Sivakumar Kandasamy

• As the technician-in-charge, my responsibilities include overseeing the Design and Build Workshop. I develop SWIs, SOPs, operation manuals, Canvas inductions, and quizzes. These materials are designed to educate users and ensure a safe working environment by strictly adhering to established safety protocols and guidelines.
• Procure equipment and consumables through diverse university purchasing procedures to offer technical support across a range of courses within the Faculty of Engineering.
• Troubleshoot, diagnose, and repair malfunctioning equipment to ensure continuous operations and adherence to laboratory facility standards.
• Facilitated a stocktake in collaboration with the Faculty of Engineering towards developing a university asset management system.
• Developed a barcode-based inventory management system utilizing data acquisition systems as part of the Engineering Management program to enhance sustainability in university operations.
• Supported courses include MECHENG 235, 236, 334, 340, 731 and ENGGEN 115, 121, 705.

MECHENG 371 (Digital Circuit Design)

• Supported students in designing and implementing combinational and sequential logic circuits using Boolean algebra, Karnaugh map, and tabular minimization techniques.
• Guided students in designing and implementing combinational logic circuits using Verilog HDL, and then synthesizing, simulating, and testing their performance in an FPGA.
• Helped students design and implement finite state machines with Verilog HDL, and then synthesize, simulate, and test their performance in an FPGA.

MECHENG 735 (MEMS and Microsystems)

• Enabled students to understand mechanics and dynamics at the microscale, microfluidics, and MEMS actuators/sensors.
• Explained materials and processing routes for MEMS applications and device fabrication.
  Instructed on mechanical transduction and electrical signal control.
• Checked assignments, proctored tests, and provided grades according to university standards.
• Fostered an inclusive learning environment and provided timely, constructive feedback on assignments.

• Coordinated and oversaw university examinations by ensuring the distribution of exam question papers and stationery to the examination rooms on the exam day.
• Employed organizational and planning abilities to convey rules and regulations to invigilators and supervisors, guaranteeing a seamless examination process and compliance with guidelines.
• I facilitated the processing of recounts for the University by collaborating with the Group Services Coordinator from each department and responded to student inquiries, assisting them in comprehending their results.

• Specializing in soft and hybrid robotics aimed to create a future where robots can be comfortably worn to assist with daily activities and patient rehabilitation, and safely integrated into smart industries for handling delicate objects of diverse shapes, sizes, and rigidities.
• Developed a hip protector that detects falls and activates to prevent life-threatening injuries. The "Hip Protector for Elderly Patients" was showcased at the ICBME Conference.
• Created Foldable Soft Robotic Spider using Fabric-based Pneumatic Bending Origami Actuators, which simulates biological spiders' forward and lateral movements using thermoplastic polyurethane-based fabric. The ICBME Conference featured this work.
• Mentored undergraduate students on various research projects, providing guidance and support throughout their research journey.
• Collaborated with a multidisciplinary team of medical professionals, institutional review board members, precision engineers, and health caregivers to bring research prototypes through clinical testing phases.
• Gained practical experience in hardware design, encompassing PCB layouts and pneumatic control systems, as well as in software development and engineering operations, leading to an extensive understanding of these domains.

Project: Grasping Objects Using Shadow Dexterous Hand with Tactile Feedback

• Used Shadow Hand embedded with BioTac sensors to grasp delicate objects using a KUKA robotic arm assisted through Kinect.
• Employed ROS and Moveit! packages for simulation, configuration, and control.
• Developed C++ code for motion planning and control based on sensor feedback.
• Achieved precise grasping of objects in real and simulated environments.
• Presented the research and findings at the Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) Conference.