Mechanical Engineering · University of Illinois

Defined by Design

I'm a first-year mechanical engineering student at the University of Illinois. I spent four years designing competition robots on a FIRST Tech Challenge team, and independently designed and machined a custom swerve drivetrain.

IN @ CV
acf9@illinois.edu

Project Experience

CAD render of the custom billet swerve drivetrain

Independent · Design + Fabrication

Custom Billet Swerve Drivetrain

A custom swerve drivetrain I designed and machined for FIRST Tech Challenge. I open-sourced the full design and gave a complete build to another FTC team.

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CAD render of the auto-aiming ball launcher

FTC 11166 · Turret + hood

Auto-Aiming Ball Launcher

A launcher on a rotating turret with an auto-adjusting hood that automatically corrects and locks to any desired trajectory.

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CAD render of the double differential claw

FTC 11166 · 5 DOF

Double Differential Claw

A five-DOF arm transfer system built around a double claw system. The servos power both pitch and roll to maintain maximum actuation while keeping the wrist light.

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Experience

  • Accepted by application and interview to Illini HackerFab, a selective student group under Illini MicroTech; building a miniature spin coater to coat wafers evenly and consistently outside the cleanroom.
  • Enrolled in ME 199, the one-credit course attached to the group.
  • Lead a 12-person team designing a mechanical walker: setting the design scope and performance targets with Professor Yim, then the technical direction across the linkage, frame, and drivetrain sub-groups.
  • Evaluating leg linkage geometries (Jansen, Klann, single and double) against stride, clearance, and part count.
  • CAD and rules-compliance work (cockpit clearance, egress time) for the chassis ergonomics jig.
  • Led mechanical design of the team's competition robot across four seasons and two offseasons; the launcher and differential claw came out of these seasons.
  • Drove the robot in competition in the 2023–24 season.
  • Team reached the New Jersey state championship semifinals; Control Award (2023), 3rd for the Motivation Award (2024).
  • Volunteered for Every Child Valued and Princeton Nursery School.
  • Modeled the offseason REEFSCAPE robot and a spur differential gearbox with the design team.
  • 120 hours of robotics outreach.
  • Chosen as one of 24 high school students to participate in a competitive six-week summer program at a Navy research laboratory.
  • Worked on small underwater robotics builds with the engineering staff.
  • Qualified for the VEX IQ World Championship five consecutive times.
  • Placed 3rd in Teamwork Championship and 4th in Skills out of 800 qualifying teams; earned the Amaze Award in the Design Division.

Skills

What I work with

  • CAD
  • Mechanism design
  • Fabrication
  • Billet & composites
  • Python

Education

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
BS Mechanical Engineering, expected May 2030
GFX Research Scholar

The Lawrenceville School
Cum Laude · GPA 3.9 · May 2026

Outside engineering

  • Chess — USCF Expert (2000+), North American Scholastic Champion, 3× state champion. Illini Chess Club.
  • Varsity Crew (Coxswain) — 2× Mid-Atlantic Prep League champion.
© 2026 Andrew Friedman Back to top ↑