Meet the C-TAP Team

Travis Gabel is C-TAP’s manager and is very well connected to labs in the College of Engineering and beyond. Travis also serves as the technical support engineer to Boise State’s Idaho Microfabrication Lab. Please give Travis a call to so that C-TAP can provide you the help you need.

Max was an Engineering Plus student with an emphasis on entrepreneurship but willing to take on challenges to gain new experiences. Max worked on rebuilding the COEN student shop plasma cutter which had been down for several months. The plan was to upgrade both the power system and the software to make it more supportable and more reliable. Max got some great technical experiences wiring up the system, updating the schematics documents, and configuring the software and debugging the system during bringup. Thanks to Max’s efforts, the student shop has a plasma cutter that works better than ever and is able to support more improvements down the road.

Robby was a mechanical engineering student that also worked on bringing the COEN student shop plasma cutter back to life. Robby worked on several key areas including the software configuration, contributing to the mechanical and electrical upgrade of the power architecture and configuration of the various settings in the software so the system produced the desired results. Robby capped off this work with a detailed document presented to the student shop management describing how to run jobs on the plasma cutter from generating files and using the software.

Parker was a Computer Science major and a wizard in all things electro-mechanical. He was hired to debug a small CNC router that was given to C-TAP. Parker not only was able to return the router to service, he was able to identify weaknesses in the system and with the help of SolidWorks and a 3D printer, designed and installed upgrades where he could. This included wiring in limit switches, enclosing the wires in cable carrier and building supports to integrate the electronics into the router base. Parker then used the system to route prototype PC boards for a NASA club project that he is working on. In June 2019,  C-TAP, Parker went on to lead a Boise State team that competed in a NASA sponsored robotics competition. The Boise State team took first place in the auto navigation segment and third place overall against 50 other university teams from around the world. Congratulations, Parker!

Hunter was in his junior year in Materials Science and Engineering and worked as a lab technician to perform specialized characterizations of materials for C-TAP. He had ongoing work in performing particle size characterization for a local industrial partner. This role enabled him to develop standard operating procedures for the analyses so that they may be carried out in a consistent and safe manner. As Hunter gained expertise with the work, he made revisions to further refine the procedure. He also learned how to use a scanning electron microscope, including work to prepare samples and to analyze the images using ImageJ software. His  C-TAP experience laid the ground work for Hunter to find a position as a research technician in  a materials science lab the following year.

Tyler was a senior in Material Science and Engineering and was instrumental in the successful completion of printed electronic devices project that C-TAP facilitated. Tyler not only was responsible for the build and test of the devices, he also was the main contact at Boise State for technical communication. Overall, Tyler delivered 3 batches of devices on time amidst tight delivery schedules and shifting technical requirements. He also demonstrated strong technical communication skills by assembling a slide presentation to guide a late project technical discussion as well as final report summarizing the assembly processes he used on the devices. On this project, Tyler learned a great deal about printed electronics devices as well as the expectations and business style encountered in small startups.

Matt was a junior in mechanical engineer when he joined C-TAP. His work focused on the characterization of the the electronics for a solar powered lighting system for flagpoles. In his work, Matt measured the voltages and currents at different points in the circuit. Matt’s work identified a component that inhibited the overall efficiency of the system in terms of brightness. A modified circuit was evaluated for light output and battery life. He has also measured light distribution from the LEDs of the system and shown the benefits of a modified circuit that provided greater efficiency.

Through this work, Matt learned electrical circuit documentation with Eagle software, gained soldering skills that allowed him to modify circuits, the ability to read component data sheets and look for information on key parameters and create a of Bill of Materials. Lastly, he had learned to gather voltage and current information through the programming of data acquisition systems. Matt wrapped up the work by writing a comprehensive report detailing his experimentation, observations and recommendations.

Leslie was hired in her junior year in mechanical engineer and engaged in a variety of projects during her two semesters with C-TAP. Her initial project was to create a complex contoured 3-D form for an inventor with a novel sailboat rudder design.

Her second project was to assist in the implementation of a new power and control circuit for the heated bed of a 3-D printer to improve thermal response time and capability. This gave her hands-on experience in circuits, soldering, cable routing and termination and schematic documentation. She also gained experience in the use of shop tools such as drill press and band saw as well as smaller hand-held tools.

Leslie’s third project was to investigate the quality of solder joints for a client’s surface mount technology printed circuit board assembly (PCAs). She took careful photographs of each joint, identified both consistencies and anomalies among the joints and wrote a comprehensive report that detailed her findings and provided recommendations to improve the solder joints. The manufacturer implemented her recommendations and saw a dramatic reduction in defects.

Leslie’s final project was to characterize the consistency of pharmaceutical cream dispensers for a client. This experimental work has entailed considerable data collection and statistical analysis to bring to light the similarities and differences between the various dispenser designs. She is on the final stretch in completing a 14 page report for the work as well as an expansive Excel workbook containing thousands of data points, statistical calculations and charts. This project was the most extensive undertaken by C-TAP at the time.

Abbi was a sophomore in mechanical engineer when she was hired by C-TAP. Her strong academic record and communication skills made her a solid candidate for the internship.

Through C-TAP, Abbi worked on a variety of projects including the creation of a complete 2-D SolidWorks package that included part and assembly drawings that enabled a local barrel maker send the design out for quote.

In addition, Abbi worked on a mobile cart for the Boise State Makerspace to allow secure access for a small CNC mill. Her design required her to build the system around existing parts that she carefully rendered in 3-D space. In the process, Abbi became familiar with the principles of Design Thinking and participating in multiple cycles of concept review and refinement. Abbi also got experience in using power tools in making modifications to the CNC mill as well as other projects.

Lastly, Abbi gained experience in working with Arduino programs, an experience that whetted her appetite to learn more about microcontrollers and programming. After C-TAP, Abbi embarked on a trip to Brazil as part of her ROTC program at Boise State.

Ashley was a sophomore in Mechanical Engineering when she joined C-TAP. Ashley was asked to mount and wire the components of the flame sensor system as well as take over the 3D printing work for C-TAP projects. She was then tasked with improvements in the process used by Usful Glass to saw their bottles in preparation of making drinking glasses. Ashley began this work by carefully watching the production process and learning about the science of cutting glass. She then identified several key areas for improvements that included a new saw blade choice, more robust bottle fixturing and more targeted water delivery to the blade. She then retrofitted an unused saw with these improvements and demonstrated the benefits to Usful Glass. Her refinements reduced the loss due to breakage in the saw operation as well as reduced the amount of work needed in subsequent polishing operations due to the smoother cut afforded by her improvements. After C-TAP, Ashley studied abroad in Sheffield, England for her junior year.

Jeff was an undergraduate student in Mechanical Engineering when C-TAP hired him to create some mechanical parts and assemblies in Solid Works to solve a client need as well as allow Jeff a chance to gain more experience in mechanical CAD work. After that, Jeff had the responsibility of assisting in the design of a flame detection system for a local non-profit, Usful Glass. This work included instrumenting a system with thermocouples and and writing the program for a PLC that would read the output of the temperature controllers and produce an output to solenoid valves that controlled gas flow. In addition, Jeff oversaw the mechanical and electrical documentation of the entire flame sense system.

Nicholas, a computer science major, was hired to assemble a searchable database to assist users in finding instrumentation and research interests on the Boise State campus. Nicholas collected data for research labs in the College of Engineering and the College of Arts and Sciences and refined the data to make it consistent and understandable by the user. Based on Nicholas’ work, C-TAP has received many inquiries for access to equipment by visitors to our website.

Griff was midway through his undergraduate program in Mechanical Engineering when he joined C-TAP. As a designer, Griff expanded his understanding of SolidWorks CAD software and gained experience in programming Arduino’s for one client’s testbed. Griff also gained expertise using C-TAP’s 3-D printer and was participated in community outreach events showing how 3-D printed parts were made. Griff’s ability to work on a project from start to finish proved invaluable to clients as well as providing him solid real-world experience. While working for C-TAP, Griff learned metal shop skills that would allow him to fabricate parts and assemblies; that experience would eventually take him to his next position as the Student Shop supervisor in the College of Engineering.