Mechanical Engineer III @ Apptronik · Austin, TX

Fernando
Suarez.

Mechanical engineer at Apptronik working on humanoid robots. Started in pure CAD; the work has pulled me deeper into simulation, scripting, and the small custom tools that let a hardware team move faster. The interesting problems live where the hardware meets the code.

Role
Mechanical Engineer III
Focus
Humanoid Robotics
Based
Austin, TX
Reach
fpatricksuarez@gmail.com
§ 01 / Currently

At Apptronik.

Working on humanoid robots — the day-to-day blends mechanical design with simulation, scripting, and custom tooling that helps the hardware team iterate faster. Promoted IC1 → IC2 → IC3 in two years.

Recent themes

A mechanical engineer building the bridge between hardware and the software that drives it.

Simulation data pipeline — Python tooling that parses time-series logs from policy executions into actionable load cases and metrics, closing the loop between simulation and hardware design.
Architecture for a next-gen platform — driving the foundational layout. Writing journal scripts to bridge simulation outputs into engineering-ready master models in CAD; the API is sparsely documented, so I lean on agentic LLM workflows to get reliable generated code.
Earlier in tenure — led an arm subsystem to CDR; resolved a critical thermal issue with a hybrid metal / 3D-printed redesign that doubled as a structural fix. Designs from that phase ship at fleet scale today.
URDF ownership — saw a hardware/software handoff gap and proactively took over the URDF generation and post-processing pipeline, becoming the bridge between the two divisions.

Open to chats with humanoid teams hiring on either side of that line.

§ 02 / Stack

What I reach for.

A working set, not a resume bullet list. The things I open every week.

CAD & Mechanical
Where I design
Years in Onshape; recently bridging into NX.
  • Onshape primary, daily
  • Siemens NX recent · journal scripting
  • SolidWorks fluent
  • Inventor · Fusion 360 · Creo · Rhino as needed
  • GD&T (ASME Y14.5) · FMEA · HALT · Reliasoft applied
  • Surface · Sheet metal · Fastener design applied
Manufacturing
What I design FOR
Hands-on time at the machine matters.
  • HPDC · Injection molding DFM-fluent
  • CNC mill / lathe programmed & run
  • EDM · Hobbing applied
  • Sheet metal · Water jet · Laser applied
  • 3D printing structural & tooling
  • Manual lathe tenths-of-thou bearing fits
Code & Tooling
What lets me move faster
Self-built tools and scripts for hardware work.
  • Python data pipelines, apps
  • C++ when needed
  • MATLAB analysis
  • Arduino · Visual Basic utility
  • NX journal scripting CAD automation
  • Agentic LLM workflows built, not borrowed
§ 03 / Selected Work

Foundations.

Earlier work in vehicle dynamics, transmission design, and product development. Recent humanoid robotics work is under NDA — happy to talk about it in conversation.

§ 03·00·A 2026 · in progress Isaac Sim Unitree G1 — four trained policies balancing on flat ground

Isaac Sim · Unitree G1

Side build · Sim-to-real exploration

Standing up an RL locomotion pipeline for a humanoid on my own box — and asking the mechanical-engineering question of which physics-step data actually informs hardware decisions.

Isaac Sim Isaac Lab PPO · rsl_rl Unitree G1 ME-grade data export
§ 03·00·B 2026 · shipped Crow + teletalk — schematic of personal AI-ops layer

Crow + teletalk

Personal infra · Telegram → agent fleet

Two small Node services I wrote so my agent fleet is reachable from my phone — one fast opinionated relay, one scoping companion with persistent memory. Running daily.

Node.js Telegram · grammy SQLite Whisper Personal infra
§ 03·01 2022 TR22 Gearbox CAD render

TR22 Gearbox

High-load transmission · Design lead

Complete redesign addressing bearing wear, oil leak, and weight on the previous Terps Racing car. New belt path enables AWD output.

SolidWorks FEA CNC
§ 03·02 2023 TR23 Gearbox CAD render

TR23 Gearbox

Iterative redesign · Design lead

Successor to TR22 — interfaces to a new 4WD clutch, supports updated loadings, tightens manufacturing tolerances based on field data.

SolidWorks Fatigue DFM
§ 03·03 2023 TR23 Steering CAD render

TR23 Steering Rack

Kinematic linkage · Design lead

Ground-up rework of a 2018-era steering rack to reduce driver effort, raise yield strength, drop weight, and make in-pit assembly faster.

Vehicle Dynamics Linkage Aluminum
§ 03·04 2023 Solar panel cleaner CAD render

Solar Panel Cleaner

Capstone · Product development

Designed and built in 4 months on a $500 budget — a moving rig that cleans large-format solar arrays without water. Concept to functional prototype.

Capstone Mechanism Prototype
§ 03·05 2016 FRC 2016 robot CAD

FRC 2016 — Stronghold

High-school team · CAD contributor

First serious CAD work — turret and intake mechanisms for the team's competition robot. The project that committed me to engineering.

FRC Inventor
§ 03·06 2017 FRC 2017 robot CAD

FRC 2017 — Steamworks

High-school team · CAD lead

Took on the CAD-lead role; focus shifted from solo modeling to scaffolding sketches and standards so the rest of the team could move faster.

FRC Team Lead
§ 05 / Contact

Get in touch.