Design/Build Portfolio

John Magolske   http://B79.net/contact/
PO Box 460626 San Francisco CA 94146

Over the years I've been involved in the design, prototyping and fabrication of scientific equipment, medical devices, consumer products and museum exhibitry. Below are some examples of things I've designed and/or built.

Mechanical Design

Radiation Force Balance
Starting with a working prototype, conducted the Mechanical design of a system for taking power measurements on ultrasound medical devices. Modeled in SolidWorks.

Matrix Drawer  Locking Drawer
Designed a system of interlocking modular plastic dividers and sheet-metal parts that fit within an existing automated hospital inventory control system, modeled in Pro-E.

Phone Router (164kB pdf)
Designed plastic injection molded snap together assembly, integrated printed circuit board, connectors & LED indicators into an assembly. View 2 (148kB pdf)

Laser Flow Cell (216kB pdf)
Re-designed a liquid flow cell manifold system for Laser light scattering Equipment, patentissued.

Surgical Video Camera
Re-packaged a CCD video camera into a hand-held device used in orthoscopic surgical procedures. Responsible for mechanical design and integration of electronics & optics within an assembly. Drawings (432kB pdf) created in AutoCad.

Interactive Exhibits

From June 1999 – January 2003 I was employed at the Exploratorium as an exhibit developer, designing and building exhibits for the Traits of Life project. Responsibilities included researching phenomena, cultivation of organisms, conceptualization, CAD design, fabrication, assembly and installation. Here are some exhibits I was responsible for:

Energy From Light
An exhibit measuring CO2 uptake in photosynthesizing grass, the visitor turns off a light and observes CO2 levels increasing in realtime.

Telltale Breath
An exhibit measuring the CO2 content in a person’s exhaled breath

Trading Materials
Interdependence between plants & animals; grass converts CO2 into Oxygen, Termites convert Oxygen into CO2. Termites and Grass are enclosed in separate chambers, CO2 levels are monitored and displayed in real-time. link

Termitarium
A termite colony in thin cross section, viewable with lighted magnifiers. A white LED on the underside of the magnifier illuminates the field of view.

Oxygen Bubbles
Photosynthetic production of oxygen illustrated via bubbles of oxygen streaming from aquatic plants.

Mutant Flies
Life support and display pods for various strains of mutant Drosophila.

Various Projects

Astronomical Reference Book
A pocket reference book with a 20 year calendar of lunar & solar cycles, including tables, descriptive text and illustrations. Conducted research, created illustrations, compiled tables, wrote text, did page layout.

Box Filing Stack
Shelving for bigso boxes - pine planks sawn diagonally with dowel supports.

Clothing Rack
A clothing rack in the form of a rope ladder for space efficient storage - sustainably harvested maple, braided hemp rope. View 2

Display Board
Something I designed & fabricated for a local non-profit organization - maple plywood, continuous hinges, velcro fabric. View 2