CUNY Research - 3D Printing With Geopolymers
During the summer of 2025, I was awarded a Certificate of Research Achievement from the New York City College of Technology (CUNY) for completing two research projects and presenting them at the 3rd Annual Celebrating Research Excellence Symposium. My research focused on developing geopolymer materials—an eco-friendly alternative to traditional concrete—and 3D printing them using a custom printer I designed and built. Through this project, I explored the chemical composition, curing process, and structural performance of geopolymer mixtures while also
engineering a printer capable of extruding the material with precision. This experience allowed me to combine my interests in additive manufacturing, materials science, and mechanical design, while gaining valuable hands-on experience in experimentation, data analysis, and professional research presentation.
NSF Advanced Manufacturing Summer Training Camp 2025
During my freshman year of college I was invited to be apart of the NSF Advanced Manufacturing Summer Training Camp. It lasted 5 weeks and during this time we became comfortable with using electron microscopes, CNC mills, 3D printers and CAD software's like solid works and inventor. Aside from hands on skills we were taught how to talk to people within the industry allowing us to get real world experience along with the skills to show businesses that we have these skills. I made a YouTube video each week explaining the work I did.
AutoCAD
During my freshman year of college, I was required to take two AutoCAD classes. These courses helped me become familiar with the software’s interface and workflow while working on 2D sketches and 3D models. I created detailed 2D drawings with proper dimensions and layers, and I also built 3D models using solid modeling tools. While I learned how to navigate and use AutoCAD more efficiently, I already understood the underlying concepts of drafting and modeling, so the classes mainly reinforced skills I had developed previously rather than teaching them from scratch.
MasterCAM
During my freshman year of college, I was required to take a Mastercam class. I came into the course with experience in CAD but no prior experience using CAM software. In this class, I learned how to translate CAD models into CNC toolpaths, set up 2D and 3D machining operations, and understand how feeds, speeds, and tool selection affect the final part. The course helped me connect my existing CAD knowledge to the manufacturing process by showing how digital designs are prepared and executed on CNC machines.
MATLAB
During my freshman year of college, I took a MATLAB class that introduced me to a new way of working with data and problem solving. Before this course, my only programming experience was basic Python, so MATLAB felt different in both structure and approach. I learned how to write scripts and functions, work with matrices and arrays, and use built-in tools to analyze data. I also created plots and visualizations to better understand results. This class expanded my programming skills beyond what I knew from Python and helped me see how coding can be applied to mathematical and engineering problems.