Shane Morton

Engineering Projects

A brief overview of the engineering projects I have completed for coursework at CU Boulder.

To get a more detailed walkthrough, view the full portfolio as a PDF.

Engineering Portfolio (PDF)
Component Design Course Project — Drill Powered Vehicle _▢×
August 2026 – Present In progress Systems & Testing Engineer
CAD render of the full drill-powered vehicle assembly from the front, showing the frame, steering wheel, seat panel, and four wheels Rear axle assembly viewed from the drive side, with the chain ring, pillow-block bearings, shaft, and wheel Rear axle assembly viewed from the wheel side, with the wheel, shaft, and two pillow-block bearings Exploded view of the freewheel and chain ring assembly, showing the bolts, shaft collar, flanged bushing, chain ring, backing plate, and nuts

Our team's goal is to build a vehicle powered by a Ryobi cordless drill. It needs to support one driver and complete several maneuverability and load-bearing competitions without failing, and along the way we present a manufacturing review that combines elements of PDRs and CDRs to the manufacturing engineers in the machine shop for approval.

Progress

We've completed our manufacturing reviews with the campus engineers and have begun purchasing and fabricating components. Next up is testing the vehicle.

Requirements

  • Minimum of three load-bearing wheels
  • Shorter than 7 ft, under 50 lbs
  • No modifications to the drill itself
  • Custom-manufactured components for the vehicle
  • Total cost under $200

My role

Our team of six is split into four roles: a project manager, two CAD engineers, two manufacturing engineers, and me as the systems and testing engineer. So far, I've drafted the overall timeline for the semester, covering meetings with engineers, part acquisition, and manufacturing dates, and written our requirements sheet, defining what the vehicle shall do versus what it should do.

I'm also responsible for the drivetrain. We're using a freewheel and chain ring setup, linked by a chain to the drill sprocket, to drive the right rear wheel.

Intro to CAD Course Final Project — Nintendo Switch 2 _▢×
April 2026 Complete
Exploded render of the full Nintendo Switch 2 SolidWorks assembly Rendered CAD model of a Joy-Con style controller Fully dimensioned engineering drawing of the controller

For my Intro to CAD and Fabrication final project, I could model any object I chose. The prompt required multiple components combined into one assembly, at least one subassembly, fully dimensioned and detailed drawings of every part and assembly, a class presentation, and my own document-naming conventions.

I chose the Nintendo Switch 2 because it has three obvious subassemblies and would test a weak skill of mine: modeling smooth, ergonomic shapes.

Result

A nearly identical CAD model of the console, excluding the TV stand, with only slight variance in the rounded-edge measurements.

What I learned

The smooth ergonomic geometry of the controllers was the hardest part, like I predicted. It pushed me past the tools I already knew well and into more advanced modeling techniques like surfaces. Drafting got easier as I worked through all component and assembly drawings, and measuring the console constantly with calipers sharpened that skill too.

CU Intro Engineering Projects Course — Crowd Count _▢×
September – November 2025 Complete Electronics Lead
Assembled electronics enclosure for the crowd-counting device Battery pack and wiring for the crowd-counting device Photogate sensor wiring

Our team was asked to identify a problem faced by CU Boulder students and staff, then solve it with an engineering product of our design. The team combined three mechanical, one aerospace, one electrical, and one integrated design student, and the requirements included Arduino hardware, 3D-printed or machined parts, and integrated electrical components.

We made a survey that revealed to us the crowding at places like the Rec Center and dining halls, so we built a dual-photogate system that counts entrances and exits, sums the total, and uploads it to a database students can check before heading over. We mounted it unobtrusively on a wall and ran it on an Arduino MKR WiFi 1010.

My roles

  • Electronics Lead: built all wiring and Arduino connections, learned to solder and heat-shrink along the way
  • Component acquisition: sourced everything not provided: lasers, batteries, the Arduino board
  • Co-lead of programming: wrote the code loop sending photogate data to our public database