Luke F.

I am an Industrial Engineering student at Purdue University with hands-on engineering experience in SolidWorks CAD, mechanical design, manufacturing, prototyping, reverse engineering, testing, and process improvement. Much of my professional experience has been in aerospace and defense, where I have worked on projects requiring tight tolerances, detailed documentation, repeatable manufacturing, and compliance with strict specifications.

My strongest skill is taking a problem or concept and turning it into a practical design. I have experience creating 3D parts, complex assemblies, engineering drawings, exploded views, manufacturing fixtures, alignment tools, housings, and production equipment in SolidWorks. I have taken projects from initial measurements and concepts through CAD design, manufacturing, assembly, testing, and design revisions.

I also have significant experience with reverse engineering. I have reconstructed legacy aerospace and electronic components dating back to the 1940s and 1960s using physical parts and historical drawings, then redesigned components to work with modern manufacturing methods and off-the-shelf hardware. This work has required careful measurement, tolerance analysis, component selection, and an understanding of how individual parts interact within a complete assembly.

My manufacturing experience includes designing precision fixtures, press tooling, alignment systems, automated dispensing concepts, cutting systems, and assembly processes. One project involved developing tooling for electrical components requiring approximately 0.005 inch dimensional accuracy. Another involved redesigning a production operation to process 32 components simultaneously, significantly increasing potential throughput compared with processing components individually.

Beyond designing individual parts, I enjoy improving the entire manufacturing process. I have mapped production workflows, identified bottlenecks, divided projects into tasks and deadlines, and redesigned operations to reduce waiting, unnecessary handling, and opportunities for human error. I have also helped transition manufacturing processes from single-operator workflows into coordinated multi-station systems that allow multiple technicians to work efficiently.

My testing experience includes mechanical, electrical, RF, dimensional, and prototype testing. I have worked with RF electronics where manufactured boards were tuned and tested for parameters including voltage ratio, signal delay, and phase alignment. I have also supported prototype testing of aerospace and counter-UAS systems, giving me experience using test results to identify problems and improve designs rather than treating CAD and testing as separate stages.

I have produced technical and government engineering documentation for aerospace and defense projects, including manufacturing drawings, assembly documentation, wiring diagrams, process visualizations, and design standards. I understand the importance of making drawings not only dimensionally correct, but also clear enough that another engineer, machinist, or technician can reliably manufacture and assemble the design.

My primary skills include SolidWorks 3D modeling, mechanical and product design, engineering drawings, reverse engineering, design for manufacturing, precision fixtures and tooling, prototyping, manufacturing optimization, tolerance analysis, testing, and technical problem solving.

My Industrial Engineering education complements this practical experience with coursework in statics, manufacturing, data analysis, optimization, process design, and systems thinking. I particularly enjoy projects where mechanical design and manufacturing efficiency overlap, designing something that not only works but can also be produced accurately, reliably, and efficiently.

Whether a project involves creating a part from a sketch, converting an existing component into CAD, developing manufacturing drawings, designing an assembly, or improving a production process, my goal is to provide accurate and practical engineering work that can actually be built and used.