Interview with Daniel Palomanes Paz: the continuous learning of an engineer

On 21 March 2024, we launched a challenge to support and motivate the student community of the San José institute from Badajoz (Spain) in line with the employability program of Ayuda en Acción. Within the institute, an entrepreneurial team has identified an opportunity in the ´electric scooter wheels growing market.

The goal of the challenge was to find innovative scooter wheel designs that could be 3D printed and while improving the market product performance. It could bring improvements in mechanical properties, comfort, durability, grip or even a striking design... or try to combine the advantages of the two types of wheels currently available (air-filled and solid).

This challenge is still being evaluated as the institute is commissioning the printing of 3 finalists designs to carry out final user experience tests.

Today we meet one of the finalists for this challenge:

¿Who is Daniel Palomanes?

Daniel Palomanes Paz is an engineer from Xinzo de Limia (Ourense-Spain), although he currently resides in Illescas (Toledo). He currently works for Delta Illescas, a company dedicated to composite materials.

Passionate about motors and "disassembling everything around", Daniel began studying a first cycle about electromechanical in 2006 in Ourense, while he started working soon in an industrial machinery workshop and then in a Scania truck workshop. Later, he worked in a Mercedes Benz workshop, where he told us had the opportunity to learn from great professionals and people on electromechanical, pneumatic, diagnosis...

To go further with his technical studies, he continued with a new cycle in Automotive; encouraged by his professor of engines, Daniel finally moved to study mechanical engineering in the city of Vigo. When he was finishing he quickly started working at Delta Vigo and then moved to his actual job in Delta Illescas; he considers composite materials to be an exciting field, with a lot of potential and in which he tries to continue learning and improving every day.

Motivations to participate in engineering challenges

Daniel explains that it was a great surprise to find our engineering challenges platform, since he was very attracted by the idea of collaborating in social purpose projects applying his  engineering knowledge, which is in addition one of his hobbies.

He participated in a first challenge about "fixed supports for photovoltaic panels" and now he is engaged with "Design of wheels for electric scooters for 3D printing" from the NGO Ayuda en Accion and the "System to deposit glass containers" project from Ecovidrio.

“Your first motivation to participate in these challenges is your social purpose, but you are also attracted by the freedom and power of this model to generate ideas without any bias”

"you work and think independently without expecting anything in return"

He loves our platform’s network model, with such incredible potential to connect quickly and efficiently to professionals around the world.

"We want to fix this, will you join?"

He also tells us that he would like to be able to participate in small teams in this type of challenge so that each can contribute his field of knowledge.

How did he come up with one of the finalists' solutions?

The idea showed up when working for another personal 3D printing project about ultra-light and resistant structures. He came across a study that described how butterfly wings use gyroid-like geometric principles to achieve an extraordinary combination of lightness, strength and flexibility; and he was immediately inspired to apply that geometry in the tire.

"The gyroid structure allowed me to achieve a good balance between shock absorption and stability, something that perfectly suited the needs of the wheel. Since this project was based on 3D printing, manufacturing was possible, because this structure is not feasible by traditional manufacturing methods"

Daniel shares that for this challenge he used tools that are accessible to students and allow them to experiment with complex shape designs, learning and innovating and looking for more possibilities in additive manufacturing:

• Hyperganic to create a complex internal structure that improved impact absorption without compromising firmness and
• Ansys SpaceClaim to optimize the amount of material making a strong but light rim.

To dissipate the heat he used a steel insert that acts as brake drum, insulated from the nylon with a heat-resistant paste; such paste prevents the heat generated from degrading the material of the rim.

He printed a model in 1:4 scale and tested it with his own weight (63 kg) on the prototype’s axis. And the results were very good:

"The wheel showed optimum shock absorption and stability, which gave me confidence to go ahead with the final design."

One of the things that Daniel values most is continuous learning. He is proud of what he does every day, big or small, as he thinks everything represents learning; he keeps it in his "toolbox". Years ago he bought and restored a BMW E30 from his birth year, 1989. He saved up some money to buy the car and then restored it completely. This experience allowed him not only to renew an old engine and car body to their original glory, but to learn a lot along the process.

"I love understanding how things around me work, because I think all those experiences end up being useful at some point. Sometimes, solving an unexpected problem comes from knowledge that, at first, seemed unrelated, and that fascinates me"