📍 Boston, MA  |  🎓 MSc Robotics & Autonomous Systems @ Boston University  |  🇨🇱 Mechanical Engineer, PUC Chile

I'm a mechanical engineer who likes building things that move, sense and survive the real world. My background combines precision mechanical design, simulation (CFD and FEA) and hardware integration, from an autonomous marine catamaran that competed internationally to a hydraulic rock splitter that cracked a concrete block on demo day.

I'm currently pursuing an MSc in Robotics and Autonomous Systems at Boston University (coursework: Applied Machine Learning, Medical Robotics), where I'm adding autonomy and learning-based methods to that mechanical foundation.

• 🌊 Competed at RobotX 2024 (Sarasota, FL) with an autonomous catamaran: 5th of 15 international teams in Design Documentation and winner of the Gusto & Search Pattern Demonstration Award
• 💨 +103% downstream wake velocity by optimizing a propeller guard with OpenFOAM
• 🌡️ Cut sensor housing peak temperatures from 120 °C to 85 °C using thermal imaging and redesigned heat fins
• 📄 First author of a fatigue crack propagation paper accepted at CIBIM 2026 (Cusco, Peru)
• 🛠️ Currently building a 3D-printed FPV quadcopter from scratch

Robotics & Programming

Simulation

CAD & Manufacturing

Machine Learning & Tools

🌊 RobotX 2024: Autonomous Catamaran Inventor · OpenFOAM · Thermal imaging · 3D printing Modular sensor mast, sensor housings and propeller guard for Team Caleuche UC's autonomous surface vessel. +103% wake velocity, 120 → 85 °C housing temperatures. 🔗 Repository	🪨 Hydraulic Rock Splitter Inventor · FEA · Hydraulics · Manufacturing Capstone project for the Municipality of Puente Alto: a hydraulic wedge system designed, simulated, machined and tested. It split a concrete block at the final demo. 🔗 Repository
⚙️ Fatigue Crack Propagation in a 3D-Printed SS316L Gear ANSYS Mechanical · SMART Crack Growth · LEFM Numerical study of tooth-root crack growth under cyclic bending, compared with experimental fatigue data. First-author paper accepted at CIBIM 2026. 🔗 Repository	🚁 3D-Printed FPV Quadcopter Inventor · PETG printing · SpeedyBee F405 V4 · Betaflight Custom frame designed over three iterations, solving prop clearance, battery mounting, stack cooling and cable routing. Motor tests and PID setup done, first flight coming soon. 🔗 Repository
💨 OpenFOAM CFD Simulations OpenFOAM · ParaView Backward-facing step, vortex shedding behind a cylinder and a thermal study of the RobotX sensor housings. 🔗 Repository	⚡ Green Hydrogen Cost Model (LCOH) Python · Techno-economic analysis Levelized cost of hydrogen from solar PV electrolysis in Atacama, Chile, with sensitivity analysis and a cost-reduction pathway. Based on my 2021 undergraduate research. 🔗 Repository

More projects

• 🧠 PINN surrogate for Navier-Stokes: physics-informed neural network trained on OpenFOAM data (DeepXDE, TensorFlow)
• 🚌 Electric air compressor for an electric bus: 2-stage, 4-piston boxer compressor reaching 12.95 bar (target 10 bar) and 320 L/min FAD. I led the CAD (Inventor) and structural FEA (ANSYS). Repository coming soon.

Operations Engineer · EOX · Santiago, Chile · May 2026 to Jul 2026
Automated supply chain and data workflows with Google Apps Script, cleaned data for 1,500+ SKUs and led a USD 40,000 sourcing initiative with 20+ suppliers in China.

Engineering Intern, Towage Department · CPT Empresas Marítimas · Jan 2025 to Mar 2025
Migrated a maintenance management system covering 45+ tugboats, reviewed maintenance plans for CAT 3500 and Cummins KTA engines, and wrote 10+ system-check procedures.

Mechanical Team Member · Caleuche UC RobotX · Jul 2023 to Dec 2024
Mechanical design, CFD and thermal management for an autonomous marine catamaran. See the project repository.

Teaching & leadership: TA for Fluid Mechanics and Manufacturing Processes · Coordinator of a 20-person instructor team (UC Pre-University Program) · Orientation leader for 900+ first-year engineering students

• Saavedra P., F., Ramos-Grez, J., Alvear, B., & Marian, M. Fatigue crack propagation under cyclic bending in a 3D-printed SS316L gear: experimentation and numerical simulation. XVII Iberoamerican Congress of Mechanical Engineering (CIBIM 2026), Cusco, Peru. Abstract
• Saavedra, F., & Pérez de Arce, M. Reducing green hydrogen costs through solar PV electrolysis in Chile. PUC Undergraduate Research Program (IPre), 2021. Code & report

fernando = {
    "location": "Boston, MA",
    "studying": "MSc Robotics & Autonomous Systems @ Boston University",
    "building": ["FPV quadcopter (first flight soon)", "Computer vision project"],
    "interests": ["Autonomous vehicles", "Marine robotics", "Medical robotics", "Simulation-driven design"],
    "looking_for": "Robotics, mechanical design and simulation opportunities",
    "languages": ["Spanish (native)", "English (fluent, IELTS 8/9)"],
}