Back to freelancer search

adamwlester

Neuroscience PhD | UBC SBME Postdoc | CAD • Robotics • Fabrication • Code

Vancouver, Canada

4.8 (1)

Global rank:

208 / 112,553

Skill pts: 213

Adobe Creative Suite Altium Designer Biomedical Engineering Laser Robotics

Get a quote

About

I develop complex ideas into buildable, working systems by bringing together design, electronics, code, and validation for a final system that works reliably and reproducibly.

Background
PhD neuroscientist and biomedical engineering postdoc at UBC’s School of Biomedical Engineering. My job is to design experiments, develop research instruments, and pair them with analysis pipelines for publications and open-source release. This same toolkit extends to non-research projects, including prototype mechanisms, instrumentation, and production-ready CAD.

Highlights
• Experience: 13 years designing and developing custom experimental equipment, including collaborations with industry partners.
• Design Portfolio: 3 complete behavioral systems with 10+ total instruments deployed.
• Methods Publications: 2 first-author peer-reviewed papers and 2 preprints detailing my systems.

Core Skills
• Design and Fabrication: SolidWorks CAD (assemblies, drawings, motion, rendering), DFM, jigs & fixtures, ECAD, wiring harnesses, soldering/rework, laser/waterjet, CNC mill/router, FDM/SLA 3D printing, manual mill/lathe
• Control and Robotics: embedded systems; closed-loop control; motion control; embedded C/C++, Python, ROS, AVR/ARM MCUs, Raspberry Pi, I2C/UART/SPI/EtherCAT, DC/Stepper/Servo, GRBL, timing/TTL syn.

Approach
My approach to design is grounded in practicality: tailor designs to the fabrication methods available and sufficient to make them. I enjoy working with both technical and non-technical creators alike. Whether you need a rough concept 3D model based on a back-of-the-envelope sketch or a full parameter-driven multi-component, multi-material mechanical assembly, I’m here to help translate your idea into a real, buildable product.

Portfolio

Experience

Postdoctoral Research Fellow School of Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia · Full-time Sep 2021 – Present 4 yrs 2 mos Vancouver, BC, Canada Led design and deployment of four open-source systems and instruments across two labs and six studies, with one instrument methods paper in press and three in preparation.

Design and Development Work
• Omniroute Maze System (see Portfolio): Conceived the system; mechanical and electrical build; ROS control, GUI, and firmware; validation and SOPs; methods preprint (bioRxiv, 2025; see Portfolio).
• NC4touch Apparatus (see Portfolio): Mechanical architecture and fabrication; hardware validation; assembly instructions and SOPs; system preprint (bioRxiv, 2025).
• NC4gate Modular Gate System: Compact, high-duty-cycle gate units; custom motor-driver and I/O expander PCBs; GUI and API; methods paper accepted (eNeuro, Sep 2025).
• Silicon-Probe Microdrive Housing (see Portfolio): Custom NanoDrive-based implant (~250 μm per turn, ~6 mm implemented travel); compatible with Cambridge NeuroTech probes and SpikeGadgets 128-channel headstage.
• Track-mounted feeder cart (see Portfolio): Circular-track cart with a servo-gated feeder port and sliding overhead tether guide; active in the VR Dome apparatus.
• Startup: Co-founding a UBC campus-based venture to manufacture, kit, and support NC4 Lab open-source behavioral neuroscience equipment, with public CAD and BOM releases and paid fabrication, QA, and service.
Postdoctoral Research Associate Arizona Research Lab, University of Arizona · Full-time May 2019 – Sep 2021 2 yrs 4 mos Tucson, AZ, United States Advanced and published experiments using the Instantaneous Cue Rotation (ICR) augmented-reality behavioral system I developed in my PhD; designed new implant hardware and analysis pipelines.

Design and Development Work
• Dual-Bundle Electrode Drive (see Portfolio): Designed and validated the drive featuring two screw-adjustable, independently controlled 9-tetrode bundles, a weighted resting cap, and a separate runtime cover with an LED tracking diffuser; validated across nine implants in two studies; still in use.
• Integrated the electrophysiology workflow for the Instantaneous Cue Rotation (ICR) Arena (see Portfolio), aligning behavioral, cue, and neural streams for analysis and publication.

Education

University of Arizona PhD, Neuroscience, null 2013 – 2019 Activities and Societies: null Developed the ICR system and the related mobile feeder robot, both published in the thesis and an accompanying peer-reviewed methods paper; paired with synchronized data pipelines and analysis to link behavior and neural activity.

Design and Development Work
• Instantaneous Cue Rotation (ICR) Arena (see Portfolio): A 1.4 m augmented-reality circular-track arena with 360° projected cues, integrated electrophysiology, reward delivery, and video tracking.
• Wireless Mobile Feeder Robot (see Portfolio): Wireless cart subsystem for the ICR that tracks the rat and delivers liquid reward via a retractable dish; integrated track cleaning to minimize odor and visual cues.
• Role: Conceived, implemented, and published the ICR task; developed the ICR system end to end across mechanical CAD, software and firmware (MATLAB, C#, embedded C/C++), and analysis workflow.
• Internship: Computational modeling internship at Hughes Research Laboratories (HRL); designed and tested models in the Emergent platform using the Qt GUI and custom C++ scripts; performed analyses in MATLAB; produced one first-author peer-reviewed conference proceeding.