The path – and what came out of it
Less CV, more workshop logbook: for each stage, the projects from which I really learned something.
My first own website
Around my five months as an exchange student, I built an information website with the Jimdo website builder and filled it with lots of my own content – for everyone who was planning the same thing and faced the same questions. My first experience of organising knowledge so that others can make use of it.
Precision mechanic
Training at the workbench: turning, milling, filing, fits, metrology. Besides the training pieces, I was allowed to build devices that were then actually used in research – one-off pieces for which there was nothing to buy.
Four-stroke engine
A working combustion engine, made entirely by myself.
Stirling engines
Quite a few of them – heat in, motion out, without any combustion in the cylinder.
Cockroach running tracks
Experimental set-ups for observing running behaviour – for the Biocenter.
Mouse treadmills
Treadmills for laboratory animals, designed for even running and quiet operation.
From workpiece to system
Started at TH Köln in Gummersbach, switched to the Rheinische Fachhochschule after two semesters and completed my bachelor’s degree there in 2023. During my studies, software was added to design – above all image processing and robotics. The projects I learned the most from:
Stereoscopy with two cameras
Spatial vision with OpenCV: determining the position of an object as a vector from two camera images – calibration, triangulation, evaluation.
Object detection with YOLOv3
Neural object detection with OpenCV and Darknet in Python – analysing images, finding objects, marking them, labelling them.
Bayonet quick-changer
Project work at igus: 3D-printed quick-change system for end effectors on low-cost robots – designed, printed, tested.
Training portal for the igus ReBeL
Bachelor’s thesis: a training programme for commissioning the ReBeL cobot – from the choice of kinematics and video modules to trials with real participants.
Working student and bachelor’s thesis
The transition from university to design engineering: first as a working student, then with my bachelor’s thesis at the same company. For the first time, components made not for an exam but for series production – with everything that comes with it: tolerances, manufacturability, costs, consultation with the people who later have to produce them.
The workshop at home
Whatever appeals to me is made at my own desk: first designed, then printed, then modified until it fits.
My own Bitcoin node
Understanding a network without a central authority: set up and ran my own node to validate the blockchain completely by myself.
Ahoj-Brause machine
Carnival project: a vending machine together with a matching costume.
Jetpack
Through carnival as Gyro Gearloose (Daniel Düsentrieb) – a costume with a back-mounted engine.
Reissdorf figure
A replica of the little figure from Rudolfplatz – designed and printed at home.
Road bike accessories
Mounts and charging stations for the Garmin RTL and directly on the bike.
Design Engineer Core Units
Design of core components for geared turbo compressors. The data for this runs through 3DEXPERIENCE and SAP R/3 – bills of materials, revision levels, releases. After all, a component is only finished when the paperwork behind it is right too. Alongside this, first software solutions were created within the team.
Engineer AI/ML · Predictive Maintenance & Condition Monitoring
The next step within the same company: machine learning on the operating data of machines in the field – predicting conditions before they turn into downtime.
Alongside my studies I worked continuously: in the family business, at the Cologne public health department and at Muskelkater Sport Köln. Only the stages where something technical stuck are listed here.
Always the same order
Understand how it works physically. Then build something that solves exactly this one task. Then keep improving it until it holds up in everyday use. One example: out of curiosity I built a measurement chain – ESP32 sensors on a motor, data via MQTT to a Raspberry Pi, an LSTM network for anomaly detection.
What I work with
Across the whole chain: from sheet metal to the browser.
Mechanical engineering
- Turbomachinery
- Aerodynamics
- Rotor dynamics
- Design
- Tolerances
- Precision engineering
Software
- Python
- C++
- Rust
- JavaScript
- PHP
- SQL
- HTML/CSS
- SVG
- Flask
Electronics & data
- ESP32
- Arduino
- Raspberry Pi
- MQTT
- InfluxDB
- Sensors
Machine learning
- PyTorch
- TensorFlow
- OpenCV
- LSTM
- Time series
- Anomaly detection
- Predictive maintenance
Manufacturing
- 3D printing
- Turning
- Milling
- Metrology
- Prototyping
CAD & 3D
- Inventor
- CATIA
- Creo
- Blender
PLM & ERP
- 3DEXPERIENCE
- SAP R/3
- Bills of materials
- Revision levels
Questions about one of the projects?
Via the contact form below or via LinkedIn – the detailed career history is there too.