01 · MARS Research Lab · Purdue · ASME IDETC/CIE 2026
Portfolio · 2026
Craig Hillyer
I'm Craig Hillyer — a sophomore in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University with hands-on skills in CAD, CNC, PCB design and firmware.
3.77
Purdue GPA · Dean's List ×2
Spring 2029
Expected graduation
/ 01 — Projects
Projects
Mechanical, electrical and firmware projects from research, internships and personal builds.
02 · R&D Intern · Colex Finishing Solutions
SharpCut Auto Tool Changer
03 · R&D Intern · Colex Finishing Solutions
SharpCut Vacuum Box
04 · R&D Intern · Colex Finishing Solutions
SharpCut Tool Head
05 · Purdue · Manufacturing Training · Dec 2025 – May 2026
Bechtel Center Training
06 · Purdue Space Program
Active Controls Rocketry
07 · Mechanical Lead · High School FTC
Cosmic Goose — FTC Competition Robot
08 · Personal Project · PCB + Firmware
CAD Macro Pad
Education
Purdue University
Mechanical Engineering · West Lafayette, IN
Expected Graduation: Spring 2029
Dean's List Fall 2025 & Spring 2026 · 3.77 GPA
Glen Rock High School
Glen Rock, NJ · 2021 – 2025
High Honor Roll · 4.428 GPA
/ 02 — About
About me
Hello, my name is Craig. I use CAD, CAM and a range of technologies to build prototypes and products from concept to finished solutions.
CAD & CAM
SolidWorks, Siemens NX, Fusion 360, Inventor, Onshape, Teamcenter
Fabrication
CNC machining, FDM & LFS 3D printing, water jetting, laser & vinyl cutting, soldering
Electronics & Code
KiCad PCB design, microcontrollers, Python firmware, MATLAB
/ 03 — Experience
Experience
Undergraduate Researcher
MARS Research Lab — Purdue University
Oct 2025 – Present
Underwater Robot Project (Patent Pending)
Oct 2025 – Present
• Designed and fabricated the internal mechanical components of a 3.5 ft multimodal underwater robot, enabling buoyancy-driven vertical motion, wing-deployed gliding and thruster-driven straight-line propulsion
• Redesigned a structurally weak legacy internal frame in Fusion 360 into a rail-based modular architecture, allowing components to slide on and off for rapid module swaps, simplified maintenance and leak inspection
• Conducted pool testing and validation across all three locomotion modes, generating the technical documentation and visuals for the final paper
• Selected to present the paper as second author at the ASME IDETC/CIE 2026 conference in August 2026
6 DOF Underwater Robotic Arm Project
Mar 2026 – Present
• Lead design and development for a low-cost, predominantly 3D-printed 6-DOF underwater robotic arm rated to 300 m depth, defining project scope and technical direction from the ground up
• Outlined an OptiTrack motion-capture setup with a MATLAB conversion layer to capture millimeter-precision acceleration and deceleration data to quantitatively measure arm performance
• Scoped integration of imitation-learning-based control to enable autonomous manipulation in deep-sea applications
• Lead weekly meetings and give progress presentations to keep mechanical, electrical and software subteams aligned
Hardware Lead — NASA SUITS Challenge
Purdue SEARCH — Purdue University
Aug 2026 – Present
• Leading a 10-person hardware team building chest-mounted and wall-panel control units feeding a live data-stream pipeline for in-house testing of astronaut assistance software at Purdue
• Developing a wrist-mounted display housing and a backpack power/compute enclosure for onboard AI and displays
• Developing a low-light visibility lighting rig for astronauts for nighttime task simulations
Research & Development Intern
Colex Finishing Solutions — Oakland, NJ
May 2025 – Aug 2026
• Led cost-benefit analysis and negotiated bringing 5-axis CNC lathe machining in-house, projecting ~$195,000 in annual savings, and spearheaded the proposal to the leadership board
• Designed a compact, multi-station tool-head assembly with an integrated router for Colex's next-generation flagship CNC machine — 3x faster Z-axis jump across a ~10,000-unit production run
• Introduced new manufacturing strategies and CNC tool-pathing approaches, increasing production output by ~50%
• Manufactured and toleranced parts, authored data sheets, and programmed Haas CNC machines for live production
• Designed the company's first custom circuit board — a higher-power, tightly integrated LED solution for the recognition camera
• Conducted market research and cost comparisons against predecessor components to shape the tool head's design
Active Controls — Purdue Space Program
Purdue University
Aug 2025 – Present
• Designed and executed 3-axis and 5-axis CNC toolpaths for high-tolerance rocketry components
Machine Shop Training
Bechtel Innovation Design Center — Purdue University
Dec 2025 – May 2026
• Completed the full badge program, certifying proficiency across a wide range of manufacturing equipment
Gate Guard
Glen Rock Municipal Pool — Glen Rock, NJ
May 2022 – Sep 2024
• Assisted with equipment maintenance and repair, including pool filtration system support
• Scanned memberships and provided customer service to keep daily operations running smoothly
Robotics Team Captain
Glen Rock High School
2021 – 2025
• Led mechanical design and manufacturing of competition robots
• Created CNC toolpaths, oversaw fabrication, and guided members in CAD and prototyping
• Managed a $10,000+ yearly operating budget for the team
• Ran a summer CAD camp to teach younger members the basics of CAD
Technical Theater Manager
Glen Rock High School
2021 – 2025
• Designed, rigged and programmed lighting and sound systems for multiple productions
• Managed production crews and technical equipment for high school and middle school shows
/ 04 — Videos
Videos
Project build videos and demos.
Multimodal underwater robot build
Underwater Robot Project News Appearance on WLFI 18