Things I have designed and built. Each project started from the physics, not from a template.
Alkaline Water Electrolyzer — DanVeer 1
University of Michigan · Graduate Research · 2024-2025
A bipolar alkaline water electrolyzer built entirely from scratch. The goal was simple: understand how electrolysis actually works at a fundamental level. Not from a textbook. From building one.
No funding. No dedicated lab space. Built against my professor’s advice. I designed the bipolar plates, waterjet-cut the nickel electrodes from 0.03mm shim stock, laser-cut the EPDM rubber gaskets, and characterized the full stack myself.
Specs
- 175 cm² active electrode area (nickel)
- Bipolar stack design with polypropylene frame plates
- EPDM rubber gaskets, laser-cut from stock
- Porous PES (polyethersulfone) diaphragm as gas separator
- 2.4V per cell at 10A operating point
- Designed for off-grid solar applications: accepted lower electrical efficiency in exchange for zero-CAPEX material choices
Why This Project Matters
This is the project that best represents how I work. End-to-end ownership of a complex electrochemical system. Every design decision made from first principles. Every part sourced, fabricated, and assembled by hand. The electrolyzer ran, produced hydrogen, and I characterized its performance curves myself. It is also the foundation for my longer-term work on green hydrogen and Haber-Bosch ammonia synthesis under AngRaj Power.
Liquid Bipropellant Rocket Engine
Personal Project · In Progress · 2026
A GOX/propane liquid rocket engine designed from a blank sheet. Every dimension comes from CEA thermochemistry runs and first-principles orifice, nozzle, and chamber sizing. No kits, no templates, no copying someone else’s design.
Design Point
- 150 N thrust
- 200 PSI chamber pressure (GOX + liquid propane)
- O/F ratio 2.0, Isp 228 s (CEA)
- Chamber temperature 3267 K
- 1-inch Sch 40 stainless chamber, contraction ratio 6.0
- Graphite nozzle, area ratio 1.8 (optimally expanded at sea level)
Injector Design
Two injector variants are being designed and tested in parallel: a doublet impinging injector (3 pairs at 120° spacing, momentum-balanced with angled drilling) and a pintle injector (1/8-inch C145 tellurium copper post with radial fuel holes and an annular GOX gap). Both will be 3D printed in resin first for cold flow Cd characterization with water at garden hose pressure. The winner gets machined in tellurium copper.
Current Status
Injector geometry is nearly locked. Full doublet orifice sizing, O-ring sealing strategy (Viton face seals), and manifold routing are defined. One open question remains on fuel hole radial drift at the 55.1° drilling angle. Cold flow test plan is set. Hot fire is explicitly deferred (no permits, no budget for RRS Mojave yet). Budget for cold flow phase: $540-785.
Materials
C145 tellurium copper for injector plates and pintle post. 316 stainless for the chamber tube and flanges. Graphite nozzle. Mild steel welded test stand. All off-the-shelf stock from McMaster-Carr, machined at a local pro shop.
Why This Project
Rocket propulsion sits at the intersection of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and manufacturing. Designing an engine from scratch forces you to hold all of those domains in your head simultaneously and make real trade-offs with real consequences. The long-term motivation is transferable: the same first-principles approach applies to electrolyzer stack design, Haber-Bosch reactors, and any other system where the physics are what matter.
Surya Kher - Early Career Mechanical Engineer 