Assembly 00Polar signature plotStatus Built
Joseph OpreaRev A
Drawing JO-000Scale 1:1
2026.10

Mechanical systems / software / automation

Built where software meets machines.

I'm Joseph Oprea, an engineering student in North Georgia. I build machines, software, and the automation that ties them together.

Get in touch See the builds
01

Builds

Scroll to move along the roadmap
  1. JO-01Built

    PortaVax

    2023

    Team-built buggy for moving vaccines in sub-Saharan Africa, priced 50% under competitors.

    Program
    Georgia Governor's Honors Program, Engineering
    Selection
    650 finalists statewide
  2. JO-02Closed

    Printed to Perfection

    2024 to 2025

    Founded and ran an 80+ member community teaching people to run profitable 3D printing businesses.

    Members
    80+
    Format
    Weekly strategy calls
    Platform
    Skool
  3. JO-03In production

    Door Order Validator

    2025 to now

    Desktop tool the cabinet shop uses daily to catch supplier order errors before they hit the CNC.

    Language
    Python
    UI
    Vanilla JS in WebView
    Ships as
    Windows app
    Checks
    Dimensions, quantities, piece counts
    Version
    1.16

    Internal tool. Sample data shown, not a real order.

  4. JO-04Live

    rcflorax.com

    2026

    Custom Shopify theme for a Lexus car Instagram account with over 100,000 followers, fully editable by the owner.

    Platform
    Shopify, Liquid
    Base
    Skeleton theme
    Release
    v0.18.5
    rcflorax.com
  5. JO-05Active

    Core R-Theta 4-axis printer

    2025 to 2026

    Real S5 G-code B tilt -55 to +18°

    NASA Space Grant research build of a 4-axis printer. Non-planar printing achieved. Open source.

    Axes
    4: linear X, rotating theta, Z, nozzle tilt B
    Kinematics
    Core R-Theta
    Controller
    Duet 3 Mini 5+, RepRapFirmware
    Motors
    4x NEMA 17, GT2 belts
    Frame
    PETG
    Slicer
    S5, Jacob Navarrete's modified slicer
    Scroll to print GitHub UNG News Build log
  6. JO-06Live

    opreabros.com

    2026

    Hand-coded studio site, no framework, scroll-driven motion.

    Stack
    HTML, CSS, vanilla JS
    Host
    Cloudflare Workers
    Dependencies
    0
    opreabros.com
  7. JO-07Funding in progress

    UNG Mesh

    2026

    Central network up

    Offline LoRa mesh network as a backup communications layer between UNG campuses, starting with Gainesville and Dahlonega.

    Why: the November 2025 Cloudflare outage, the January 2026 Verizon outage, and the early 2026 Georgia winter storms showed how fragile centralized networks are.

    Role
    Co-author, undergraduate researcher, Engineering Student Guild research initiative

    Developed with input from experienced Meshtastic operators.

  8. JO-08Restricted

    Next build

    2027

JO-05.1

Scroll to print

Real S5 G-code on our CAD and firmware kinematicsScroll down to print, up to rewind
Nozzle cam
Camera rides the toolhead, so you see the nozzle tilt (B axis) as it lays down curved layers.
JO-05.2

Layer by layer

The real S5 toolpath, 205 curved layers. Pick a layer, then scrub or play it and watch the machine move to each point using the firmware's kinematics.

Color
Zoom

Loading toolpath

121 / 205 0 / 0

Drag sideways to orbit, use + and - to zoom. Machine drawn to the CAD's dimensions; toolpath thinned to 70,000 points.

Open-source build of Joshua Bird's Core R-Theta design. Team: Joseph Oprea (mechanical redesign, Fusion 360 CAD, BOM, assembly), Jacob Navarrete (firmware configuration, slicer integration), John Cheng. Faculty advisor: Dr. Ted Forringer. Supported by the University of North Georgia and the NASA Space Grant Consortium.

"In research, you deal with practical problems people face."

Featured by UNG News, December 2025
Open in new tab

Also on the bench

  • Automated Prusa MK3S+: 3DQue system and software for auto-eject and print queue management, watched by a self-hosted Obico server for AI failure detection
  • Self-hosted game server stack: Proxmox, Docker, custom Python control panel
  • Prediction-market data tools: Kalshi research, Polymarket MCP server
  • TI-Nspire Lua formula library
  • LiftMate CAD
02

Let's build

I want to meet people who build real things: machines, tools, and the software that runs them.

Build something together

Have a hardware, automation, or software project that needs another set of hands? I'm in.

Opportunities

Roles, research, and programs where I get to build alongside good people.

Talk shop

Founders, engineers, and advisors in hard tech. Happy to compare notes on printers, CNC, and automation.

Get in touch Connect on LinkedIn

Need a website? That's opreabros.com, the studio I run with my brother.

03

Background

I run production engineering at a cabinet manufacturer: CNC programming, Cabinet Vision, S2M Center, and nesting. I started there as a CNC operator. I've been 3D printing and designing in Fusion 360 since 8th grade. I love automating things, and automation in industrial settings is what I find most interesting. With my brother I co-founded a small studio that builds websites. I use AI tools every day to build faster. Long term, I want to build my own company.

Languages: English, Romanian

  1. 2023Georgia Governor's Honors Program, Engineering
  2. 2024 to Dec 2026University of North Georgia, Associate of Science. Co-Vice President, Engineering Student Guild. Taught guild members Fusion 360.
  3. Spring 2027University of Georgia, Mechanical Engineering (transfer)
04

Contact

Say hello

Tell me what you're building or what you have in mind. LinkedIn is the fastest way to reach me for now.

Message me on LinkedIn