Paintball Turret
Personal Project: Mechatronics
A paintball turret with a pan-and-tilt mechanism, continuous 360-degree motion, and controlled firing. Through this project, I learned the basics of Arduino coding and CAD modeling.
PID Controlled Kiln
Personal Project: Thermal Systems
This project was intended to melt aluminum for at-home casting. The kiln was built from an electric oven and used a PID controller to toggle the heating elements through an SSR.
Solar Powered Kiln
Undergraduate Research Experience
This project explored using a Fresnel lens powered kiln as a lower-emission approach to firing clay. It combined thermal design, testing, and automated sun tracking.
Custom Engraved Pencil
Personal Project: Digital Fabrication
This pencil was custom engraved using an SVG of my dad’s handwriting. Two were made, with the original given as a gift to my friend. To complete this project, I designed and 3D-printed a jig to support the pencil in the laser engraver.
William Nixon
will.ra.nixon@gmail.com | (605) 484-3896 | www.linkedin.com/in/will-nixon11 | willnixon.me
Education
University of Denver
Expected May 2027
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering
GPA: 3.93/4.00
- Enrolled in the Honors program
- Initiated into Tau Beta Pi, an engineering honor society in Junior year (top ⅛ of the engineering class)
- Relevant coursework: Machine Design, Introduction to Aerospace, Machine Shop, Thermodynamics 1 and 2, Heat transfer, Biomedical Engineering, Intro to SolidWorks
Experience
Materials Engineering Intern, Hydrolyst - Rapid City, SD
June 2025 – Aug 2025
- Contributed to a provisional patent application for a crutch with a retractable tip with embedded metal spikes to reduce the occurrence of slipping on icy surfaces
- Designed and built automated roll-to-roll line for patented coating process which uses plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) and physical vapor deposition (PVD) coatings
- Tested lightweight metal / metal ceramic composite body armor systems with various ammunition calibers
Undergraduate Student Researcher, South Dakota Mines - Rapid City, SD
June 2024 – Aug 2024
- Constructed, tested and iterated a solar-powered kiln with a goal of 1,000 °C with the constraint of using a Fresnel lens
- Ran tests for peak temperature reaching an ultimate temperature of 669 °C
- Attempted to partially automate the firing process with use of an Arduino board and servo motor to track the sun
- Delivered a cumulative presentation and final report along with weekly updates
Landscaper and Laborer, Enviroscapes and Sunny Side Farms - Rapid City, SD
May 2023 – Aug 2023
- Trenched, installed, activated and repaired sprinkler systems
- Laid sod, planted and removed various plants and trees
- Performed hardscaping including brick pathways, concrete forming, rebar tying, and pours
- Fenced pasture for cattle and wired electric fencing
Projects
Paintball Turret
- Designed a pan-tilt assembly in CAD for 3D printing that uses stepper motors to aim the paintball gun and a solenoid to fire it.
- The mechanism was controlled by an Arduino Giga with code that took a user input from a joystick for positioning and firing.
- It's capable of continuous 360-degree rotation utilizing a slip ring and angles 30 degrees positive and negative.
PID controlled Kiln (second kiln)
- Converted an electric oven into a kiln by adding ceramic insulation, firebrick and refractory mortar; rewired all of the heating elements to optimize current draw (70 A limit)
- Controlled with a SSR (solid state relay) and PID (proportional-integral-derivative) controller with a thermocouple to control the temperature
- Intended to melt and cast aluminum using lost PLA casing and for powder coating metal parts
Custom Engraved Pencil
- Imported an SVG of cursive writing into Fusion to generate tool paths for a CNC Laser engraver to follow
- Modeled an adjustable jig to 3D-printed for the pencil
Skills
CAD/CAM: Proficient with Fusion, experience in SolidWorks
Technologies: Experience with Laser Engraver, 3D printer, Stick and MIG Welder, Arduino, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), experience with Microsoft Office suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote), MatLab
Languages: C++ and Python