Mechanical Engineering / MIT '29

Hi, I'm
Jaiden.

I'm a mechanical engineering student at MIT. I like designing things, getting my hands on the tools to make them, and figuring out why the first version didn't quite work.

Lately that's meant building an emergency stretcher in South Africa, redesigning a charcoal press in D-Lab, and learning something new in the shop pretty much every week.

Take a look at my work
Jaiden using an angle grinder to fabricate a stretcher component at the Langa Bicycle Hub
Fabricating part of the bicycle stretcher in Cape Town, South Africa.

Things I've built.

A couple of my favorite projects, including the problems that took more than one try to solve.

Bicycle-linked medical stretcher developed and tested in Langa, Cape Town

01 / MIT D-Lab / Cape Town, South Africa

Bicycle-linked emergency stretcher

We spent two weeks working with the Langa Bicycle Hub on a way to transport people who can't easily get to a hospital. My biggest challenge was the connection between the bike and stretcher. It took a failed hitch design, a conversation with a local manufacturer, and plenty of road testing to get it right.

See the project
Welded metal charcoal press with a hydraulic bottle jack beneath the mold

02 / MIT D-Lab / Design & fabrication

16-briquette charcoal press

I designed this press in CAD, had the parts waterjet cut, and welded the frame together. The goal was to make 16 briquettes at a time without 16 separate molds. The surprising part was figuring out how to divide a wet, compressed block without destroying it.

See the project

A little more about me

I'm curious about how things work. I like being the one who gets to build them, too.

I'm a sophomore studying mechanical engineering at MIT, and I'm on the varsity football team. My favorite part of engineering has been realizing how much changes when you take a design out of the classroom and actually ask someone to use it.

I've worked in both a machine shop and on a construction site in New York City. Those were very different experiences, but both made me appreciate the details that turn a drawing into something real.

I'm still exploring where I want to take mechanical engineering. Right now, I'm especially interested in product design, manufacturing, and research and development.

A few other things.

Not everything I'm working on fits into a fabrication photo.

MIT UROP

Nuclear Effects Simulator

I work on an interactive tool for exploring blast effects, population exposure, and how different conditions change the results. It's taught me a lot about computational modeling and building software that people can actually use.

View the simulator
SUMMER INTERNSHIP

New Line Structures, NYC

I spent time on site and in the office, helping coordinate trades, reviewing drawings, tracking submittals, and learning what it takes to turn plans into a real building.

Thanks for taking a look. I'm always building or learning something new, so I'll keep adding projects as they come together.

Download my project PDF