Culturon Mechanical Engineering Internship
Executed the company’s first full-scale nanoparticle deposition map and presented contamination-prevention concepts to the scale-up team. Designed adhesive-free sampling racks for reactor-port insertion; prevention concepts remained unbuilt during my internship.
Scope & Contribution
I designed adhesive-free sample hardware, ran a full-scale deposition-mapping study, and presented a working hypothesis for particle contamination to the scale-up team. The findings informed component-level proposals for both pump ports and the chamber floor.
Project details are limited by a signed NDA; proprietary numerical results and design parameters cannot be disclosed.
Published analogue for system context, not Culturon’s proprietary reactor or a drawing I created. Figure 1 from Haidar et al., ACS Applied Nano Materials 5 (2022), 17576–17591. Reproduced unchanged under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
Deposition Mapping & Characterization
I planned and executed the company’s first full-scale nanoparticle deposition mapping across chamber locations and magnetic configurations.
Using SEM with ImageJ, Olympus DP74 optical microscopy, and direct visual evidence, I analyzed sample plates and racks to characterize deposition patterns, polarity-dependent accumulation, and asymmetric flow behavior. I used the observed polarity and spatial patterns to develop a working hypothesis for particle transport and deposition.
I presented the working hypothesis, supporting evidence, and resulting contamination-prevention concepts in a technical design review with internal technical leads and the scale-up team.
Sanitized from the elevation plan used during testing. Exact dimensions, proportions, ports, fixtures, and sampling coordinates are omitted under NDA.
Elevation-Based Deposition Mapping Plan
Particle-Contamination Mitigation Proposals
The deposition map and working hypothesis led to proposed geometry changes at the turbomolecular- and roughing-pump ports and the chamber floor, plus an electron-curtain concept.
- Used particle-inertia and Stokes-number analysis to assess whether particles would follow the flow around proposed port geometries.
- Proposed an electron-curtain concept using electromagnetic reasoning and permanent-magnet experiments; effectiveness remained untested.
- Mechanical integration, chamber geometry, and contamination-management considerations at both pump interfaces.
The contamination explanation remained a working hypothesis. I presented prevention concepts and prepared selected component designs for subsequent fabrication and testing; they were not built or validated during my internship.
Sample-Rack Design & Manufacturing Considerations
I designed three sheet-metal sampling-rack variants and deposition coupons in Onshape for adhesive-free mounting through reactor ports, supporting horizontal and vertical sampling.
I considered conductivity and streamlined geometry along the chamber walls so the samples could act as an analogue for part of the chamber wall.
- Bend reliefs, minimum flange dimensions, and fabrication tolerances.
- Port insertion and assembly clearances.
- Conductivity, wall geometry, and minimizing flow and field disturbance.
Functionally representative, not production geometry. Dimensions, proportions, arm lengths, bend radii, cutout profiles, mating interfaces, and chamber fit are intentionally changed or omitted.
NDA-Safe Two-View Sample-Rack Diagram