MECHANICAL ENGINEERING / FALL 2026
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 ↓
Design Engineer Intern · Vermillion, SD · Summers 2024 & 2026
Designed the chassis and component layout for a vibrating-grizzly-feeder crushing plant, satisfying structural, customer, and DOT oversized-load requirements. The project contributed $1.2 million in additional quarterly sales.
Beam loading and chassis analysis, with a stated design safety factor of 2.5 and a 20 ksi stress limit.
Designed a foldable ship ladder for plant catwalks, improving operator access while meeting legal transport-width requirements. Assembly models and detail views show the folding mechanism and step geometry.
Component stress results and a mesh convergence comparison documenting changes in strain energy and maximum equivalent stress.
Bracket geometry, stress concentration reference, and the bending-force relationship used in the analysis.
Designed and released plant components for a new option-based OEM product line to meet customer requirements. The assembly model shows the integrated equipment layout.
Developed a product packet for a multipart warranty claim and redesigned components based on finite element analysis results. Assembly views, stress analysis, and component details document the warranty work.
Manufacturing Engineer Co-op · LaGrange, GA · January–August 2025
Completed Yellow Belt and Blue Belt improvement projects addressing maintenance safety and wire-tensioning reliability.
Identified and removed a severe burn-risk condition during asset maintenance.
Reduced average wire breakage from three incidents per month to zero, saving approximately $126K annually in downtime.
Redesigned the wire tensioning mechanism, reducing wire breakage from an average of three incidents per month to zero and saving approximately $126,000 annually in downtime costs. The Lean Six Sigma Blue Belt project is documented through hardware, installation photographs, and a component sketch.
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.
Ergonomics Lead · 2025–2026 / Brakes Lead · 2026–present
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.
Electromyography testing supported driver-fatigue evaluation. The 2026 study reports an overall average of 2.99% of maximum voluntary contraction and a maximum individual run of 7.40%.
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.
Leading brake-system design through analytical model verification and brake-check validation, custom rear-caliper design and manufacturing, and driver-fatigue testing with electromyography. The project targets a 30% cost reduction.
Mechanical engineering · South Dakota Mines
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.
Exploded and assembled CAD views, drawings, and a physical prototype document a compact wallet design.
Experimental position measurements and a differential-equation model compare damping across solutions. The final slide reports a percentage error of 4.51%.
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
B.S. in Mechanical Engineering
Minor in Systems Engineering
Expected May 2028 · GPA 3.1 / 4.0
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 using FEA results. Created models and manufacturing drawings for custom aggregate equipment.
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.
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.
Brakes Lead · 2026–present
Leading brake-system design, analytical verification, brake-check validation, custom rear-caliper development, and driver-fatigue testing. Targeting a 30% cost reduction.
Ergonomics Lead · 2025–2026
Led driver ergonomics, controls integration, and testing; earned a 9/10 ergonomics design score at the 2026 New York competition.
2025–present
Manage the 3D-printing and mechatronics lab space, supporting student prototyping and design iterations.
2023–present
Second-chair cellist and String Theory honors ensemble member.
Rylend Brunick