Jonathan S. Wallen

Mechanical Engineer, Roboticist, Maker

Welcome to my portfolio — I’m Jonathan Wallen, a mechanical engineer specializing in robotics and product development.
I design robust, scalable hardware systems that power cutting-edge autonomy, from autonomous excavators to underwater robots, to robotic arm. This site showcases a range of professional and personal projects that integrate engineering precision with practical deployment.

Background:

Ph.D Candidate in Mechanical Engineering @ UHM
Research Topic: Robot localization and modeling of dynamic environment features
M.S. in Mechanical Engineering @ UHM 2021
B.S. in Mechanical Engineering @ UHM 2019

NASA Images

Diverse Work History

My professional experience is in mechanical design, autonomous system engineering, design for manufacture and product release, state estimation, and control systems. I have worked on a diverse range of robotic systems; from large construction robots to compact autonomous underwater vehicles. I enjoy leading teams and projects.

My research focused on making machines and systems more capable of high fidelity and highly “intelligent” performance. I went about this by building upon and combining the foundations of system design, control theory, dynamical systems, machine learning and state estimation to find automated solutions to complex problems.

View my Portfolio

Résumé / CV

Experience

OSARO | SENIOR MECHANICAL ENGINEER
Apr 2023 – Present | San Francisco, Ca
BUILT ROBOTICS | SENIOR ROBOTICS HARDWARE ENGINEER
Jan 2022 – Oct 2022 | San Francisco, Ca
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII @ MANOA | RESEARCH ENGINEER
Aug 2019 – Dec 2021 | Honolulu, Hi
MAKAI OCEAN ENGINEERING INC. | MECH. ENG. INTERN
Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | Honolulu, Hi
GENERAL CONTRACTING | FREELANCE DESIGNER/BUILDER
Fall 2017 – Dec 2021 | Honolulu, Hi

Publications

MTS/IEEE OCEANS Conf., San Diego, California | September 2021
- Co-design Optimization for Underwater Vehicle Docking Systems
MTS/IEEE OCEANS Conf., Seattle, Washington | October 2019
- Underwater Docking System for a Wave Energy Converter based Mobile Station
MTS/IEEE OCEANS Conf., Marseille, France| July 2019
- Development of an adaptive docking station for resident underwater vehicles

Awards

U.S. Dept. of Energy Ocean Observing Prize Discover & Design Winner
U.S. Dept. of Energy 2020 Marine Energy Collegiate Competition Winner
National Science Foundation S-STEM Scholarship recipient

Skills

Engineering: Mechanical Design/Modeling, GD&T, DFM, FEA, Thermal Simulation, Prototyping, Composites, 3D Printing, Electrical Integration, Optics, Industrial Automation, Root Cause Analysis
Tools: SolidWorks, Autodesk, MATLAB, Python, GitHub, Unix, LATEX, Adobe Creative Cloud

Full CV

Collaboration and Employment

Finding Inspiration in our beautiful, ingenious world.

Kilauea Iki crater, Volcano National Park