hello! i'm balal
"taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most." - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
In high school, I took a Russian Literature class where I stumbled upon this line from Dostoyevsky. It is with this same idea that I live my life. I want to be able to push the boundaries, enter the unknown, challenge the status quo; all while giving back to the people and places that have allowed me to be where I am today. I became an engineer not only because I enjoy building things, but, more importantly, to solve problems. I believe that the mind of an engineer can help solve a broad array of problems facing the world today; from social to economic to political issues. I want to use the skills that I have developed throughout my life to help create a future that is accessible by all, not a select few.
professional experience
march 2020 - february 2023
product design engineer
august 2018 - june 2019
product design engineering intern
may - august 2018
mechanical design engineer
july - december 2017
mechanical & quality engineer
I completed my first 6-month cooperative education placement at a medium-sized electric tankless water heating company where I did work on NPI's, industrial design, prototyping, manufacturing, and more. I communicated with engineers and suppliers from all over the world to help reach deadlines and to ensure a top-notch quality product was being delivered to the customer. Additionally, I visited multiple vendors that worked on metal stamping, plastic injection molding, and metal precision parts.
At Ideaz, a small product development consulting firm, I worked as a mechanical design engineer for the summer. There I did conceptual development for a functional element of a TAVR Self Expanding Stent by constructing prototypes and validation of concepts. I designed consumer product enclosures using both CAD and physical foam models. Also, I conducted extensive ergonomic studies for a R&D consumer electronic product. Lastly, I spent a lot of time modeling and building test fixtures to test the functionality of working products and prototype ideas
I spent around 10 months at Apple as a product design intern in the iPhone power PD team. I began my internship evaluating competitor products by conducting teardowns and an exhaustive list of reliability and safety tests (testing conducted in China). I then spent a majority of my internship working on a project team with 2 full-time engineers on a new product. I designed sheet metal springs for a high voltage connector application leveraging extensive finite element analysis and design for manufacturability best practices. Additionally, I developed injection molded plastic housings for electrical component modules and drafted part and assembly drawings using GD&T and statistical tolerance analysis techniques (six sigma and worst case). I traveled to China to support project builds by overseeing component level testing at vendor sites and conducting DOEs to mitigate issues. This also included analyzing incoming production data of parts using statistical process controls. I returned to Apple as a full-time product design engineer after graduation.
While being full-time I have helped ship two new products: the 20W power adapter (a continuation from the internship) and the 140W power adapter. All of the work I have done has been during remote work (Covid) adding a new layer of complexity for most hardware folks. In 2021 I traveled to China for 3 months for Apple to help support builds on-site and to visit vendors in-region - gaining exposure to much of Apple's supply chain!
other experience
november 2016 - december 2019
tutor & mentor
june 2011 - december 2019
development & general staff
march 2016 - may 2018
research assistant
Youth Development Initiative Project
At the Youth Development Initiative Project (YDIP) I taught and mentored inner-city children from the greater Boston area with the goal to help them graduate high school and move onto college. Specifically, I tutored math and science. Working at YDIP was something I looked forward to do every week, as it was a great way for me to take a break from my day-to-day classes, while also helping educate a new generation of students.
Shahani is our family business of gasoline distribution and convenience stores. I started helping at a young age, visiting stores and locations with my father, while generally understanding the business. Since then, I have helped by devising new ways to organize and manage a network of locations and tenants. More recently, I began completing yearly CAPEX reports and quarterly presentations detailing the current state of the business. Additionally, I managed the back-office system (PosiTouch), firewall, and user training system (Learning Link) for a franchised Dairy Queen store. My experience with our family business has given me a good understanding of business and the challenges that come with it.
Interfaces Engineering Laboratory
I worked at this lab from early 2016 until mid 2018 with PHD student Nasir. We focus on the fabrication of nanorods and thin films using a physical vapor deposition chamber (PVD), with a secondary effort on mechanics and radiation damage of nanostructures. In my time, I have taken training courses on using the PVD chamber and a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). When I ended, we were analyzing titanium nanorods for their "fanning" behavior.
education
september 2015 - december 2019
b.s. mechanical engineering
minor business administration
september 2011 - june 2015
high school diploma
In addition to coursework, I was a member of the Hyperloop Paradigm Future team where I was part of the cabin design group. I have held E-Board positions in the ASME club as the outreach coordinator and in the mechanical engineering honor society (Pi Tau Sigma) as the Community Service Chair. I then became the President of Pi Tau Sigma. Additionally, I am the founder of Addditive, a design and engineering outreach program. I completed my time at Northeastern by completing my capstone, in which my team designed a consumer product that cleans dental appliances.
Hopkins is Private Day school located in New Haven, CT. Founded in 1660, it is the third oldest independent school in the US. My time at Hopkins has molded me into who I am today. It provided me with great fundamentals in STEM courses and a yearning for leadership. One of my crowning achievements at Hopkins was planning and running the first every Hopkins Model UN conference as the president of the organization. The conference allowed neighboring schools to join us on the Hill for a day of debate and learning. In 2020, the club will be hosting the sixth annual Hopkins Model UN conference.
leadership
january 2018 - june 2020
founder
september 2017 - april 2019
president
january 2018 - june 2018
outreach coordinator
→ Established a non-profit which provides free 3D printers and semester long design classes to middle & high schools
→ Reached 50 students at two different organizations while successfully receiving funding for three 3D printer
→ Recruited and led a team of 8 individuals who ran day-to-day operations, while also establishing future programs
→ Organized multiple community service events throughout the Boston area for members and initiates
→ Partnered with the Center for STEM to run STEM activities for Boston Public School students
→ Recruited ASME members to volunteer at outreach events