As part of Northwestern’s Intro to Mechanical Design and Manufacturing course, I worked on a team of four to design and fabricate a set of bike brake calipers using Nylon-12. Our design process involved hand calculations, topology optimization based on calculated braking forces, and iterative refinement using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). We used the topology results as inspiration for weight-saving geometry while ensuring mechanical integrity.

The final calipers weighed just 47.5 grams and met ISO bicycle braking safety standards for stopping distance, demonstrating both performance and manufacturability in a lightweight polymer component.