TempAccess was a side company that I created with the purpose of providing temporary login credentials to any site. In my original implementation I created web-app for users to store their passwords and the associated url and TempAccess would generate a 'proxy' password. They could then give this proxy password to a contractor, friend, employee, etc. who could navigate to the url and use the TempAccess chrome extension to log in using the proxy password instead of the real one.
SideQuest is an app for self-guided mystery walking tours. I started this company in 2022 after a trip to Bath, UK which was a beautiful city but I had no clue what to do with my time. The concept I came up with was an informative way to see the city - SideQuest tours. Each tour has an associated story which integrates into the theme of the city. The story sets up a mystery to be solved and you have to solve riddles at each location along the way to solve the mystery. At each location it also provides information about the location.
Pandora's Box is an automated cocktail-pouring solution for the bar and restaurant industry. Myself and my business partner founded Pandora Robotics Inc. in July of 2020 after my roommate got fired from his bartending job due to Covid. After watching bars struggle with safety during the pandemic, we decided to invent a solution that would help bars pour drinks with little-to-no contact. Pandora's box is an elegant culmination of mechanical design, electrical engineering, and full stack development.
Having a background in both mechanical engineering and computer science was crucial for the development of this product. We have gone through 4 mechanical iterations and 3 software iterations. From CAD design, to part sourcing, to the creation of the tablet application, and now cloud deployment, this project has been a tremendous learning experience. Since wrapping up our 3rd prototype in April 2020, we have deployed the machine at a Boulder restaurant with an estimated monthly saving of around $1,500-$2,000 per month.
This is a continuous design effort and will require many grueling nights of product testing to get the product to the point I know it can be. This has also been an insightful experience from a business perspective for lean, startup-oriented development of a hardware product. I am excited to continue this work in my free time and continue on my personal innovation.
Hydroponics is a method of farming produce with no soil. The roots of plants are dangled into nutrient-rich water which is circulated through the farm and typically artificial light augments or replaces sunlight - which allows plants to be stacked vertically to save space. Hydroponics requires 1/10th the water of traditional farming, grows plants up to 200% faster, and is dramatically more space-efficient. My interest in hydroponic farming stems from our inability to feed the growing population of the world as well as the adverse effects of preservatives in the food industry.
My goal for this project was to create a hydroponics system that could be installed in homes. This requires a small system that produces a reasonable amount of plants and is attractive enough the customers would enjoy sharing their living space with the farm. To be space efficient I designed the system to be mounted to a wall and have plants stacked on top of one-another. Of course, this first design was just a prototype so it was built from PVC and a cooler that was in my closet. I do have plans to one day modularize the system and implement an aspect of automation to maintain nutrient levels and regulate pH without my intervention.
Our landlord's dismay aside, this project was a success and has led to a more sustainable eating style for myself and my roommate and I hope to one day continue work on this project to help others as well.