About me

Welcome to my portfolio. I am Evan Kiess, a third year student studying biomedical engineering at UNC and NC State. I am a passionate designer, maker, and tinkerer. My hobbies include sailing, playing guitar, and woodworking.

My technical interests include embedded systems, mechanical design, control systems, biomedical device design, and surgical robotics.

If you have any suggestions for projects, or would otherwise like to get in touch, please feel free to reach out via the various contact methods listed in the sidebar.

Projects

Tiny Tuner

tinytuner

About

Tiny Tuner is a compact guitar tuner built using an ESP32 microcontroller, a MEMS microphone, and an OLED display. Pitch detection is implemented in the Arduino framework using the YIN algorithm and a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to maximize robustness.

I was motivated to start this project by frustrating experiences using “free” guitar tuner apps. These apps' business models consist of heavy ads and paywalling key features. Not wanting to pay a monthly subscription to tune my guitar, I decided to make my own guitar tuner. Along the way, I learned about the challenges associated with detecting pitch in real time, especially on the time scales needed to tune an instrument.

Features

Custom PCB

Designed a custom PCB in Fusion 360 and had it manufactured. Learned about basic PCB design and utilized SMD Soldering for the first time.

3D Printed Case

Designed and 3D printed a PLA case using Fusion 360. Learned key aspects to designing for 3D printing and experienced the importance of manufacturability when designing parts.

OLED Screen

UI display created with the Adafruit_SSD1306 and Adafruit_GFX libraries. Inspired by the tuner UI on my amp.

BasketBot

basketball shooting robot

About

More information coming soon...

Mac Dock

dock with laptop

About

A sleek design inspired by optimizing my workspace and minimalist design. The dock was designed to hold an M2 Macbook Air and features clean cable management. The design was created in Fusion 360 and manufactured using several woodworking techniques.

I quickly learned the importance of designing for manufacturability and discovered the challenges of balancing creative vision with real-world constraints.

PuzzleCube

puzzlecube

About

The PuzzleCube is a puzzle cube designed for adults with autism and other intellectual disabilities. Its design follows guidelines based on research conducted by UNC's TEACCH Autism Program. Its mechanical design consists of a keypad and key holes. The puzzle is intended to teach adults with autism important sequential problem solving skills by linking tasks together.

Several of my close friends and roommates work for a non-profit dedicated to empowering individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. As caretakers, they regularly support the residents' development of independent living skills and productivity. Many residents are able to work jobs and provide meaningful contributions to their communities. The aforementioned sequential problem solving skills are paramount to the residents' social and professional development.

For many, we do not consider the importance of breaking down large tasks like getting to work into smaller tasks like getting out of bed, putting on our clothes, and brushing our teeth. These routines can be learned, but small deviations can leave residents unable to complete the overall task. With sequential problem solving, the residents are able to better adapt to changes in their environment and have an improved quality of life.

The idea for developmental activities is nothing new, and many residents participate in activities everyday. These activities allow the residents to gain useful skills that can be applied towards jobs and improve their cognitive and motor skills. The PuzzleCube uniquely focuses on sequential problem solving and allows the residents to practice tasks like entering numbers on a keypad, and using the right key to open a door.

The PuzzleCube is still in early development, and a caretaker and I have been given permission to use the PuzzleCube with residents. This feedback will allow us to better inform our design choices as we continue to improve the PuzzleCube.