This project was part of research in the Advanced Manufacturing for Energy Devices (AMED) Lab at San Diego State University, led by Dr. Meysam Heydari Gharahcheshmeh. The lab develops conducting and semiconducting polymer films using chemical vapor deposition methods, including oxidative chemical vapor deposition (oCVD).
In oCVD, the crucible holds a solid oxidant powder that is heated by resistive coils inside the reactor until it sublimates into a vapor. That vapor reacts with a monomer vapor on a temperature-controlled substrate to grow a thin conducting polymer film. My role was to model this crucible insert and then produce a clean visualization of the full machine.
Rather than working from a drawing, I measured the existing crucible hardware directly in the lab using digital calipers. Those measurements, including the body diameter shown here at 53.27 mm, became the dimensional basis for the CAD model, so the digital part matched the real component.
I also referenced a commercial evaporation-source design to inform the internal geometry, in particular the layered structure of an outer shell, an internal heater cage, and a ceramic crucible cup. Working from the measurements and that reference, I modeled the crucible in SolidWorks as a multi-part assembly: a base cup, an internal mesh heater insert, and a top cap. The exploded view shows how the pieces stack together.
I modeled the crucible and its components in SolidWorks. The surrounding machine geometry already existed, so my work in Rhino3D was the full visual treatment: assigning every material and color across the chamber, fittings, and crucible, and tuning the lighting to produce a clean, readable hero image of the complete oCVD reactor.
My motivation was to support the lab's research with work that bridges hands-on measurement and digital design: turning a real piece of lab hardware into an accurate CAD model, and then into a presentation-quality visualization that communicates how the oCVD system is put together.