So how did I get here?

I graduated from Cal Poly in 1998 with dual degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering. I was part of the Cal Poly HPV team in 1994 and 1997-98. My senior project was the design and fabrication of the composite fairing for the Prestissimo bike.  So I present some of  the work I did. After working on the 1994 team and spending all that  time helping to build a plug I asked myself what if we machined the molds directly without the need for a plug in the first place? So my idea was born. I turned it into my senior project. I did some research on bodies of revolution to come up with a fairing design. I machined scale models of the fairing molds as a proof of concept. This was fun work. I learned how to operate the Fadal VMC that the manufacturing department had. 

Machining of the Ren-Shape scale mold.

Both Re-Shape scale molds

There was just one problem. How was I going to get full scale molds machined? At that time Cal Poly didn't have a mill large enough to machine such large pieces of foam. Well, HPV guru, George Leone, suggested that we contact Scaled Composites in Mojave, CA. One of George's friends worked there. So through George's contact I wrote a letter asking Scaled Composites if they would be willing to machine our molds. And they said yes! That was a major coup for the Cal Poly team. As you can see the foam molds came out really nice.

The right side full size foam mold!

I couldn't believe that my project was becoming "real"!

Now the real work started as we prepared the molds for the wet layup process. We spent quite a bit of time working on the molds. I have fond memories of spending many hours in George's barn on cold and rainy nights! It was a blast, really.

Sealing the mold surface with polyester resin.

Applying Duratec primer to the mold surface. 

Getting ready to do the wet layup!

This was the very first part we pulled out. Success!I learned quite a bit about composites building this fairing.

First composite part made is a success!

The fairing is coming to life.

I was happy how well the fairing came out. 

Here are some photos at the 1998 ASME Collegiate HPV championships. We did quite well. San Joaquin Delta College also did well. I liked their fairing but their bike was very unstable.

At the 1998 ASME Collegiate HPV Championships on Denver, CO.

The winning bike and the Cal Poly HPV Team.