Check what the sensor is actually reading.
Thermogate’s thermistor was picking up heat inside its enclosure. Moving it outboard helped it measure the surrounding air.
Mechanical Engineering at BYU–Idaho · CSWP Certified
Curious about how things work. Driven to make them better.
I’m Ankit, a mechanical engineering student with experience in CAD, fabrication, and hardware integration. My work spans machined parts, working mechanisms, Arduino controls, and manufacturing documentation.
Graduating December 2026 · Available January 2027 · Open to relocation
ObserveDiagnoseModelBuildVerifyDocument
References
What people say.
Feedback from people I’ve worked with on the plant floor, in the classroom, and beyond.
Ankit is someone you trust with your challenging projects. He is very independent and if he doesn’t know something he will learn it and give you a great solution.
Robert Holgate, Ph.D.Mechanical Engineering Faculty, BYU–IdahoAnkit played a key role in replacing our outdated TWI documents with operator-validated SOPs, and by the end of his internship, I trusted him to help onboard the next intern and carry the project forward with minimal direction.
Victor ZamoraContinuous Improvement Manager, Basic American FoodsI have been consistently impressed by Ankit’s ability to tackle challenging technical projects. I have observed his skill in programming control strategies to balance inverted-pendulum robots, and I’ve seen him develop machine-learning algorithms to model motor behavior. His intellectual curiosity, combined with strong critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, makes him an excellent engineer.
Ben PenceMechanical & Civil Engineering Faculty, BYU–IdahoAnkit has been working as a Teaching Assistant for me over the past year. He has done an excellent job in all aspects of the work! He gets things done efficiently and on time. He does a great job interacting with the students in the classroom and answering all of their questions.
Stephen TurcottePhysics Department Faculty, BYU–IdahoAnkit is curious about everything, even stuff outside engineering. He showed me how an engineer tackles a problem: change one variable, test it, keep what works. I started running my sales process the same way. It made me a lot more deliberate. He’s sharp, he actually listens, and he’s always got an idea worth trying.
Prabesh GuragainSales Manager, Land Rover San FranciscoSelected projects
Turning ideas into working solutions.
These projects show what I designed, how I built it, and what changed after testing.
01 / Sensors, Controls & Mechanical Design
Thermogate
I designed and built an Arduino vent system, then corrected a sensor-placement problem during testing.ArduinoSolidWorksThermistorControls
±2 °C on 90% of 120+ runs
02 / Gear Design, Fabrication & Assembly
4:1 Planetary Gearbox
I modeled and built a gearbox with printed gears and an acrylic housing, correcting fastener clearance after assembly.SolidWorksGears3D printingLaser cutting
4:1 gear reduction
03 / Mechanism Design & Analysis · Team Project
Briefcase Rat Trap
A team-built electronic trap. I modeled the case and mechanism, evaluated the actuator with FEA, and tested release cycles.Product designMechanismsElectronicsBOM
15-part assembly, 40% under budget
Currently building.
INL Hydropower-Battery Display
ME 490 capstone: a portable tabletop display for Idaho National Laboratory. I lead the design and manage the team’s $5,000 budget.
In progress
RotoMesh Vent Packing
ME 490 special problem: vent-filter research for a rotational molding supplier. I control how the media is packed and compare materials before and after molding.
Ongoing · Fall 2026More from the shop.
Hanger — CAD to Part
A SolidWorks model carried through machining and physical inspection.
0.001 in tolerance
Sheet-Metal Mailbox
A fabrication project involving metal forming, fastening, and dimensional checks.
±1/32 in fabrication
FSAE Wheel & Suspension
Six months supporting the wheel and suspension build for San José State’s Formula SAE team.
6 months, wheel + suspension corner
Laser-Cut Steel Tiger
A SolidWorks pattern cut from quarter-inch steel and finished by hand.
0.25 in steel, hand-finishedExperience
Engineering on the plant floor, in the shop, and in the classroom.
More about my experience →
Basic American Foods · InternEngineering Intern, Continuous ImprovementWorked in continuous improvement and turned machine-floor knowledge into revision-controlled standard operating procedures.Apr–Sep 2026
ME 372 · BYU–IdahoCAD TutorSupported students in ME 372 as they developed their CAD skills.Jan–Apr 2026
Intro Physics · BYU–IdahoPhysics TA & GraderSupported introductory physics teaching and assessed student work.Jan–Apr 2026
E-Commerce VentureCo-Founder & Operations LeadCo-founded and ran a small business alongside my studies.2022–2025
How I work
Testing gives me the next design decision.
Building and testing show me where a design needs work. These are a few lessons I’ve carried into the next project.
Build early enough to find the fit problems.
My gearbox looked ready in CAD, but the screw heads interfered during assembly. A countersunk chamfer gave them the clearance they needed.
Compare the analysis with the hardware.
For the rat trap actuator, I used static FEA to evaluate loading, then cycled the mechanism more than 80 times to check its behavior.
Leave useful documentation behind.
During my internship, I wrote procedures that made machine-floor knowledge easier for the next person to use.
Engineering studies
Working through the calculations and tradeoffs.
Coursework in thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, and mechanical design gave me opportunities to investigate problems beyond the physical builds.
View engineering studies →ME-113 · ThermodynamicsWaste Heat Recovery from IndustryRead →ME 111 · Fluid DynamicsLaminar & Turbulent Flow StudyRead →ME 380 · Product DesignCPR PulseMate Device ProposalRead →Mechanical DesignElectronic Fin DesignRead →ME 370 · Machine DesignElastic Behaviour of Rigidly Constrained StructureRead →