Armando Ramirez

About Me

ABOUT
ME

I'm a Mechanical Engineering student at Cal Poly SLO, graduating December 2026 and specializing in composite structures and manufacturing. I work at the intersection of hands-on fabrication and structural analysis.

During the 2024–2025 season with Cal Poly Racing's Baja SAE team, I manufactured composite components including a Carbon-Kevlar skid plate, steering wheel inserts, and safety hardware — helping the team achieve 6th overall at Baja SAE Arizona 2025 and pass technical inspection first with no safety concerns.

My senior capstone is a 3D-printed competition flying wing aircraft designed for high glide ratio. I'm also actively pursuing internship opportunities in aerospace, automotive, and advanced manufacturing.

ANSYS ACP ANSYS Static Structural XFLR5 MATLAB SolidWorks Fusion 360 CLT / ABD Matrix Vacuum Infusion Wet Layup Pre-preg Layup 3D Printing ASTM Testing

Relevant Coursework

ME412 Composite Materials Analysis & Design

ME161 Composite Materials Manufacturing

ME470 Fracture Mechanics & Fatigue (Selected Topics)

Projects

PROJECTS

Composite Footplate

Designed and tested a composite sandwich panel footplate for the Baja SAE vehicle. Three plies of carbon fiber on each face with a Nomex honeycomb core. Ran ANSYS ACP to simulate driver foot loading, and conducted 3-point bend testing on four candidate material configurations before selecting CF/Nomex.

ANSYS ACP Nomex Honeycomb 3-Point Bend Baja SAE

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3D-Printed Flying Wing

Senior capstone RC flying wing aircraft optimized for high glide ratio. Used XFLR5 to compare five airfoils (MH60, MH45, SD7037, Clark Y, E325), ran ASTM D638 tensile testing to characterize PLA, and applied experimental values in ANSYS Static Structural FEA on the wing spars.

XFLR5 ANSYS Static Structural ASTM D638 FDM

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Composite Skid Plate

Fabricated an impact-resistant three-piece skid plate for off-road racing via vacuum infusion. Carbon-Kevlar with Rohacell core — 43% lighter than aluminum equivalent. Achieved 6th overall at Baja SAE Arizona 2025 with no structural damage.

Vacuum Infusion Carbon-Kevlar Rohacell Core Baja SAE

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SAMPE Composite I-Beam

ME161 project — manufactured the lightest composite I-beam to achieve maximum point load in three-point bending. Unidirectional pre-preg carbon fiber layup with Nomex sandwich core. Achieved 9kN load at just 312g.

Pre-preg UD Carbon Nomex Core ME161 SAMPE

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ASTM D3039/D3518 Testing

Fabricated and tested unidirectional composite samples using Toray TC250 infused pre-preg to determine mean strength properties per ASTM standards. Tested in Instron — experimental results matched analytical micromechanics predictions within 2% error.

ASTM D3039 ASTM D3518 Toray TC250 Instron

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Composite Layups

Wet layup fabrication across multiple Baja SAE components including body panels, aero hoop, seat, and hood during the 2024-2025 season. Also contributed to the 2025-2026 hood using 2x2 twill carbon fiber over fiberglass tooling from the previous year.

Wet Layup 2x2 Twill CF FG Tooling Baja SAE

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More Work

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Steering Wheel Inserts

Six aluminum inserts machined on manual lathe to within 0.005" — used in 2025 Baja SAE competition.

Manual Lathe Aluminum Baja SAE

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Fire Ext. Tabs & Headrest

Safety components water jet from 4340 chromoly and aluminum. Cal Poly Racing was first through tech inspection at 2025 Baja SAE.

Waterjet 4340 Chromoly Welding

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Radio Holder

Fully designed and fabricated carbon fiber radio mount — CAD in Fusion 360, simple block mold, wet layup.

Fusion 360 Mold Design Carbon Layup

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CF Clipboard

Carbon fiber clipboard fabricated in ME161 using pre-preg layup, autoclave cured.

Pre-preg Autoclave ME161

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CF Miata Radiator Cowl

Designing a lightweight carbon fiber cowl to direct airflow through the radiator of an NA Mazda Miata. CAD complete, manufacturing pending material acquisition.

Carbon Fiber SolidWorks In Progress

ABOUTME

PROJECTS

ARMANDO
RAMIREZ

ABOUT
ME