As a Mechanical Engineer at GoldieBlox, I worked to conceptualize, test, refine, practice design for manufacturing, & deliver new products.

Accomplishments:
• As a member of the Product Team, completed & delivered the Invention Mansion, winner of the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award 2016.
• Prototyped concepts for potential lines and was a leader in the early development of the current product line.
• Prepared materials & moderated playtesting of prototypes & instructions. Incorporated learnings into product development.
• Utilized SolidWorks to create final CAD images for instructions. Oversaw Tech Art and layout creation with the Graphic Designer.
• Played a key role in the development of new QC standards and revisions to GB parts to ensure consistency and optimal usability. Made 3 trips to the factories in China & oversaw assembly & the QC process.

* Contributed to a full process-based life cycle analysis (LCA) of an attraction by developing expertise related to audio-animatronics. Leveraged LCA to identify opportunities to reduce environmental impact without impacting product quality.

* Created content for workshops instructing participants in principles of sustainable design and relating these concepts to their work. The goal of this work was to promote life cycle thinking and integrate sustainability more widely into the work process of Imagineers. Co-led the workshop held in September 2014.

* Contributed to the development of a Design for Environment principles database by identifying gaps in existing guidelines, bringing together resources from multiple disciplines, and supplementing with examples.

Assisted faculty in preparing and organizing course material and assignments. Guest lectured on the topic of “Connecting Design Fundamentals to Sustainability.” Provided guidance to student project teams as they completed their semester course projects.

2013 - 2014:
Research focus was in sustainable packaging working in collaboration with Method Products, PBC to investigate innovative options to source high quality recycled polypropylene, determine new end-of-life markets for polypropylene, and provide design and production recommendations to support Method’s sustainability goals.

2012 - 2013:
Conducted research on the social sustainability of products and production activity, including evaluation and reporting. Performed a comparative analysis of ISO 26000: Guidance on Social Responsibility, Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, and UNEP-SETAC’s Social Life Cycle Assessment Methodological Sheets in order to determine the similarities and differences of these three documents and their implications for social impact assessment. Evaluated the social impact assessment methodology utilized by the Sustainability Consortium (TSC) in order to provide guidance to the organization regarding opportunities for improvement. Furthered understanding of social responsibility efforts through involvement in the “Roundtable on Electronic Supply Chain Social Impact Assessment” workshop (Spring 2012) and TSC's Member Summits (Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013).

* Assisted in organizing the educational webcasts and participated as a panelist in the webcast held on August 29, 2013 titled "Creating Knowledge Workers for the Greener Product Marketplace Part 6: Teaching Sustainable Manufacturing at UC Berkeley." (http://www.sustainableminds.com/industry-blog/creating-knowledge-workers- greener-product-marketplace-part-6).

* SM Branded Data Program: Facilitated weekly meetings and conducted outreach to promote the program. Refined the three nonwovens SM example projects: a diaper, baby wipe, and surgical gown. Provided feedback in the development of marketing materials for the SM Branded Data Program.

* Contributed to and revised the Sustainable Minds Quick Start Guide for SM Release 3.0.

* Provided customer support and assistance to Sustainable Minds users.

Tufts Practicum Project:
* Served as the project coordinator for a student team participating in a practicum project with Sustainable Minds and Vers Audio. This included facilitating communication between all parties, scheduling meetings, organizing materials & deliverables related to the project, and actively participating in meetings.

Curriculum Development:
* Communicated with educators using Sustainable Minds in their courses. Acquired example curriculum from educators. Contributed to the Sustainable Minds blog with insights and trends from collecting curriculum.
* Assisted in organizing the educational webcast on August 28th.

INDA Greener Product Innovation Initiative:
* Conducted user research with INDA members.
* Exercised a supportive role to the project lead, providing research as needed to keep the project moving forward.

Sales:
* Participated in lead-generation activities to acquire new prospective customers. This included researching and identifying target prospects from a variety of sources.
* Engaged with educators and professionals looking to incorporate Sustainable Minds into their courses or projects. This includes participating in sales calls with prospective customers.

Business Development:
* Facilitated relationships with Sustainable Minds’ and other organizations
* Ensure Sustainable Minds’ presence in relevant organizations and conferences or workshops in line with Sustainable Minds’ mission

Community Development:
* Contributed to Sustainable Minds’ presence in social media and online communities

Conducted sustainable design literature review working with Lora Oehlberg, PhD student. Collected Design for Environment principles and clustered based on relevancy in different parts of the product life, cycle, and design process. Refined rubric for categorization of design projects based on level of sustainability emphasis. Assisted in the beginning development of a visualization tool to aid in the navigation of DfE principles. Refined rubric for categorization of design projects based on level of sustainability emphasis.

Continued development of sustainable housing design with the PPN. Facilitated in survey of current PPN homes and evaluation of retrofits. Investigated feasibility of renewable energy systems (geothermal, wind, solar, micro-hydro, rainwater catchment). Contributed to global information database and online network for those interested in sustainability (planetcares.org). Participated in a day-long design charrette in Ukiah with the PPN and students from Architecture 101. Aided in the establishment of PPN green building codes for indoor air quality and building materials. Participated in strawbale installation and plastering.

Created graphics for sustainable design proposals. Aided in the construction of a bamboo greenhouse. Performed an analysis on the sizing of a rain water catchment system for a school in Liberia. Conducted research in the development of public composting toilets for the Tenderloin in San Francisco.

Investigated the feasibility of wind turbine technology in developing affordable electricity generation and power storage solutions for off-grid use in developing countries. Aided in low fidelity prototyping of packaging and conducted initial user tests of the instruction manual for the ReadySet.

Acquired skills in the product development process while designing the next generation notebook. Interviewed 19 notebook users and developed first-generation prototypes.

Relevant Coursework: Sustainable Manufacturing, Sustainable Product Design, Technologies for Sustainable Societies, Needs and Usability Assessment, Qualitative Research Methods, Multimedia Narrative.

Expected Certificate: Engineering and Business for Sustainability (EBS)

Relevant Coursework: Engineering Design and Analysis, Engineering Design Graphics, Engineered Systems and Sustainability, Introduction to Product Design, Processing of Materials in Manufacturing, Mechatronics Design, Biomimicry: How Would Nature Do That?, Ecological Analysis, Sociology of Natural Resources

Summer Travel Study: Sustainable Cities of Northern Europe.

This course examined principles of sustainability as they apply to urban areas such as mixed use, brownfield development, bicycle friendly urbanism, alternative energy sources and energy efficiency, recycling, reuse and reduction in solid waste, and innovations in heating and cooling at the district scale.