Cam Douglas' Work
AMP Robotics
FEB 2019 – Present
At AMP Robotics, I plan, manage, and execute novel product design and R&D efforts across a range of recycling applications. My requirements range from free-form ideation and sketch modeling to project lifetime management and intellectual property review. Products include discrete sorting products and full sorting facilities.
MIT Sports Lab
SEP 2014 – JUNE 2018
Beginning freshman year, I worked closely with Prof. Peko Hosoi and Christina Chase on various research projects and to grow the MIT Sports Lab’s core offerings on campus.
For research, I began by working with Professor Alex Slocum in 2015 on a product called Runfins, described above. In the spring of 2017 I worked with Prof. Hosoi, Christophe Clanet, and other graduate students to create models for soccer player movements based on particle physics. I helped give advice on many other Sports Lab projects including sled hockey research and class projects that became formal research.
In tandem, I helped to enhance and grow the MIT Sports Summit, an annual event that focuses on the technical aspects of sports. I served as webmaster for the event for two years, and in 2018 I coordinated and led student volunteering efforts and other logistics for the event and its preparation. In my time with the Sports Lab, the event grew substantially, and came to include student poster presentations, lab tours, and an impressive array of panelists and speakers.
Finally, as a teaching assistant for 2.98 (Sports Technology: Engineering & Innovation) for four semesters, I worked with and advised student teams working with companies including Adidas, Shred/Slytech, the San Antonio Spurs, FC Barcelona, the USOC, and many more. I helped to organize and grow this class from a special topic to a consistent offering and to grow the class size by dozens of students.
BEEM Lab @ CU Boulder
AUG 2018 – MAY 2020
In the Boulder Experimental Electronics & Manufacturing (BEEM) Lab at CU Boulder, I conducted research on how three-axis Hall effect sensors can be implemented in running shoes to track midsole compression, stride frequency, and other metrics useful for consumer product and high-performance footwear analysis. The work involved a variety of electronics, software, and physics work all surrounding magnetic field measurement and triangulation of non-linear systems.
Adidas Future Engineering
JUNE 2017 – AUG 2017
During an internship at Adidas’ Portland office, I worked with the Future Engineering team to perform mechanical testing and analysis on Futurecraft 4D midsoles and shoes. I also managed and conducted an engineering project that used sensors to detect 3D midsole deformation for product development improvement and consumer insights.
Red Bull Esports Performance
AUG 2018 – JULY 2019
Following my work with the MIT Sports Lab and my undergraduate thesis, I worked as a contractor for Red Bull Esports Performance, which falls under their High Performance group. In my main role with their team, I helped Red Bull identify and vet emerging tech and data analysis tools for professional League of Legends. I also helped to organize and report on a small conference bringing together professional esports athletes, performance coaches, and other experts. Finally, I also helped advise a student team working with Red Bull at MIT that examined the use of neural networks for predicting the outcome of League of Legends matches.
Portside Devices
FEB 2016 – JAN 2017
In the spring of sophomore year, I teamed up with two mechanical engineers to create new products for the sport of rowing. We focused on creating a smartphone app and a universal, waterproof phone mount that could be used in any type of crew shell. I worked on prototyping the app in Swift and designing the universal phone mount prototype that we were able to connect to the foot stretcher tracks in any crew shell. We received seed funding from the MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund and worked with rowers and coaches from several Boston crew teams.
Projects
Joint Staff x CU Boulder
JAN 2019 – AUG 2019
Through Designing for Defense, I worked with a team of engineering and business students to ideate and report on novel technology applications for use in a distributed, seaborne logistics environment. Our team interfaced with service members from every branch of the military, visited the Pentagon, and created a report and other deliverables for the Joint Staff Innovation Group, which is embedded in the Force, Structure, Resource, and Assessment Directorate (J8) of the Joint Staff. I presented a final pitch to an audience of generals, entrepreneurs and more, and was invited to return to the Pentagon to provide a brief on our work to a broader audience at the Joint Concept for Logistics Capabilities Workshop in August.
Luck and Skill in Esports
AUG 2017 – JUNE 2018
For my mechanical engineering undergraduate thesis, I completed statistical analyses of the balance of luck (chance) and skill in League of Legends. Using a method first applied by Michael Mauboussin and a Bayesian approach, the results showed that the outcome of League of Legends matches are more skill-based than most traditional sports except for basketball, and the balance of luck and skill changes significantly in best-of series.
The full thesis can be read here.
Rhino
AUG 2017 – FEB 2018
In the class 2.009 (Product Engineering Processes), I worked with a team of over 20 engineers to ideate, design, and prototype a novel product. Our team worked to create a novel tool that would allow brick masons to remove degraded mortar from brick facades, a key element of the process known as repointing. This product took many forms, beginning as a large controlled frame, and ended as a rotary hammer attachment. I worked on the overall design and prototyping work, contributing to CAD, analyses, and assembly. The end product, Rhino, is patent pending in the United States.
Sketches, CAD, and Prototypes can be seen in my portfolio.
Aperio
AUG 2018 – MAY 2019
Throughout Advanced Product Design, I worked with a team of 4 engineers to create a novel product, beginning with user need finding. After interviewing dozens of retirees and physically disabled persons, our team ended up ideating, designing, and prototyping an automatic door opener that could be used on any door at a price lower than $250. I prototyped the device using a laser cut case and basic electronics to control our motor. In Design for Manufacturability, we took this prototype and our design sketches and refined them into a complete, functional CAD model, complete with manufacturing, assembly, and cost analyses.
Sketches, CAD, and Prototypes can be seen in my portfolio.
5 Wits x MIT
JAN 2018 – JUNE 2018
In the class 2.744 (Product Design), I worked with a team of 6 engineers and business students to create a miniature “adventure room” challenge for the production company 5 Wits. Our challenge centered around ancient Greece, and I worked with another engineer to ideate, design, and build a manual air cannon that could launch dodgeballs at high enough velocity to span 20 feet quickly.
Sketches, CAD, and Prototypes can be seen in my portfolio.
Runfins
FEB 2015 – JUNE 2016
Working with Professor Alex Slocum and Dr. Stefano Brizzolara, I designed, analyzed, and prototyped custom fins that increase the resistance of water jogging for rehabbing athletes, particularly runners. I worked on running and analyzing CFD simulations with Dr. Brizzolara, and manufactured prototypes using thermoforming and other manufacturing methods. The prototypes were tested and implemented by the MIT Cross Country Team. My involvement with the project ended with the filing of a provisional patent in the spring of 2016.
Sketches, CAD, and Prototypes can be seen in my portfolio.