Conceived and led the deployable Starlink satcom module for an unmanned underwater vehicle, built a 2,500 N thruster test rig through CDR, and architected the vehicle's HV power board and surface antenna system.
I worked across five subsystems of an ultra-long-range unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV).
Deployable Starlink module
Conceived and led the design of a module that lets the vehicle surface, lift a satellite antenna above the waves, and connect to Starlink, while surviving 300 m depth. I owned the requirements, standards selection, and integration test plan.
- RF window: wrote Python RF models to pick a ¼″ quartz window with under 0.3 dB of signal loss, and showed a 1–2 mm water film (14–19 dB) was the real threat, not the glass.
- Structure: caught that a standard flat radome would crack at depth (10–30× over the allowable stress) and redesigned it as a curved window in compression, with over 8× margin.
- Packaging: ran CFD on a parametric external fairing (about +20% drag), which drove the switch to an internally stowed module on a self-locking lead-screw lift, chosen from a trade study of ~8 mechanisms.
- Now: detailed design of the titanium pressure housing, window sealing, waterproof connectors, and quartz qualification.
Starlink water testing
Sole engineer on a field campaign testing whether Starlink works when water covers the antenna.
- Built a Python logger for 44 telemetry channels, and caught a measurement flaw that under-reported throughput 26×.
- Designed 3D-printed fixtures and a weight-based method to set water depth to 0.008 mm.
- Result: under 1 mm of water causes 82% packet loss, and 4 mm is a total outage, which turned the requirement into “water must shed immediately.”
Thruster dynamometer
Designed, procured, and built a 2,500 N / 160 N·m underwater thrust test stand through a passed Critical Design Review.
- Structural analysis across 10 failure modes, with every member at a factor of safety of 6 or more.
- Built a beam FEA model straight from CAD in Python when standard FEA couldn’t mesh the frame, then cut sway 85% with diagonal bracing.
- Linear rails instead of flexures, a submerged load cell, and corrosion protection between aluminum and stainless parts.
High-voltage power board
Architected the kW-scale power distribution board from a blank sheet.
- Converts a 108–151 V battery pack to an isolated 48 V bus, then to 24/12/5/3.3 V, cutting distribution losses about 16× versus 12 V.
- EV-style safety: service disconnect, pre-charge circuit, and battery-controlled, fail-safe start-up.
- Per-rail voltage and current monitoring to the flight computer, which sits on its own isolated supply.
Surface antenna system
Architected the RF front end for four links: 5G cellular, precision GPS, Iridium satellite, and Wi-Fi.
- Solved a ~150 dB interference problem between GPS and cellular with a dedicated GPS receiver, plus a notch filter against the vehicle’s own Iridium transmitter.
- Specified a radome that survives depth by embedding the antennas in solid foam.
- Delivered connectors, a three-unit build BOM, and a boat-based test plan.