My name is Nick Acuna and I am a mechanical engineering Masters student at Carnegie Mellon University. Starting my freshman year, I have worked on the Iris Lunar Rover program under Red Whittaker, of which I have led the mechanical team for three years. This has a been a baptism by fire.
Hard-work is deeply engrained within the culture here at CMU. This has made it easier for me to find like-minded people who are passionate and willingly spend their weekends and nights studying or tinkering in the lab. I have pushed hard to design, build, and test what is hoped to be the first commercial and lightest-ever planetary rover in history. It has required creativity and dedication to meet our deadlines, and it has taken grit to raise the quality of our rookie team’s work to meet the high standards of the aerospace industry. Leading this team has shown me the importance of effective teamwork and has given me countless practical skills that I will use for the rest of my career.
As the mechanical lead, any structural, thermal, or functional failure would be my responsibility. It has taken many personal sacrifices to ensure that we meet or exceed all requirements of the mission and all external requirements that allow us to be accepted as a payload. I have found this challenge to be highly rewarding
My coursework and research experience has given me a glimpse at a variety of disciplines and subjects; I have found a great curiosity and passion for aerospace engineering, robotics, structural analysis and simulation, dynamic controls and simulation, and other deeply technical fields. It’s my goal to learn as much as I can about these fields through my studies and hands-on work experience.
Beyond wanting to round out my general engineering abilities, I want to begin my journey towards technical expertise as aggressively as possible. I am willing to pursue any full-time position that will add-to or sharpen my skillset in my pursuit of trying to become the best engineer I can be.