About me

Hi, my name is Connor Houle, I’m a mechanical engineering student at UCLA, entering my second year. I am currently most interested in robotics, autonomous systems, drones, and space.

Currently

• Mechanical design lead on an air–water hexarotor AUV at UCLA's Mechatronics and Controls Lab, where I own the chassis architecture and the full CAD for a vehicle that changes shape between flying and swimming.
• Mechanical engineering intern at Planewave inc, working on product testing and design validation for space antennas, amplifiers, test hats, and passive RF components, and supporting two senior engineers on CAD and R&D for the next generation of antenna design.
• At UCLA FSAE, I lead the design of the team's first suspension compliance test jig and am working on a custom pcb that monitors the health of the car's low-voltage pack.

Background and leadership

• Led a five-person team at UCLA’s Bionics Lab developing a 3.4 mm steerable sheath that gives a colonoscopy snare 360° of angular access. I grew into the lead role, ran the requirements directly with a practising gastroenterologist, and managed the outside manufacturers who built the prototype. Read it →
• Founded FTC team 13216 Deja Vu and led it for four seasons, plus a beetleweight combat robotics team. Four competition robots, each 30–50 custom printed parts inside a 500+ part assembly, designed in CAD before anything was cut. Running the team meant setting the season’s design direction, budgeting a student team’s parts money, and teaching new members to CAD. Read it →
• Built and ran a car detailing business to buy my first car — 90+ clients and $14,000 in net profit over two years, doing my own pricing, marketing and customer relations. It is where I learned that a schedule and a margin are constraints like any other.

Outside of engineering, I enjoy working on cars, snowboarding, lifting, hiking, camping, and going on road trips with friends and family.