MAXIM BURTSEV
Engineering Problem Solver
I help startups and R&D teams turn constrained concepts into manufacturable hardware — from first sketch to production-ready result.
Sound familiar?
A concept that won't become hardware. A prototype stuck before production. A problem that isn't even fully defined yet. That's exactly where I work — and find the path to a working result.
About Me
I solve engineering problems for a living. Behind that: 25+ years as a mechanical design engineer in product development, prototyping, and manufacturing. I work at the intersection of CAD and the real world — where designs must be buildable, testable, and manufacturable without surprises.
WHAT I DO
Services
Five directions where I help projects move forward — from first concept to production-ready hardware.
Mechanical Design
CAD development, assemblies, and production drawings with DFM/DFA from the start.
Prototyping & Testing
From concept to working prototype — rapid iteration, 3D printing, and validation.
Manufacturing Support
Production preparation, supplier coordination, and troubleshooting through launch.
R&D & Early-Stage Products
Engineering for startups and hardware products — including experimental and biomimetic systems.
Technical Documentation
Production drawings, GD&T, and BOMs — complete documentation packages that turn a working prototype into manufacturable hardware.
PORTFOLIO
Selected Projects
Real problems, real hardware — from industrial equipment to aerospace prototypes and biomimetic mechanisms.
Architecture · DfMA
Modular Pavilion
The structure exceeded road transport limits. I split it into 6 transportable modules with standardized connections — enabling factory fabrication, transport compliance, and rapid on-site assembly.
Aerospace · DfAM
Adaptive Wing
A research wing needed internal slot channels for jet-based boundary layer control — impossible with standard manufacturing. I redesigned the geometry for 3D printing and supported it through wind tunnel testing.
Industrial · Fluid Systems
Vortex Air Purifier
Compressed air carried moisture, oil mist, and particulates — wearing out equipment. I built a vortex-based separation system: no filter elements, continuous operation, easy to drop into existing lines.
Industrial · Process Engineering
Coolant Dehydrator
A pipe plant needed to dispose of up to 10 tons/day of spent cutting fluid — no chemicals, low cost. I designed a closed-loop vortex dehydration system using air. Result: 24/7 operation, major waste reduction, no reagents.
R&D · Soft Mechanisms
Biomimetic Actuator
A client needed a functioning biomimetic mechanism — no motors, no electronics, actuated purely by material response. I used the swelling behavior of granular wood as the actuation source and designed a compact linkage that reproduces the trap-closing motion.
More coming
New case studies added regularly
Architecture · DfMA
Modular Pavilion
The pavilion was one continuous structure. That was the problem. Assembled, it was too wide for any truck to carry legally — it couldn't ship whole, and building it on site meant equipment the budget didn't have.So I broke it into 6 modules, each sized to fit a standard flatbed. The hard part isn't cutting a structure apart. It's making the pieces go back together fast, by a crew that didn't design them. So every connection node is identical — same joint, same hardware, repeated across all six. No custom fitting on the ground.The modules get built in the shop, where tolerances stay tight, then shipped and bolted together on site with hand tools. A one-off structure now ships as a kit.Delivered and signed off by the client.
Aerospace · DfAM
Adaptive Wing
A research wing needed air channels running inside the skin — narrow slots that blow across the surface to keep the boundary layer attached. The catch: those passages sit deep in the part, where no drill or cutter reaches. Standard manufacturing can't make them.So I stopped designing for machining and designed for additive. The channels print as part of the wing, in one piece, instead of being cut and plugged afterward. No external ducts, no bolt-on actuators. The flow control lives inside the geometry.Then it went into the wind tunnel. We ran it under real airflow and measured how the internal jets moved the surface flow. It held.That's what additive's actually for — a shape that couldn't be made any other way.
Industrial · Fluid Systems
Vortex Air Purifier
Compressed air lines carry more than air. Moisture and oil mist ride downstream and wear out whatever they touch. The usual fix is a filter. Filters clog. Someone has to stop the line and swap them, and that cost never ends.I built the separation on vortex dynamics instead. The air spins hard, and centrifugal force throws the heavier moisture and oil straight out of the stream — no element to foul or replace. Nothing to service.It runs continuously and drops into an existing line without a rebuild. The plant doesn't stop to clean it, because there's nothing to clean.Passed industrial testing.
Industrial · Process Engineering
Coolant Dehydrator
A pipe plant was making up to 10 tons a day of spent cutting fluid, and there was no clean way to get rid of it. Hauling it off costs money by the ton. Treating it with chemistry costs more, and then you're managing reagents and their waste too. Every option was a running bill.I designed a closed-loop dehydration system that works on air, not chemistry. The coolant runs through a vortex loop that pulls water out of it continuously, so the volume that has to leave the plant drops hard. Less liquid out, less to haul.It runs around the clock. No reagents to buy or store. The loop just keeps working.Passed industrial testing.
R&D · Soft Mechanisms
Biomimetic Actuator
The client wanted movement with nothing driving it — no motor, no control board. A mechanism that acts on its own, the way a Venus flytrap snaps shut. The power had to come from the material itself.I used the swelling of granular wood. When it takes on moisture it expands with real force, and that expansion is the engine. No wires run to it. Around that motion I built a compact linkage that turns slow swelling into the fast trap-closing snap the client wanted.It moves under humidity alone. There's nothing to plug in, nothing to program.Material and geometry doing the work — the way biology does it.
WHY WORK WITH ME
25+ years
100+ projects
One approach
From first sketch to production-ready hardware — I find the path when the problem isn't fully defined yet.
© Maxim Burtsev. All rights reserved.