Engineering Experience
Hexagon Bio
2023 – Present
Sequence the earth
Cellares
2019-2022
Nick joined Cellares as the first employee after the co-founders, and helped develop the early intellectual property for the CellShuttle and its derivative systems.
As the company grew, his main responsibility was to lead the design, development, and n=1 experiments for the bioreactor system. He took the electro-mechanical instrument and complimentary plastic consumable through several iterations, including creating more than 20 custom injection molded parts.
During the initial stages of Covid-19, Nick offered his garage to initiate the first phase of hardware development to maintain company momentum.
Nick is proud of a device that he invented which enabled the team to grow extremely high cell density cultures.
Artveoli
2017
Artveoli was founded with the goal of providing visually appealing art which also served to improve the environment of its surroundings by using algae to convert carbon dioxide to oxygen.
Nick joined for a short time to help build out the system architecture, set up a prototyping lab, and test early design concepts.
Carbine Coffee Company
2015-2017
Nick helped to Co-Found a coffee roasting company in San Francisco initially called Carbine Coffee Company (and later “Roastery”).
The coffee roaster was a convection-style machine, which automated the process of coffee roasting such that anyone could turn inexpensive raw green coffee beans into high quality roasted coffee.
Nick developed the system architecture, design, and prototypes which integrated sensors and mechanisms to operate the machine and process the coffee beans.
One professional roaster who used the instrument described it functionally as “the porsche of roasters” and the prototypes were used to raise a large seed round of investment.
SolSource
2015
When SolSource approached Nick to help them they already had an existing product; a solar cooker designed to help communities located in remote mountainous regions generate heat for warm meals.
Although the initial product was good at doing what it was built for, and had gained some traction in these remote places, it was large and unwieldy. SolSource wanted to reach a larger market, and develop a version that was more consumer-focused for the modern world.
Nick designed, developed, and prototyped the first version of a more compact concept. The project was dropped at the time, but years later SolSource appeared on Shark Tank with a version that looked inspired by some of Nick’s ideas.
Apple
2012-2015
Nick joined Apple’s Antenna Design team for several years to gain experience within a large and successful company.
Initially his main responsibilities were primarily focused around supporting the prototyping needs of the antenna designers. Daily priorities included machining parts, developing prototypes, inspecting assemblies, and operating the lab’s machinery in service of the other engineers. The most interesting part of this was operating a CT machine to perform non-invasive inspections of prototypes.
Nick also did design work for the team, and took ownership of a handful of antenna test fixtures used on the assembly lines in China – requiring occasional trips abroad to iron out kinks during engineering builds.
Some of Nick’s contributions earned him a place on an important patent during the iPhone 6 days when cell phone antenna architecture made a significant progression with the development of the f-slot style antenna.
Ativa
2015
Nick joined Accel Biotech again for a period of time after working at Apple. During this time his main contribution was to develop the architecture of a card-loading mechanism for a microfluidics chip.
The mechanism ultimately used a solenoid and stepper motors with lead-screws and belt-and-pulley systems to produce a pleasant user experience. Once the instrument detected the card was inserted to the machine by the user, the mechanism would grab the card out of the user’s hand, pull it into the machine, clamp it, and engage the card’s fluidic ports and actuators.
The project met tight deadlines and design requirements to integrate seamlessly back into the rest of the instrument.
Zyomyx
2011
Nick was the primary designer of the initial prototypes of a fully mechanical centrifuge requested by Zyomyx.
Zyomyx developed a plastic consumable cartridge, shaped like a large vial, which was able to do an important blood test using only a centrifuge. They wanted to take the technology to Africa, so they required a centrifuge that was devoid of any type of electronics.
Using constant force springs and a gear system, Nick designed a centrifuge that was able to produce a constant centrifuge speed for a target amount of time. The system had several mechanical interlocks and a brake to ensure it was used correctly, as well as an adjustable speed control system in order to provide the required process parameters.
The prototypes were used successfully in Africa, and led to a successful fundraising round by Zyomyx.
Douglas Scientific
2011
This quick and fun project for Douglas Scientific was relatively straightforward from a mechanical perspective.
The instrument is a barcode scanner which is able to identify fluorescent barcodes that have been tagged cells. It involves splitting a path of light into several different images using dichroic mirrors, then analyzing the images, and quickly repeating the process.
The project involved directing the image through three equivalent-length pathways and capturing the images, on a platform capable of articulating quickly.
Nick was able to design, CNC machine, prototype, test, and deliver the project within a short period of time. Ultimately the project became the Araya instrument.
Tecan
2011
Nick developed a series of prototypes for Tecan ranging from a vacuum pumps to microfluidics test fixtures, but the most important project that he championed was the development of a cartridge used for electrowetting experiments.
Electrowetting enabled scientists to manipulate samples within the cartridge, allowing them to mix compounds and study the reactions in a controlled way.
The cartridge that Nick designed from scratch, as well as one of the fluidic mechanisms enabling the process, earned Nick his first two patents, and led to successful electrowetting experiments and continuation of the technology in a manufacturing setting.
Gen-Probe
2010
Gen-Probe approached Accel Biotech for help getting a PCR machine project off the ground, which ultimately led to their Tigris instrument
Nick’s initial work was to help Gen-Probe’s team nail down an architecture and process that enabled automation throughout the PCR processing.
Machined prototypes enabled conceptual understanding, and ultimately we developed a Cap and Vial system that enabled aspirating, manipulating, and transporting samples around the instrument in an optimal fashion.
Additionally, Nick had the opportunity to design and iterate his first set of injection molded parts, demonstrating an architecture ultimately was robust and enabled the machine to perform as required.
Molecular Sensing, Inc.
2010-2012
Nick’s first experience being the lead on a client’s project was with MSI, who were building back-scattering interferometers for performing molecular assays.
Initial responsibilities included upgrading the thermal control systems, as well as automating the system’s focusing mechanisms so that they could be optimized by a software algorithm to achieve clear images for analysis.
This included a tilt plate used to reflect the laser beam back off of a dichroic mirror before being directed at a camera, as well as a two-axis gantry that could locate the camera in an optimal position to capture the fringe patterns created by the reflected image.
The designs incorporated stepper motors, optical sensors, lead screws, belts and pulleys, and anti-backlash integration to control the focusing mechanisms of the system.
System thermal control led by FEA simulations and data collection over several iterations also enabled a more precise measurements of the molecular interactions occurring in the microfluidics chip.
After software integration, ultimately the customer described the system as “super-focused” enabling a level of assay analysis not yet observed.
DPSS Lasers
2010
Early in his professional experience, while working at Accel Biotech, Nick designed and built several motion control devices for Double Precision Solid State Lasers Company.
One device was a linear motion controller utilizing a lead screw, stepper motor, and optical flag.
The other device was a rotary motion controller utilizing a belt and pulley system, stepper motor, and optical flag.
The project involved design, prototyping, programming the rudimentary control system, and delivering and installing the system at DPSS.
Accel Biotech
2009 – 2012
Nick started his professional work experience at Accel Biotech, a small biotech consulting firm in Campbell, CA.
Here he developed his mechanical engineering design expertise in a professional setting using Solidworks CAD.
He also learned how to manage projects, clients, budgets, and deliverables.
Early work included detailing several three axis robot control systems used by clients in lab automation settings.
