Engineering/Software Design Services

What we offer:

We are here to help you build things! Our QI Prototyping Lab team consists of dedicated staff engineers and programmers, who are experts in electrical, mechanical and software design. We are here to provide prototyping and engineering support for UCSD researchers, research programs, departments, as well as external collaborators.

Our time is available both on a project-by-project basis, as well as for part-time longer-term commitments and institutional support. The idea is that we can be

• a team that builds a prototype system for you,
• a place where we work with you to collaboratively build something,
• a resource for departments and programs to have access to professional engineers without having to hire full-time staff themselves.

For more details, see the How we can work with you and Capabilities tabs on the left.

For quotes on our services or general inquiries, just stop by (Atkinson Hall, room 1202) or send us an email.

Engineering/Software Design Services

How we can work with you:

Our goal is to directly engage with you in creating rapid prototypes to support your projects. We can start our design based on high-level descriptions of functionality, so you don't need to be an expert yourself; just tell us what you like to have.

Alternatively, we also welcome you to actively work with us in our lab, if you want. We can give your team access to work benches and the prototyping equipment so you can work side-by-side with us.

Finally, we also offer our services on a more open ended basis. For example, we can make our engineering staff available to your group, program or department for a certain number of hours each week to provide general support. We can come over to your side of campus and directly support your labs.

We also provide general training for our collaborators on how to use our machines and equipment. Cost is directly related to the duration of the training; as such, it is beneficial to schedule training as a group, as it allows to amortize costs over multiple participants.

All of these services are available through a recharge mechanism; a description of how various users (internal, external, students) can interface with us through this recharge is given here. For the specific rates, check out our recharge page.

Engineering/Software Design Services

Capabilities

Our expertise spans a wide range of technologies and application domains, from bio-medical and embedded systems to robotics, mechatronics and wireless systems. A particular strength is our ability to fully integrate the electronics, mechanical elements and software of a system in a single design flow, and help build entire system prototypes from the ground up.

In our lab, we have design software and assembly tools to create a wide variety of electrical, mechanical and embedded systems, as well as contacts for outside vendors and services (such as for PCB fabrication). We have several software platforms at our disposal, such as SolidWorks, Altium Designer and LabView. We also have expertise in a range of programming languages, operating systems and platforms.

In addition, we have a dedicated machine shop, allowing us to 3D print, mill and cut a wide variety of materials, from plastics to metals. For a more detailed description of our capabilities, please take a look at the list of equipment we have available.

Also check out our past projects and other success stories.