PORTFOLIO s a c h i n s . g u p t a

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c o n c e p t s

title pages academic(a), work(w), or personal(p) 3-d spray system for li-ion batteries 3-4 w

dehumidification research 5 W

the khopesh 6-7 A nature’s microarchitecture 8-9 w the monarch’s pavilion 10-11 P [architecture] photography 12-14 p

In the summer of 2013, I was entrust-ed to design, construct, and test an additive, automated spraying system for a novel battery fabrication pro-cess that was developed in the Ajayan research lab on the Rice University campus. with this device, a battery made of paints can be sprayed onto virtually any substrate as easily as graffiti artists could do to a wall. Modeled After 3-D printer designs, this mechatronic system redefined for me the meaning of integration in that it required an X-Y Cartesian ro-bot, two Z-axis actuators, a spray gun, a heated platform, fluid and air delivery systems, spray path MATLAB programs, and frame assembly. The in-tricate nature of the system forced me to learn things from battery chem-istry to stepper motor design and is hugely responsible for my passion for complex, multifaceted systems.

3-D S P R A Y S Y S T E M F O R L I - I O N B A T T E R I E S

Completed with the help of Jaime Taha (frame ma-chining), Adrian Yao (pneumatic valves), Jeremy Swaby (user interface update and computer inter-facing of hardware), and Charudatta Galande (hot plate construction).

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The spray gun intakes battery slurry, high pressure air, and low pressure air to create a paint.

the spray system’s user interface was customized for “plug-and-play” usability.

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an example of the freeform nature of the paintable battery due to the additive spray process.(photo credit to big delta systems, ltd.)

DEHUMIDIFICATION RESEARCHIn the summer of 2014, I interned with the Biomimetic Design Lab (BiDL) of the Tongji University College of Design & Innovation, where the shanghai air dripped with humidity. Acknowledging this discomfort, and the high energy consumption of buildings used to combat it, the lab was aiming to design a bio-inspired system that dehumidified the inside air with minimal energy usage and subsequently recycled the extracted water. The dehumidification was to be achieved by a modular, interior building material surface that adjusted air humidity to an ideal state for human comfort (45-65%). The lab envisaged a system that could easily be inte-grated into conventional, contemporary ceiling design for office, commercial, as well as residential uses.

Two months of interdisciplinary research for understanding how the Spanish moss absorbs water from the sur-rounding atmosphere without the use of energy culminated in the concept of a cellulose-based, nanoporous material that mimics this natural process and can be integrated into ceilings. the porous material would it-self be a system by featuring a capillary network, similar to the moss’s, designed in a way such that water can be collected and redistributed for alternative use. The project and associated paper are currently being developed at the BiDL and if successful, have the potential to be a new paradigm for HVAC.

When humidity reaches a high enough percent, water is passively diffused into the material’s nanopores, moved across the material, and then trans-ported to external piping.

Model made in Google SketchUp.

Credits to Professor Pius Leuba, Liwen Zhong, and Professor Guo Guang-Pu for collaboration on this research.

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T H E K H O P E S H

All dimesions in inches.

All work was completed alongside Benjamin Freeman and Emiko Buchberg.

in the fall of 2013, i enrolled in the mechanical engineering class Computer-Aided Design, which proved to be one of my most valued courses from my Rice university education. from then on, my world could be resolved into shapes, dimensions, and materials. the final project tested our abilities in solidworks by having us design, model, and perform structural analysis on an ancient Egyptian sword, the khopesh.

the treasure of this project lay in its holistic nature; it reminded us of the raw power of visualization and simulation on the computer.

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Using the robust simulation tools of Solidworks, our group performed realistic combat simulations to determine the hypthotetical structural integrity of the sword:

Stress from hooking a shield:

Stress from swinging down on another sword:

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a second responsiblity of mine at the BiDL was to design displays outside the new BiDL office in order to attract passerbys into learning more about the BIDL and biomimic-ry. A secondary purpose was to nurture cross-discplinary practices between BiDL and the Shanghai Fablab, which was also located on Tongji University campus.

The displays feature two beautiful artifacts of nature’s genius: the self-cleaning lotus leaf and the iridescent Morpho butterfly wing. these organisms were chosen for their aesthetic appeal and feasibility of demonstrations. Upon gazing at the gorgeous wings of the Morpho and the flawless beading of water on the lotus, my ardor for the natural world was confirmed all in one instant.

The displays feature several zooms, as if looking through an electron microscope, for hierarchical levels of per-spective. It attempts to give a sense of scope of the minisculality of these architectures.

the microscopic architecture of the lotus leaf - hydrophillic bumps on a layer of hydrophobic wax - results in its self-clean-ing. The bumps are exaggerated in respect to size of water droplet for sake of clarity. Model de-signed in Rhino with Grasshopper and then 3D-printed using a Repli-cator2 in the Shanghai Fablab.

N A T U R E ’ S M I C R O A R C H I T E C T U R E

8| Credit to Liwen Zhong for construction and erecting both displays.

the microscopic architecture of Morpho butterfly wings that re-sult in structural color [color created without the use of pig-ment]. When light hits the top and bottom of each of the struc-ture’s appendages, all light waves are reflected in phase with each other due to the pre-cise spacing and staggered length of the appendages, and the waves combine to form a wave of great-er amplitude. Model designed in Rhino with Grasshopper and then 3D-printed using a Replicator2 in the Shanghai Fablab.

Photo credit to Liwen Zhong

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When in the summer of 2014 I decided that I wanted to become a designer and researcher, I outstretched my hands for tools that could lead me there. I was gifted with buzzwords along the lines of parametric design, design computation, digital fabrication, and morphogenesis. And so, I delved into these subjects, teaching myself Rhinocerous and Grass-hopper to be able to indulge in the relationship between computation and design.

T H E M O N A R C H ’ S P A V I L I O N

the context in which I wish to apply design computa-tion is elucidating how Nature settles on her designs. I have read about initiatives to “grow” objects and buildings as per Nature does, where the growth process can be modeled using design computation. I believe that the capability to efficiently and truly “grow” structures like Nature will only be fully materialized when we have arrived at the nanotechnology to do so. And so, what would this nanotechnology-based growth look like? I decided to conceptually answer this ques-tion based on the phenomenon of the holometabolous life cycle, demonstrating the fusion of my three pri-mary interests of nanoscience, architecture, and bio-inspired design. medium: pencil and paper.

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The ultimate structure is a material-efficient, environmentally-adapted pavilion that adjusts to changing conditions. The orange panels have the ability to become translucent to allow light to pass or opaque to block light depending on the air temperature to suit the comfort of those under its wings. The form and/or behavior of the pavilion could be further modified by uploading different blueprints or “nanobots” into the module.

Models made in Rhino with Grasshopper.

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The majority of my photography is done with my phone’s camera and instagram filters. my Insta-gram account allows me to instantly and easily make beautiful renderings of my wanderings in the moment, WHICH I FEEL is crucial to documenting my life with accuracy and succintness. When I have A STAND-ALONE Camera around my neck, I feel ob-ligated to take pictures; whereas with my phone, the process is more spontaneous, more rare, and all the more visceral.

i do not purposefully take photographs of ar-chitecture, which is why i refrain from label-ing this photography as devoted to architecture. rather, architecture almost always tends to serve as the substrate of the environment that i wish to capture.

will rice college, rice university.

HOUSTON

FEBRUARY 2015

[ A R C H I T E C T U R E ]P H O T O G R A P H Y

zhujiajiao, the little venice of shanghai.

SHANGHAI JUNE 2014

the helsinki cathedral hints of russia’s lasting influence.

HELSINKI

AUGUST 2014 |13

teatro degollado y unversidad de guadalajara.

GUADALAJARAMARCH 2015

Storms abrew over the many small islands within sight of metro-reachable Lantau Island.

HONG KONG JULY 2014

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