Hiro Sakuma

01  Portfolio  ·  2026

Hiro Sakuma

Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech.

I design robots, build them, and write the software they need to work.

Selected workResume PDF

Right now

Machining a lighter differential bar for RoboJackets RoboNav, building instrumented fixtures for an assistive exoskeleton at the GT PoWeR Lab, and fresh off a summer at the University of Tokyo redesigning an autonomous surface vehicle from the hull up.

Experience

All roles
  1. 01

    Maki Lab, Institute of Industrial Science @ University of Tokyo

    Research Intern · Tokyo, Japan

    Under Professor Toshihiro Maki and Angelyn Mercado, I led the mechanical, electrical, network, and software overhaul that turned the BUTTORI buoy-type ASV into the CHATORA boat-type ASV — a platform built for high-accuracy AUV pursuit and acoustic communication in open water.

    June 2026 – August 2026
  2. 02

    PoWeR Lab, ARMS Research (VIP) @ Georgia Tech

    Undergraduate Lab Researcher · Atlanta, GA

    As part of the instrumented objects team on the GT PoWeR Lab's ARMS Research Vertically Integrated Project, I design and fabricate custom hardware fixtures that let ATI force/torque transducers and force plates capture the biomechanical data behind an assistive exoskeleton's control system.

    January 2026 – Present
  3. 03

    RoboNav @ RoboJackets, Georgia Tech

    Mechanical Team Member · Atlanta, GA

    I joined RoboNav, RoboJackets' autonomous ground vehicle team, through the Mini Rover Challenge onboarding program and now work on the rover's chassis — most recently optimizing the differential bar that keeps the chassis level over rough terrain.

    August 2025 – Present
  4. 04

    The Environmental Defense Initiative (NPO)

    Chief Technology Officer · Remote

    As CTO at TEDI, I lead the organization's IT infrastructure and built its Next.js platform from scratch — a custom blog uploader, a member-exclusive portal, and a petition tracking system — while using data-driven SEO to scale our reach to thousands of unique users worldwide.

    May 2024 – Present

Selected work

All projects
  1. 01

    Low-Cost Thermal Solution for AI Processors

    2026

    A low-cost thermal solution for high-power AI/datacenter processors, developed for the IEEE ECTC student competition. I won first place in the BS/MS track at the 76th IEEE ECTC conference in Orlando, Florida.

    Thermal Engineering · Research · SolidWorks

  2. 02

    Hero Utilities

    2024

    A collection of open source CAD utilities to help aspiring engineers with creating complex parts. My project is able to create custom parts such as gears — which often require complex math and lots of design iteration — with just a few inputs.

    Software · CAD · Open Source

  3. 03

    Cosmic Collector

    2026

    A cave-exploration robot built in 24 hours at the Robotech 2026 Hackathon. As one of the mechanical leads working with two CS majors, I designed a modular, parametric chassis system — and rebuilt it overnight after a 10-hour print failure.

    Hackathon · ROS2 · Rapid Prototyping

Let’s connect.

Looking for internships, research opportunities, and collaborations in mechanical engineering and robotics. If you have something interesting in motion, send a note.

Atlanta, GA