Project Overview:
During my third co-op at Tender Food, I designed a food-safe hydraulic press and custom molds that form plant-based meat products matching customer specifications. Having no prior experience with hydraulics or pneumatics, I was able to learn a lot about pumps, valves, pistons, and fluid transmission. I also programmed and machined the custom drainage plate with Fusion 360 CAM and a CNC Mill to reduce costs by $2k per part and lead time by 2 weeks. By the end of my co-op I was able to implement this press at a food production facility for use in full scale production.
