Open to Summer 2027 internships · Open to relocation

Colin Fisher

Computer Engineering student at Stevens Institute of Technology, interested in medical devices, embedded systems, hardware, and financial technology.

View projects GitHub Resume LinkedIn

StudyingB.E. Computer Engineering

MinorQuantitative Finance

GPA3.69 · Dean's List

GraduatingMay 2029

AthleticsD3 Cross Country / Track

Selected work

Projects

Assistive technology and embedded systems, from my job, my classes and on my own.

Colin giving a thumbs up behind a black leather couch mounted on a power wheelchair base

Featured project · Embedded + mechanical

Motorized couch on a power wheelchair base

I turned a couch into a working vehicle by mounting it on a salvaged Rovi power wheelchair base and keeping the chair's own motor controller. It reaches 6 mph and gets 15+ miles of range on two 12 V batteries. I also 3D printed adapters to mount the caster wheels into the wood frame.

To drive it with an Xbox controller, an ESP32 sits inline between the joystick and the drive controller on the wheelchair's CAN bus. I logged and decoded the joystick's CAN traffic over serial, then adapted open-source firmware for this unsupported wheelchair model so the ESP32 sends matching drive commands.

I designed it to fail safe: the couch stops if the controller disconnects or the ESP32 loses power, and the original joystick still works as a manual override.

I built it on a very low budget, almost entirely from leftover parts. It isn't pretty, but it drives.

What's next: R-net uses low-speed, fault-tolerant CAN, so my first transceiver couldn't talk to it. I ordered a TJA1055 low-speed CAN transceiver, which arrives in December, to finish the controller.

Status: Drives · controller upgrade in December
Performance: 6 mph, 15+ mile range
Power: Two 12 V batteries
Drive base: Salvaged Rovi power wheelchair
Control: ESP32 + Xbox controller (Bluetooth)
Bus: R-net, low-speed CAN (ISO 11898-3)
Transceiver: TJA1055 (ordered)
Caster mounts: 3D printed, 26 mm OD, press-fit + epoxy
Budget: Mostly leftover parts
Timeline: Summers 2025 & 2026

ESP32CAN busBluetoothWheelchair electronics3D printing

All projects

A black 3D printed PLA prototype of a custom joystick knob with extended sides and a palm curve, mounted on a resident's power wheelchair controller

Cheshire Home · 3D printedIn use

Custom-fit joystick knob for a resident

A resident found a goalpost-style knob design online and asked me to print it. It didn't fit him the way he wanted, so I reworked the model to his specific requests: I extended the sides and back plate and added a palm curve for a more natural, comfortable grip.

The photo shows the 4th iteration, a PLA prototype. Residents spend a lot of time outside, so I had the company order PETG for the final part. It's stronger than PLA and resists moisture and UV.

Iterations: 4, based on the resident's feedback
Prototype: PLA
Final material: PETG (stronger, moisture and UV resistant)

CADUser-centered designMaterial selection3D printing

An R-net joystick module showing its System menu, connected to a laptop through an R-net programming dongle

Personal · Couch projectSolved

Reprogramming a salvaged wheelchair controller

When I took apart the wheelchair for the couch, the controller still thought the seat actuators were stuck at their max. As a safety feature, the chair won't drive in that state, even though the actuators weren't there anymore.

I connected an R-net programmer and dug through the settings to turn those checks off. There's very little about these controllers online, so it took about 2 hours of troubleshooting to find.

Tool: R-net programming dongle + laptop
Time: About 2 hours of troubleshooting

R-netDiagnosticsTroubleshooting

Stevens · Team of 3 · Jan–Apr 2026Competed

First-Year Robot Competition

My team built a robot that drives the course on its own. It tracks its position with lidar and an ArUco marker, turns toward its target coordinates, and uses 3 ultrasonic sensors to avoid walls and obstacles. I wrote the navigation code, did all the wiring, and helped with the design.

My role: Lead programmer, all wiring, design help
Sensing: Lidar, ArUco marker, 3 ultrasonic sensors
Best run: 1:22, under half the time needed for full credit
Result: Finished the course on every graded run

RoboticsProgrammingWiringTeam lead

Cheshire Home · 3D printedReplaced

Hoyer lift motor end cap

The end cap fell off a patient lift's actuator motor. I measured the motor and printed a replacement with a snug friction fit, then made upgrades to the design after the first prototype.

Length: 68 mm
Top notch: 27.42 mm wide × 6.4 mm deep

Reverse engineering3D printingPrototyping

See the prototype on LinkedIn →

A servo strapped over a dorm light switch with Velcro, wired down to an ESP32 board on the wall

Personal · Dorm roomBuilt

Bluetooth light switch

I wanted to control my dorm light from my phone, but I couldn't change the wiring or mount anything permanently. An ESP32 receives commands over Bluetooth and drives a servo that physically flips the switch.

The servo arm was too short to reach the switch, so I broke a pencil in half and heat-shrunk it on as an extension. The whole thing attaches without damaging the wall plate.

Board: ESP32
Actuator: MG996R servo + pencil extension
Control: Bluetooth

ESP32BluetoothServo control

Code on GitHub →

A stack of servers: an Alienware laptop showing a terminal on top of Lenovo ThinkCentre and HP ProDesk desktops

Personal · Aug 2026–presentRunning

Home lab server cluster

A Proxmox cluster built from a repurposed laptop and 4 donated desktops, with 60 GB of RAM and 6+ TB of storage. It runs Home Assistant (security camera, smart plugs), Pi-hole with Unbound DNS in Linux containers, and Tailscale for remote access.

When our Verizon internet went out, the DNS settings changed and Pi-hole was left pointing at the wrong DNS server, which took down the whole house's internet. I tracked down the problem and fixed it. Before leaving for school, I started turning old camera hardware into a self-hosted security camera system that runs on the server.

Hypervisor: Proxmox VE
Resources: 60 GB RAM, 6+ TB storage
Services: Home Assistant, Pi-hole, Tailscale
Next: Self-hosted security cameras

LinuxNetworkingDNS

Automatic irrigation system

Stevens team project, Fall 2025. I wrote the ESP32 firmware and wired the hardware for a controller that waters plants when the soil gets too dry. We calibrated it with dry and soaked soil and tested it over 5 days of logging. It's now in daily use at home.

Dodge 2D

The first game I ever made, in my sophomore year of high school. On GitHub →

C++ graphics games: Snake and Pac-Man

Games I build with graphics to get better at C++. Snake is done, and Pac-Man is in progress.

Background

Experience & education

Experience

Maintenance Support Specialist

Cheshire Home · Florham Park, NJ

Jul–Aug 2026 · Returning Dec 2026

Diagnosed and repaired 40+ faults on Quantum Rehab and Permobil power wheelchairs for 35 residents, including battery failures, blown fuses, broken wiring, R-net controllers, Q-Logic displays and seat actuators.
Partnered with the head of Occupational Therapy to design custom-fit joystick knobs and adapters for residents whose injuries standard parts didn't fit. 15+ printed parts across 6 designs went into use in one month.
Proposed the facility's 3D printer and trained OT staff to print and adapt designs on their own, at $0.38–$0.55 per part.
Soldered and repaired wiring and electronics across the building, and ran Ethernet for new Wi-Fi access points.

Education

Stevens Institute of Technology

B.E. Computer Engineering · Minor in Quantitative Finance

Hoboken, NJ · Expected May 2029

GPA 3.69 · Dean's List, Fall 2025 and Spring 2026.
Coursework: Intro to Programming (C++), Field Sustainable Systems & Sensors. In progress: Circuits & Systems, Data Structures & Algorithms.
NCAA Division III cross country and track & field runner.

Colin working on a power wheelchair base in the Cheshire Home maintenance shop, next to a coworker

Featured

Recognized by Cheshire Home

Cheshire Home shared my work repairing chairs for residents. On LinkedIn, my boss showed off the first prototype of my 3D printed Hoyer lift cap, which I later upgraded.

Read the LinkedIn post →

Toolbox

Skills

Colin's electronics workbench by a window: soldering station, multimeter, helping-hand arms, ESP32 board, wire strippers and an Xbox controller — **I built this workbench myself.** It's a folding table: I cut and glued two cheap boards together, added folding hinges, and installed it under my window. I also 3D printed holders for the gooseneck alligator clips that hold parts while I solder. I work here almost every day when I'm home.

Embedded & hardware

ESP32 firmware / Arduino
CAN bus (TJA1055)
R-net PC Programmer
Lidar & ultrasonic sensors
Bluetooth
Soldering & multimeter

Design

SolidWorks
3D printing (FDM)
PLA & PETG
Precision measuring
Reverse engineering parts

Programming

C++
Java
Serial debugging (Arduino IDE)
Learning this winter: Python & SQL

Systems

Linux
Proxmox
Git & GitHub
Home Assistant
Networking & DNS

Let's talk.

I'm looking for a Summer 2027 internship in medical devices, embedded systems, hardware or financial technology. I'm based in the NJ/NYC area and open to relocating for the summer.