Daniel Duarte

Projects

Physical systems I've analyzed, tested and built under Engineering, most recent first, followed by software and interactive demonstrations.

Engineering

Mechanical design, thermal-fluid systems, testing and controls.

Duke capstone, sponsored by Trane Technologies. Aug 2025 – Apr 2026.

Wind-aware chiller scheduling

Wind-tunnel testing and a scheduling model for reducing hot-air recirculation between data center chillers.

14.8% lower simulated energy use
In one simulated 24-hour scenario for a 3 × 5 chiller array, compared with running every unit continuously. This is a simulation result, not a measured saving.

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ME 536 Compressible Fluid Flow, Duke University. Apr 2026.

Supersonic inlet design and analysis

Shock-relation calculations, CAD and ANSYS Fluent CFD for a supersonic air intake that slows the flow while limiting pressure losses.

M₂ ≈ 1.88
Analytical prediction of Mach number behind the first shock.
p₂/p₁ ≈ 1.63
Analytical prediction of the static pressure ratio across the first shock.

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ME 421 Mechanical Design, Duke University. Fall 2025.

Bolted pressure vessel

A machined aluminum vessel for 50 to 60 cm³ at 750 psig, with a bolted flange and an O-ring seal. It passed its pressure test.

750 psig
Required pressure for the 50 to 60 cm³ volume, equal to 5.17 MPa gauge.
Passed
Lab-staff pressure test of the machined vessel, with no failures.
Margin of 3.0
Against 55 MPa yield at the bore: 18.3 MPa von Mises from a thick-cylinder check of the 5 mm wall.

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ME 344 final project, Duke University. Oct – Dec 2025.

Magnetic levitation control

A LabVIEW PID controller for levitating a steel ball and following changing position commands.

Kp = 1, Ti ≈ 3 s, Td ≈ 0.04 s
Final gains, tuned experimentally and used for all four command modes.

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ME 321L Mechanical Analysis for Design, Duke University. Spring 2025.

Pump support structure

An aluminum support for a pump-and-pulley assembly, from load path and material selection to a load-tested prototype.

117.0 lb
Applied load in the prototype assessment. Not a failure load.
3.81 mm
Platform-end deflection recorded at that load (0.15 in).
5 lb 8.2 oz
Recorded mass of all prototype components.

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EGR 101 Engineering Design, Duke University. Fall 2022.

Laparoscopic skills trainer

A plywood training box with replaceable practice tasks, built around cost, material availability and quick reset.

$23.68
Prototype material cost, against a target under $50.
6.0 lb
Prototype weight on a scale, against a target under 10 lb.
33 s
Average reset time over twenty resets, against a target under 5 minutes.

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Software

Tools for engineering workflows.

Interactive demonstrations

Physics you can run in the browser, computed live from the governing equations.