About / Daniel Teal

Hello, world.

I'm Daniel Teal, an engineer. I'm finishing my PhD at Berkeley (update October 2024: dissertation talk is complete and I'm in the process of turning in my dissertation!) where I study microfabrication. I appreciate kindness, freedom, morality, and a good day's work. I look forward to nanotechnology, spaceflight, and a good future.

My main interest is semiconductor manufacturing equipment. I'm a mechanical engineer with additional experience in semiconductor microfabrication and processing, electronics, and software.

Email me at dteal@dteal.org or dteal@berkeley.edu. I'm happy to talk!

My key is 903D 4542 C569 5735 232D C027 C24D 4FF7 94B4 E724.

(previous key)

Download my resume in PDF format here.

You may be interested in my projects, but can also find me at:

LinkedIn GitHub Scholar

Experience

7/19-10/24 University of California, Berkeley
electrical engineering PhD student

Studied microfabrication. Developed direct-write nanoparticle deposition techniques. Built custom vacuum chambers, electronics, and process equipment. Also built world's longest MEMS electrostatic motor in Berkeley Marvell NanoLab research fab. Advised by Prof. Kristofer Pister.

8/22-5/24 Berkeley EE143 Microfabrication
lead teaching assistant

Taught hands-on lab course (Berkeley EE143) building NMOS transistors from scratch on silicon wafers, four semesters in a row. Instructed students, maintained equipment, troubleshot processes, and managed other TAs.

8/17-6/19 Fan Nanomaterial Innovation Lab
research assistant

Automated nanowire assembly. Implemented computer vision-based detection of nanowires at ≈ 500 Hz and a custom FPGA-based programmable 4-channel arbitrary function generator for vastly improved electric tweezers control.

5/18-8/18 NNCI iREU : Nano Functionality Integration Group
research intern

Studied neuromorphic computation in random PVP@Ag nanowire networks via computer simulations and physical experiment. Learned international research culture in Tusukuba, Japan.

6/17-8/17 REU : Cornell NanoScale Facility
research intern

Created low power voltage rectifiers in the CNF fab. Performed mask design, photolithography, evaporation, graphene application, automated 200 MHz electrical tests, and UHF vibrometry.

9/15-5/19 UT Longhorn Maker Studios
student assistant

Trained students for and maintained laser cutters and 3D printers. Attained proficiency in rapid prototyping equipment. Proposed and ran large student hardware hackathon in collaboration with ME Undergraduate Advisory Board.

9/15-5/19 UT IEEE Robotics & Automation Society
Robotathon & webmaster

Organized the annual RAS introductory student robotics competition, Robotathon, while rewriting and maintaining the club website. Also built assorted small robots and large robotic couch.

8/17-5/19 UT ME Undergraduate Advisory Board
member

Proposed, designed, and ran the first UT engineering Createathon hardware hackathon with ≈ 50 students and multiple corporate sponsors in collaboration with the UT makerspace. Organized the second a year later.

11/16-5/17 Zheng Research Group
research assistant

Reviewed plasmonic nanostructures.

11/15-11/16 UT Advanced Manufacturing Center
research assistant

Designed and fabricated head impact metrology equipment for future research. Mounted 30 psi baseball air cannon to steel frame and SLS nylon dummy head. Automated measurements and tested high-speed camera.

6/15-8/15 UT Applied Research Laboratories
intern

Acoustically detected unmanned aerial vehicles. Used digital signal processing to estimate range of common Phantom 3 pro quadcopter from analysis of its ultrasonic altitude finder and propeller noise under laboratory conditions.

9/11-6/15 FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics Team
design & build lead

Lead team to become 2014-2015 world competition finalists. Designed in CAD and fabricated most of unorthodox leafblower-based wooden structure.

6/11-8/15 DIY 3D Printer Design & Construction
hobbyist

Self-taught mechatronics by evolving generations of FDM machines.

Education

2019-2024 University of California, Berkeley
PhD Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

microfabrication and process engineering, MEMS

2015-2019 University of Texas at Austin
BS Mechanical Engineering, BS Mathematics

solids/dynamics, materials science, dynamic systems, thermodynamics, organic chemistry, heat transfer, numerical analysis

Honors

2020 and 2024 Fall BSAC Conference Best Presentation Award
2022-2023 Demetri Angelakos Memorial Achievement Award
2019 NSF GRFP Fellowship

Skills

Microfabrication MEMS, litho, deposition, etching, metrology, packaging
Hardware part design/simulation/fab, thermal/vacuum systems
Prototyping 3D printing, laser cutting, CNC
Electronics KiCad PCB design, analog electronics, some embedded
CAD + FEA SolidWorks, Fusion, SIMION, some ANSYS & COMSOL
Software Python, C/C++, Rust, LaTeX, Linux, HTML/CSS