Julian Rene Alvarez
Yamaha At1
Restoration of a 1969 2-Stroke Dual Sport Enduro Motorcycle
1978 Puch Moped
Mash-up of 40+ year old moped parts to scoot around town on
Surfboard Building
Growing the quiver one board at a time.
Ramp Builds
Building ramps to exchange potential and kinetic on my skateboard
SuperDove Patch
Design of a patch commemorating the inaugural SuperDove launch at Planet
Product Design Engineer
Product design Exercise/Presentation of all the mechanical components necessary to integrate AA batteries into a modern electronic device
VTOL Light Utility Vehicle
Conceptual design of a family of Seperate Lift and Thrust (SLT) vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) versions of the hand launched LUV
Aerobo Rebranding
Complete redesign of the Aerobo's branding while working there as an aeronautical engineer
TerraSoar Graphics
A set of complex problem requiring clear and concise graphical representations
The Cooper Union
A combination of Arts and Sciences
1978 Puch Moped
A full rebuild of a 1978 Puch Free Spirit Moped
Flywheel Side
Mikuni Carburator, 70CC kit with Reeds, Magnesium snowflake wheels with front disc brake, 3d printed taillight/surf rack mount.
Full build description and parts list here
Clutch Side
BSA 1969 Lightning Fuel Tank, Custom rear seat and fairing, and scrambler style handle bars.
Surfboard Building
Shaping and Glassing Surfcraft
Coronavirus Caretaker 5'-8"
6th self shaped surfboard, with outline inspired by the Hayden Shapes Hypto Krypto. Designed in SolidWorks and machined on my CNC router. Volume of 33.7 Liters. CAM programming in Fusion360. Machined, glassed, and finish sanded in my garage during the Coronavirus.
The red cross on field of white colorway was inspired by the USS Mercy and USS Comfort hospital ships while the illustrations were provided by 12 of my surf buddies to describe their own personal coronavirus experience.
SF 2020
Select dimensions and full drawing can be found here.
Round Chonk 6'-0"
5th self shaped surfboard. Designed in SolidWorks and machined on a custom built CNC router. this surfboard represents the first iteration of a series of boards that I will use to explore the design space of modern surfboard shapes. Volume of 34.5 Liters. CAM programming in Fusion360. Machined, glassed, and finish sanded in my backyard studio.
SF 2019
Round Chonk select dimensions shown full drawing located here
Asym 5'-6"
After my Retro Fish was severely damaged by baggage handlers during my move back from California to NYC, I took the opportunity to strip its fiberglass and reshape it into a more unconventional asymmetric board.
The mechanical advantage of my feet is asymmetrical, so why shouldn't my board be too!
4th Self-Shaped Board
2015
Board contours defined In Situ
Deck illustration completed with Molotow paint pens
JulGuard 5'-9"
Third surfboard shaped, sized for Ocean Beach winter swells. Inspired by the Daniel Tomo's Vanguard, this board's contours and volume were fine tuned in Siemens NX and hand sanded into a US Blank. Composite layup with Composite Resource Epoxy, 3 Ply deck lamination and 2 Ply 6 oz. plain weave fiberglass on the underside.
Drawings available here.
2014
Flying fish livery painted by means of three Molotow paint pens.
Logo designed in Illustrator by Ewan Kay
Retro Fish 6'-1"
With Rockaway just a short subway ride ride away, I was missing a surfboard. So I decided to shape my own. Hand shaped and then laminated with West Systems Epoxy. Composite layup: 6 oz. plain weave Fiberglass with 1 bias layer 6 oz. Carbon Fiber for Tail and Deck Patches. Wet sanded to 1200 grit finish by hand on the sidewalk in Bushwick.
2013
Board contours were designed in AutoCAD
Deck and Tail designs drawn in Adobe Illustrator
Quad Fin 5'-3"
First attempt at sufboard shaping, for a friend. Board contours were designed in AKU Shaper and hand sanded into a US blank. Composite layup with West Systems Epoxy and 6 oz. plain weave Fiber Glass.
2012
Painted by means of laser cut template
Deck design drawn in Adobe IllustratorRamp Builds
Skateboarding in the Backyard
MicroRamp
With the on-shore winds of summer blowing across the peninsula, finding a good thrill can be tough. The surf is always blown out so I decided to recreate my previous mini ramp at a more "responsible" size.
18' x 8' x 22"
SF 2018
The design splits into three separate pieces that are mounted on castor wheels. This allows for rapid ramp relocation just in case the landlord finds out.
MiniRamp
For the days when the waves are small, a convenient thrill was missing. After many months of planning and design, one Friday in June it finally became a reality. A mini-ramp was born.
24' x 10' x 40"
NYC 2015
1100 lbs. of wood assembled in two weekends
Designed in Solidworks
SuperDove Patch
Process to design a commemorative patch for the first launch of the SuperDove EO Cubesat
Product Design
AA Batteries for a modern device.
VTOL Light Utility Vehicle
VTOL capable Separate Lift and Thrust (SLT) version of the LUV for entrance in the Airbus Cargo Delivery Contest
Branding Redesign
A mechanical engineer completes a rebrand
TerraSoar
Using graphic design to describe a Senior Capstone in a concise manner.
Semester 1
Project scope, Aircraft performance estimation, Aerodynamic tool verification, and Loads estimation
Semester 2
Structural architecture, Component mechanical design, FEA, Vacuum bagging, Composite structures, Hotwire cutting
Reflections
An overlay of all hand sketches drawn during the extent of the TerraSoar project.
Cooper Union
Drawing classes and free time
Bikes
Urban transportation for all
Shitibike
Tired of the standard livery on my VISP TRX 999 I decided to repaint it. With the recent introduction of the citibike program in NYC, there was plenty of inspiration.
Video of the shitibike in action here.
2013
The design was laid out in Illustrator with some help from Edbert. Frame was then stripped and repainted with Krylon rattle cans. The logo was masked with a custom cut package label while the remaineder of the bike was simply masked with tape.
FOLDandFEND
Commuting to school from Brooklyn, I needed a fender to protect my bum. Looking for a simplified solution, I designed my own fully recyclable bike fender. It mounts without any additional materials.
2012
Lasercut from cardboard
Designed in AutoCAD
Photography
Taken with a Minolta SRT-101 and Shown In Reverse Chronological Order
Drop a line
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