As an avid reader I was drawn to this unique way of storytelling and acheived level 3 proficency in this art.
I am an avid reader and love to read any fantasy-fiction or biographies I can get my hands on!!. After through consideration for space I had to narrow my list of favourites to the ones shown here.