Typical tasks assigned to me reaches about designing, prototyping, solving issues, reporting. I have to be smart in my planning in order to optimize my time between integration of systems, testing of setups, reporting of measurements, brainstorming to propose designs reaching customer objectives. The main advantage of my work is the versatility my tasks need, and that I (I think) fulfill. I must be precise in integration, rigorous in measurement, clear in reporting, smart in designs. I also use, and therefore learn about, a lot of different tools, from experimental high-tech measurement tools, to coding for data processing, to simulation software for designs performance estimation.

Because of the versatility in my tasks and tools, I learn a lot.
From experimental high-tech measurement tools and coding for data processing, to simulation software for designs performance estimation.

In my daily work, mechanical designs are the base blocks on which I have to rely in order to produce precise and robust systems. They are often qualified as such only when the designer has a good knowledge of how to mount, align and integrate the components. A good design will provide several layers of depth of alignment, from a nominal position to a several degrees of freedom. The great designer will also have foreseen the integration interferences (screw unreachable, elements too close) and will have provided detour ways to get the job done, rather than having to report the issue afterwards. In this case, 3D printing is often seen as a quick but temporary way to solve problems. It offers short production time (design time + a few hours of printing) while a complete new piece would take days, however the current 3D printers at my company only offer PLA items, therefore not suitable for a definitive fit.

The current biggest challenge resides in the ever-growing need for miniaturization. Mechanical designs become more and more dense, with the same alignment and degrees of freedom. Projects tend to integrate optics of a few millimeters size in opto-mechanical volume of less than one cubic centimeter. This volume holds only one millimeter of water! To reach such tininess, new mechanical pieces are invented, such as flexures. They are, I think, one of the most interesting latest mechanical advances. They rely on the material elasticity to provide alignment, or to tune rigidity of the element. They allow to reduce significantly the total volume while keeping the same freedom of alignment, but are still very tricky to design.

Interested in becoming a system engineer or working at Lambda-X like Casimir?