Jibrail Bhagwandass

Designed, simulated, and manufactured structural components for the 2023 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge — a 3,000 km race across Australia. Achieved ~15% weight reduction through topology optimization and CFRP/aluminum honeycomb material selection. Validated stress, deflection, fatigue life, and vibration modes via ANSYS and SOLIDWORKS FEA.

Designed compact PCB layouts that reduced board footprint ~20%, optimizing for thermal dissipation, EMI shielding, and signal integrity. Routed power, sensor, and communication subsystems for a multi-terrain rover competing in the Canadian International Rover Challenge. Improved rover centre-of-gravity through electronics package miniaturization.

Led 20+ members through a full design‑build‑test cycle in 6 weeks — mechanical, electrical, and software sub-teams. Implemented PID-tuned drivetrain control and an impact-rated chassis. Finished 69th of 191 countries (top 36%) and won the Safety Award, outperforming teams with significantly larger budgets.

Engineered an Arduino-based rover with ultrasonic/IR sensor fusion and a custom C++ pathfinding algorithm for fully autonomous navigation. Tuned PID differential-drive steering for consistent maze completion in under 90 seconds. Iterated through 3 chassis designs using 3D printing in under 2 weeks.

Redesigned a portable fire-suppression system for pickup-truck mounting for humanitarian NGO Global Medic. Applied materials-selection methodology to cut weight while maintaining pressure-vessel safety requirements. Validated structural integrity under dynamic off-road transport loading via ANSYS FEA simulation.

Designed and built a personal CNC machine from scratch. Modelled the full assembly in SOLIDWORKS, selecting linear rails, lead screws, stepper motors, and structural members to balance rigidity and cost. Hands-on fabrication and tuning of the motion system.

Performed mechanical characterization of ophthalmic biomaterials — PMMA, hydrophobic acrylic, and hydrophilic acrylic — under compression loading. Measured force-displacement response across multiple trials to compare stiffness and failure behaviour of IOL candidates for implant design.