01.01
Mobile plant design
Designed the chassis and component layout for a mobile crushing plant, meeting structural, customer, and DOT oversized-load requirements. The project contributed $1.2M in additional quarterly sales.
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING / FALL 2026
Rylend
Brunick.
Design, analysis, and hands-on engineering.
Mechanical engineering student at South Dakota Mines, with a minor in Systems Engineering. Graduating May 2028.
Explore my work ↓
SOUTH DAKOTA MINESBaja SAE / 2026
AT A GLANCE
Impact
Results from internships, co-op work, and Baja SAE.
$1.2MAdditional quarterly sales from the crushing-plant chassis and component layoutMasaba · 2026$126K/yrDowntime saved by redesigning the wire tensioner, cutting breaks from 3 per month to 0. Also identified and removed a severe burn-risk condition during asset maintenanceKimberly-Clark · 20259/10Ergonomics design score at the 2026 New York competition; overall design tied 11th of 102 teamsBaja SAE · Ergonomics
01 / EXPERIENCE
Masaba
Design Engineer Intern · Vermillion, SD · Summers 2024 & 2026
01.02
Access platform and ladder
Designed a foldable ship ladder for plant catwalks to improve operator access while meeting legal transport-width requirements.
01.03
OEM plant integration
Designed and released plant components for a new OEM product line.
01.04
Warranty project
Developed a product packet for a multipart warranty claim and redesigned components.
02 / EXPERIENCE
Kimberly-Clark
Manufacturing Engineer Co-op · LaGrange, GA · January–August 2025
02.01
Lean Six Sigma projects
Earned Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt and Blue Belt certifications. The Yellow Belt project identified and removed a severe burn-risk condition during asset maintenance. The Blue Belt project is the wire tensioner redesign in 02.02.
02.02
Wire tensioner development
Traced recurring wire breaks on the LAG4 unwind cart to an over-constrained tensioner design that cyclically loaded the cylinder rod until it bent. Redesigned the tensioning mechanism, reducing wire breakage from an average of three incidents per month to zero and saving approximately $126,000 annually in downtime costs. Completed as a Lean Six Sigma Blue Belt project, documented through hardware, installation photographs, and a component sketch.
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02.03
Equipment labeling and robotic inspections
Managed and operated a new lamacoid engraver, trained employees, and supported a Lead Black Belt project to standardize durable equipment labeling. Created critical maintenance inspection documents and AutoCAD floor layouts for the Boston Dynamics Spot installation team, and used Orbit to adjust inspection routes.
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03 / EXPERIENCE
Baja SAE
Ergonomics Lead · 2025–2026 / Brakes Lead · 2026–present
03.01
Driver ergonomics
Led ergonomics for the South Dakota Mines Baja team in 2025–2026, earning a 9/10 ergonomics design score at the 2026 New York competition. Work covered driver fit, steering-wheel placement, seat design, and control integration. Testing documented a 20.36% torque improvement from steering-wheel placement and an in-car average of 35.23 ft·lb.
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03.02
Quantifying driver fatigue with EMG
Developed an innovative approach to fatigue quantification: measuring muscle voltage directly and correlating it to driver fatigue. Raw microvolt signals from Noraxon electromyography were processed and related to fatigue through Rohmert’s law, which links how long a muscle can sustain a load to the percentage of maximum voluntary contraction it requires. This set fatigue-based performance requirements for the driver cell. Under neutral driving conditions, in-car testing averaged 2.99% of maximum voluntary contraction, with a maximum individual run of 7.40%.
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03.03
Steering wheel and 4WD control analysis
Structural analysis of the steering wheel under driver torque and the four-wheel-drive control under actuation forces. The presented yield safety factors are 4.0 for the wheel and 1.76 for the control body.
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Brake-system development
As Brakes Lead, validated the weight-transfer and ground-traction model with wheel-force-transducer brake testing. The model matched measured data within 3.67%.
04 / ACADEMIC PROJECTS
School projects
Mechanical engineering · South Dakota Mines
04.01
Auto-Air
A team-designed face-tracking fan that directs airflow toward the user. The Fall 2025 ME-265 project includes concept development, 3D-printed prototypes, fluid simulation, and injection-molding analysis.
04.02
Wallet design and fabrication
Exploded and assembled CAD views, drawings, and a physical prototype document a compact wallet design.
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04.03
Damping experiment
Experimental position measurements and a differential-equation model compare damping across solutions. The reported percentage error was 4.51%.
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BACKGROUND & QUALIFICATIONS
Download résumé (PDF) ↓Résumé
Education
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
B.S. in Mechanical Engineering
Minor in Systems Engineering
Expected May 2028 · GPA 3.1 / 4.0
Professional experience
Masaba Manufacturing
Design Engineer Intern · Vermillion, SD
May–August 2026 & May–August 2024
2026: Designed a crushing-plant chassis and component layout, released OEM plant components, and developed a foldable ship ladder. The crushing-plant project contributed $1.2M in additional quarterly sales.
2024: Established a decal drawing and creation standard, developed a multipart warranty-claim product packet, and redesigned components. Created models and manufacturing drawings for custom aggregate equipment.
Kimberly-Clark
Manufacturing Engineer Co-op · LaGrange, GA
January–August 2025
Redesigned wire tensioning to eliminate recurring wire breaks and save approximately $126K annually in downtime. Completed Lean Six Sigma projects, standardized equipment labeling, and supported robotic maintenance inspections.
Kopetsky’s Ace Bike and Fitness
Sales Associate / Bicycle Mechanic · Yankton, SD
2021–2024
Sold more than 400 bicycles and completed over 600 repairs, matching customers with bikes based on fit and use. Trek U Guide Level, SRAM, and Shimano certified.
Campus involvement
Baja SAE · South Dakota Mines
Brakes Lead · 2026–present
Validated the weight-transfer and ground-traction model with wheel-force-transducer brake testing; the model matched measured data within 3.67%.
Ergonomics Lead · 2025–2026
Led driver ergonomics, controls integration, and testing; earned a 9/10 ergonomics design score at the 2026 New York competition. Developed a method to correlate electromyography muscle voltage to driver fatigue using Rohmert’s law, setting fatigue-based performance requirements.
Rapid Prototyping Mentor
2025–present
Manage the 3D-printing and mechatronics lab space, supporting student prototyping and design iterations.
University Orchestra
2023–present
Second-chair cellist and String Theory honors ensemble member.
Engineering tools
- CAD
- SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor with Vault / iLogic, AutoCAD
- Analysis & simulation
- Ansys FEA / Fluids, SolidWorks FEA, Inventor FEA, MATLAB, BeamPro
- Data & instrumentation
- Excel, PI Vision, Boston Dynamics Orbit, Noraxon electromyography
- Manufacturing & prototyping
- Torch Mate, Engrave Lab, Orca Slicer, Prusa Slicer, Fusion 360
- Engineering methods
- Verification and validation, requirements development, project management, prototyping, FEA, CFD, analytical and numerical methods, beam analysis, FMEA, Lean Six Sigma, human-centered design
GET IN TOUCH
Contact
Rylend Brunick