Projects

Capstone: Multi-Position Mountain Bike Stem Utilizing Raised Reversed Geometry

This project started as my senior capstone and has now turned into a business venture, RAIZE Industries. This idea was sparked after seeing reviews of the 150mm Raised Reverse stem from Be More Bikes. The consensus was that it's great for descending, but on longer rides where climbing was required, it lacked because of its extreme geometry. In the review by Berm Peak, there was an offhand comment about making a stem that has adjustable geometry to combat this, and that sparked this project.

My stem has a 2-position design that can be adjusted at the push of a button. There is a more aggressive upper position for descending on fast trails and conquering aggressive terrain, and a lower, more relaxed position for climbing, where you need to maximize your power output.

Raised reverse geometry offers significant handling advantages by putting the rider's hands behind the headset, moving from a traditional pushing stabilization to a pulling stabilization more akin to a motocross bike. Additionally, by moving the bars back, the hand arc moves closer to the contact patch of the tire, further improving stability. The higher, closer bar position also aids better body geometry, allowing the rider to have more mobility on the bike and to corner faster through better side knob engagement.

I started this as a capstone project and it has now evolved into my startup RAIZE Industries, this was possible through the SOIS Gap Year Fellowship and SOIS Gap Year Enhancement Award. I am currently working to get a working prototype out with hopes to have a full product launch in summer of 2027

My 1999 Jeep Cherokee Reyna

I bought Reyna in the fall of 2020 down in TN as my first car and have been driving her ever since. I do all of my own maintenance and have made a considerable amount of modifications, the most notable being a 3" lift and 31" tires. Owning Reyna has taught me a lot about how to work on cars, a lot through trial and error but also through the mentorship of friends and a considerable amount of YouTube tutorials.

RIT Tech Crew
Podium Seal Mount Upgrades

Our podium seal hangers at work were starting to show their age, given they were made in 2004. I had finally gotten tired of them slowly falling apart, so I took it upon myself to model and then 3D print a new, much more streamlined version. This is one of many small projects I've undertaken at work to improve life on the job.

RIT Tech Crew
Podium Shock Mounts

Our nicer podiums at RIT Tech Crew that gets used during Commencement had no microphone shock mounts. This was leading to the microphones picking up the noise of people touching the podium which can be quite jarring in a large arena. I remedied this by designing and printing housings so that Shure shock mounts could be fitted to the podium. They were printed with Wood PLA and then finished with Polyurethane So far the design has held up very well and signifacantly reduced podium noise.

More pics coming soon...

Live Production Workbox

A staple of the jobsite in the live production world is the Pelican case workbox. I ended up finding a used case for $25 on Facebook Marketplace and decided to build it out with dividers myself. I used corrugated plastic, EVA foam and 3d printed joining pins to construct my divider pins and it has held up great and been a helpful addition to my life on and off the clock.

Poppop's Fix It Kit

My grandpa has always been one of my biggest role models growing up. He taught me the ways of what he likes to call "Yankee Ingenuity" the process of fixing things in unorthodox ways, often involving duck tape and WD-40. Come Christmas time this idea was born and he absolutely loved it. Its one of the simpler things I have designed and 3D printed but it also is one of the projects that meant the most for me to make.

Personal Gig PA System

Shortly after joining RIT Tech Crew I started building out a personal gig system. After years of repetitive iterations its at a point where I can comfortably run small shows and events. As it stands the system consists of 2x 15" Yamaha highs and 1x 18" JBL subwoofer run off a rack with 2 Crown XTI series amps with onboard DSPs, 2 channels of compressor and 2ch of graphic EQ. This is the setup that I have been using to run my side business "The Underground Wedding DJs" providing sound to events in the Rochester area.

Deej Open Source PC Fader Box

An open source project discovered through a Linus Tech Tips video, this was one of my first projects involving an Arduino. I designed the enclosure based on my personal needs, and the fader caps are based on an old Allen & Heath design. The internals are rather basic, consisting of 5 10k ohm resistance linear faders and an Arduino Nano with the code flashed onto it. It ended up being a really fun project that helped build my rapid prototyping and fine soldering skills.

Homemade Longboard

This was one of my pandemic projects. I decided that it would be cool to build instead of buy a longboard. I constructed a jig to give the board the arc and concavity required for rigidity, and then laminated sheets of 1/8" Maple plywood together to create a blank. Then I came up with a pattern based off a Landyachtz design and cut the blank to shape on a bandsaw. After some sanding I used some darker stain to give the wood more color and finished it with spray on spar urethane. I still have the board and I used it a ton my 1st and 2nd year of collage to get around campus.