Mechanical Engineering Portfolio

Shing Kai Lai

Mechanical Engineer focused on robotics, additive manufacturing, and AI.

I design, build, program, and validate robotic manufacturing systems—from mechanical hardware and material processing to motion control and engineering validation.

View My Resume Explore My Work

Selected Project

Vibration-Assisted 3D Printing for In-Space Construction

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Research Assistant · Co-author

Large brick-like, cylindrical, and lattice granular structures produced by vibration-assisted 3D printing

Developed a vibration-assisted coaxial extrusion process for printing raw granular materials into large-scale structures. Controlled vibration regulates particle flow, a printable sheath stabilizes deposition, and post-print infiltration consolidates the porous preform.

Research output Co-authored “Vibrational 3D Printing of Granular Materials Toward In-Space Construction”, submitted to Advanced Materials.

19Outlets demonstrated

400 × 210 × 60 mmLarge-format structure

≈162 MPaMaximum reported compressive strength

My Contributions

From material preparation to robotic fabrication

Prepared epoxy-based printable materials using a Thinky ARV-310P planetary mixer, centrifuge, and pneumatic dispensing equipment.
Collaborated on a multi-outlet coaxial printhead using SolidWorks, SLA prototyping, and CNC machining.
Generated MATLAB toolpaths and programmed a three-axis dispensing robot and a Rainbow Robotics RB16-900 six-axis robotic arm.
Supported large-format fabrication and evaluated printed composites using mechanical testing and X-ray micro-CT.

Hands-on Evidence

Built, programmed, and tested in the lab

These short demonstrations show the benchtop printing process, coordinate-driven robotic motion, and my direct work with the manufacturing platform.

Process demonstration Small-scale V3DP printing Benchtop proof-of-process showing the deposition of a multilayer granular structure.

Programming demonstration Coordinate-driven robotic motion The robotic arm executes programmed motion through user-defined coordinates, demonstrating path generation and robot control.

Shing Kai Lai working beside a Rainbow Robotics robotic arm in the manufacturing laboratory — Hands-on engineering **Direct system integration** Working directly with the Rainbow Robotics platform used in the large-scale manufacturing setup.

Diagram of vibration-assisted coaxial 3D printing and post-print infiltration of granular materials — **Process architecture**Granular feedstock preparation, vibration-controlled coaxial deposition, and post-print infiltration.

Robotic vibration module and coaxial extruder controlling granular flow inside a printhead — **Robotic extrusion system**The vibration module regulates granular flow while the coaxial sheath stabilizes deposition.

X-ray micro-CT reconstructions and compression test curves for infiltrated granular composites — **Engineering validation**X-ray micro-CT and compression testing quantify internal architecture and mechanical performance.

Printed granular structures designed for impact, thermal, and electromagnetic functions — **Functional structures**Different infiltrants enable impact resistance, thermal insulation, and electromagnetic shielding.

Robotics · Human–Machine Interface

Teleoperation of Dexterous Hand

NVIDIA Isaac Lab
Franka Panda · DexHand

I developed a real-time teleoperation workflow that translated natural hand motion into coordinated control of a simulated Franka Panda arm and multi-finger DexHand. The goal was to make dexterous manipulation tasks intuitive for a human operator and to capture demonstrations for future robot-learning workflows.

Senso DK3 haptic gloveRGB-D camera NVIDIA Isaac LabFranka Panda + DexHandPython

Annotated teleoperation setup with RGB-D camera, haptic glove, Windows processing computer, and Isaac Lab simulation — **Teleoperation hardware setup**The operator wears the haptic glove while an RGB-D camera observes global hand position and Isaac Lab renders the corresponding Franka-DexHand motion in real time.

Method

RGB-D vision and glove sensing combined

The RGB-D camera provided depth-based global hand position, while IMUs embedded in the haptic glove captured wrist and finger orientation. A Python pipeline fused the two inputs, converted them into arm pose and finger-joint commands, and streamed the commands to the Franka Panda and DexHand in Isaac Lab.

Control method combining RGB-D camera and haptic glove inputs to command a simulated Franka Panda and DexHand — RGB-D position + glove orientation → real-time dexterous-hand control

Achievement

Real-time human-to-robot task demonstration

I integrated the sensing and control components into a working teleoperation interface and demonstrated direct, real-time control of the virtual robotic arm and multi-finger hand. The result is best communicated through a short video showing the operator’s glove motion and the DexHand response side by side.

Mapped human wrist motion to the Franka arm pose.
Mapped glove finger sensing to individual DexHand joints.
Validated the interface through live manipulation-oriented hand motions.

Operator wearing a haptic glove while controlling the simulated dexterous robotic hand — Human input: haptic-glove motion

Simulated Franka Panda and DexHand responding to the operator's hand motion in Isaac Lab — Robot response: synchronized DexHand motion

Preview of the dexterous-hand teleoperation demonstration — Video demonstrationTeleoperation of Dexterous HandA full task demonstration video can be embedded here.

About

I build physical systems and make them work.

I am currently pursuing a Master of Mechanical Engineering at Rice University after earning my bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

My experience spans mechanical design, additive manufacturing, robotics, material characterization, and AI-driven engineering. I enjoy taking projects from CAD and experimental planning through fabrication, programming, troubleshooting, and testing.