Leon Li

Mechanical Engineering · Structural & Manufacturing Design
(1) 647-861-5819
leon.li2@uwaterloo.ca
01

Technical skills

Design & analysis
SolidWorks, AutoCAD, OpenVSP, VSPAERO, GD&T, tolerance stack-up analysis, DFM, FEA / SolidWorks Simulation
Manufacturing
Manual machining, 3D printing, laser cutting, materials selection
Programming
Python, MATLAB, C++, VBA, Java
02

Experience

Jun 2026 —
Present

Structural Designer

WatArrow RC Aircraft Design Team · Waterloo, ON
  • Reduced 3D-printing time by up to 50% by improving component printability through geometry simplification, orientation optimization, and splitting oversized components for assembly.
  • Achieved ±0.1 mm first-attempt cutting accuracy for a carbon-fibre landing gear strut by designing and 3D-printing a SolidWorks cut guide directly from weldment geometry.
  • Achieved a conformal battery-box cover fit by wet-forming and heat-shrinking balsa sheet over a 3D-printed mold to match the aircraft's contoured structure.
Sep 2026 —
Present

Logistics and Purchasing Co-op

EMJ Canada / Reliance Metals Canada Limited · Mississauga, ON
  • Validated mechanical shaft specifications by converting inch-based tolerances into ISO 286 fit limits and performing dimensional range analysis to verify compliance with customer requirements.
  • Cut purchase order processing time by 37.5% and eliminated email data-entry errors across ~$500K/week in vendor orders by developing a VBA automation tool that extracts order information from Outlook using the OpenAI API.
  • Eliminated 100% of missed vendor confirmations by developing a VBA automation tool that tracks confirmations and flags unwanted POs across 15+ suppliers.
Sep 2025 —
Dec 2025

Production Associate

Nahanni Steel Products · Brampton, ON
  • Performed in-process dimensional and quality inspections on up to 800 automotive components/hour during die-press production, ensuring conformance to manufacturing specifications.
  • Supported continuous production across 10+ automotive part variants by performing 2+ die and coil changeovers per shift while maintaining production and quality requirements.
03

Projects

Sep 2026 —
Oct 2026

Column Buckling Analysis & FEA Validation Tool

  • Reduced preliminary buckling analysis time from 15 minutes to 2 minutes by developing a Python tool using NumPy and Matplotlib to calculate critical buckling loads across a range of column lengths and boundary conditions.
  • Validated buckling predictions across 40+ SolidWorks Simulation FEA cases by comparing analytical Euler and Johnson predictions against FEA results, achieving 4% average error.
Jun 2025 —
Aug 2025

E-Bike Mechanical Design

  • Designed, prototyped, and manufactured steel torque plates in SolidWorks for a 48V 1000W hub motor, achieving successful first-fit installation and passing physical stress testing.
  • Enabled accurate battery-box installation by 3D-scanning bike geometry with Polycam and designing a SolidWorks alignment jig to guide mounting-hole placement.
May 2025 —
Aug 2025

Autonomous Trash Picking Robot

  • Reduced mechanical failure rate from 40% to 0% by designing a motor-driven spool mechanism in SolidWorks that eliminated gear misalignment in the drawbridge door system.
  • Developed a C++ grid-navigation algorithm using arrays and iterative control logic, enabling autonomous traversal of a 25 cm grid pattern.
04

Education

University of Waterloo — B.A.Sc. Mechanical Engineering

Anticipated Apr 2029
Cumulative average: 85%
Relevant courses: Electromechanical Devices & Power Processing, Mechanics of Deformable Solids, Thermodynamics, Dynamics, Microprocessors and Digital Logic