I am a trans woman with a PhD in nanoscale science and a career as a scientific instrument designer, here to share practical expertise, rapid-prototyping tricks, crafty engineering hacks, and time‑, energy‑, and money‑saving shortcuts. My mission is to create solutions with you without talking down to you. We want you to feel seen and heard and help you succeed.

What I offer

• Hands-on micro/nanotech insight: design choices that scale from benchtop builds to production instruments, with an eye for manufacturability, calibration, and maintenance.

• Rapid prototyping playbook: low-cost materials, 3D printing strategies, and microfabrication shortcuts that get your working hardware fast.

• Instrument design hacks: clever optical alignments, vibration isolation on a budget, thermal management without exotic parts, and modular control electronics.

• Measurement and metrology tips: how to reduce noise, reduce drift, and extract clean signals from messy experiments.

• Lab ergonomics & accessibility: designing tools and workflows that are inclusive and reduce cognitive/physical load, with low-cost adaptive fixtures.

Favorite tools & go-to materials

• Desktop FDM and resin 3D printers for fixtures, jigs, and optomechanical parts; use PETG or polycarbonate for higher temps, flexible filaments for compliant designs.

• Open‑source microcontrollers (Arduino, Teensy) and off‑the‑shelf DAC/ADC modules for custom instrument control; SMD soldering for compact boards.

• Commodity linear rails and stepper systems for precise motion at a fraction of custom stage cost when paired with careful backlash compensation.

• Thermal pads, Peltier modules, and PID controllers for tight temperature control without precision ovens.

• Vibration damping via layered materials: sorbothane/foam under rigid plates, tuned mass dampers for table‑scale resonance.

Design principles I use

• Keep the signal path short and simple: fewer connectors, shorter wires, fewer amplifiers = lower noise and fewer failure modes.

• Make alignment and calibration easy: incorporate mechanical stops, fiducials, and repeatable connectors so maintenance is fast.

• Modularity > monolith: design subsystems to be swapped or upgraded independently.

• Cost-aware substitution: know when a cheaper part plus calibration equals an expensive part out of the box.

• Document as you build: photos, versioned CAD, and simple build logs save weeks when debugging or handing off.

Why listen to me

• PhD-level training in nanoscale science combined with career experience designing real instruments that had to be built, calibrated, and shipped.

• A knack for fast, practical solutions that balance physics, engineering, and budgets — with a willingness to share craft‑level tricks most papers don’t cover.

Tell me what you’re building or what’s broken. Give me a short description, a budget range, and what tools you have access to, and I’ll sketch a practical plan you can start this week.