Available — new grad, Q1 2027

Willem Bell.

Mechanical engineer × software. Builds things that move.

ME × CS at UM‑Dearborn. Internships across SpaceX Starship, Starfactory, and Space Lasers, and Tesla 4680. I work the seam between a Siemens panel and a PyTorch notebook.

About

An engineer who ships — both kinds.

DegreeBSE ME + CS
SchoolUM‑Dearborn
ExpectedDec 2026
Pronounshe/him
BasedDearborn, MI

About copy — to come. Three paragraphs: the mechanical-engineering origin story, the software detour, and what I'm reaching for after graduation in December 2026.

Recently last 6 months
  1. Wrapping up ME 472 — UR30 cobot riding a Klipper-driven 7th axis, RTDE bridge talking to an RP2040.
  2. Took Honorable Mention and Best Use of AMD at StarkHacks at Purdue.
  3. Finished ME 379 Fluids Lab. Six labs, six parity checks against closed-form predictions.
  4. Shipped me440-vibrations — a general MDOF forced-response solver in MATLAB, validated against textbook benchmarks.
  5. Closed out four supply-chain case competitions in a row. Colorado State Rams was the last one.
  6. Stepped in as Data Analysis Lead on UM‑Dearborn's Supply Chain Association.
Work

Things I've built
or made better.

Personal · 2024–present

stark-translate

Live bilingual speech-to-text · Python · Whisper · MLX

Live bilingual EN/ES speech-to-text for church outreach. Real-time on-device transcription (Whisper) and translation (MarianMT / TranslateGemma), streamed to audience displays via WebSocket.

Python Whisper MLX
ME 379 · Winter 2026

Fluids Lab

Coursework · experimental fluid mechanics

Six-lab sequence on pipe flow, drag, pressure, and instrumentation. Course just wrapped — full writeup, reduced data, and parity checks landing within the week.

Fluid Mechanics MATLAB
ME 472 · Winter 2026

W26-Cobot-Axis

UR30 7th axis · Klipper bridge

UR30 7th axis for metal paste dispensing. RTDE bridge translates cobot commands to Klipper G-code on an RP2040.

Python RTDE Klipper RP2040
Self-study · 2024–2025

fast-fem

ANSYS validated against hand calcs

Accelerated FEA self-study for 3 concurrent ME courses. Every ANSYS simulation validated against analytical hand calculations. Mesh convergence studies, post-mortems, and reproducible methodology.

ANSYS Python Jupyter FEA
SpaceX · Jan–Jul 2025

Starfactory automation

Automation & controls intern · Starbase, TX

Owned controls design, FAT, and commissioning across multiple Starfactory stations on the Starship production line.

Under NDA
EPLAN Siemens PLCs S120 Drives KUKA Robots NX
Tesla · Sep 2023–Apr 2024

Tesla 4680

Controls development intern · Austin, TX

Controls development for 4680 battery cell manufacturing — hands-on DeltaV, TwinCAT, and VFD work.

Under NDA
DeltaV TwinCAT Controls FAT VFD
Pannier Lab · 2021–present

Pannier Research Lab

UM‑Dearborn · three terms

Undergraduate researcher across three terms; toolchanger automation and G-code workflows. Returned for a fourth term in Aug 2025.

MATLAB G-Code Toolchanger Automation
ME 440 · Winter 2026

Vibrations final

MATLAB forced-response solver

Modal decomposition and Duhamel integral toolbox graded against closed-form benchmarks.

MATLAB Vibration Analysis
Experience

Featured experience.

SpaceX

Starfactory Automation & Controls Intern
Starbase, TX
  • Owned controls design, FAT, and commissioning across multiple Starfactory stations.
  • Specific station scopes and outcomes redacted under NDA.

SpaceX · previous internships

Starship, Launch, Space Lasers
Starbase, TX · Redmond, WA
  • Space Lasers Integration & Test Intern — Redmond, WA — May–Aug 2024.
  • Starship Launch Intern — Starbase, TX — May–Aug 2023.
  • Starship Automation & Controls Intern — Starbase, TX — May–Aug 2022.

Tesla 4680

Controls Development Intern
Austin, TX
  • Controls development for 4680 cell manufacturing — hands-on DeltaV, TwinCAT, and VFD work.
  • Specific station scopes and outcomes redacted under NDA.

For everything else — prior internships, research terms, case competitions, and student leadership — see the timeline below.

Timeline

Everything, in order.

Internships, research terms, racing, case competitions, leadership. Scroll →

Industry
DTE Fermi
Instrumentation & Controls Intern
Newport, MI
Research
Pannier Research Lab
Undergraduate Researcher
UM-Dearborn
Extracurricular
Dearborn Electric Racing
Data Acquisition Lead
UM-Dearborn
Industry
SpaceX · Starship
Automation & Controls Intern
Starbase, TX
Extracurricular
UMD Racing
Frame Lead
UM-Dearborn
Industry
SpaceX · Starship
Launch Intern
Starbase, TX
Industry
Tesla 4680
Controls Development Intern
Austin, TX
Industry
SpaceX · Space Lasers
Integration & Test Intern
Redmond, WA
Extracurricular
Dearborn Electric Racing
Project Manager
UM-Dearborn
Research
Pannier Research Lab
Research Assistant
UM-Dearborn
Industry
SpaceX · Starfactory
Automation & Controls Intern
Starbase, TX
ProjectPresent
fast-fem
Personal project
Open source
ResearchPresent
Pannier Research Lab
Research Assistant
UM-Dearborn
ExtracurricularPresent
Supply Chain Association
Data Lead · Finance Co-Lead
UM-Dearborn
Extracurricular
Quantum Frontiers
Case competition · 2-week sprint
UM-Dearborn team
Extracurricular
3M Fulfillment Network
Case competition · 2-week sprint
UM-Dearborn team
ProjectPresent
stark-translate
Personal project
macOS · MLX
Extracurricular
Land O'Lakes / Kozy Shack
Case competition · 24-hour sprint
UM-Dearborn team
Extracurricular
Colorado State Rams
Case competition · 1-week sprint
UM-Dearborn team
Project
StarkHacks · Purdue
Honorable Mention · Best Use of AMD
36-hour hackathon · West Lafayette, IN
Industry Research Project Extracurricular
Stack

What I reach for.

Daily Familiar Learning Mech Controls Software Research
Daily driver.
Currently shipping with these — across paid work, research, and coursework, in the last 12 months.
9 tools
PythonSoft
Siemens PLCs · S120 drivesControls
ANSYS · FEAMech
EPLANControls
NX / CADMech
MATLABMech
Git · Linux shellSoft
RTDE · UR robotsControls
Jupyter · NumPy · pandasSoft
Familiar.
Used on real projects — give me an afternoon to warm up and I'm productive again.
9 tools
KUKA robots · KRLControls
TwinCAT · DeltaVControls
C / C++Soft
Klipper · stepper controlControls
Embedded (RP2040 · Teensy)Controls
CAN bus (FlexCAN)Controls
Whisper · speech-to-textResearch
PyTorchResearch
WebSockets · FlaskSoft
Learning.
Actively working through — in coursework, side projects, or a specific problem on my bench.
5 tools
MarianMT · TranslateGemmaResearch
MLX · CUDAResearch
RustSoft
DockerSoft
PuLP · network optimizationResearch