About

Engineerby training,builderby habit.

I'm an undergraduate engineering student at the University of Waterloo. My background is in applied chemistry and materials, but the work I gravitate toward sits anywhere a physical system meets a measurement, a model, or a piece of code.

Alonso Portillo
Waterloo, ON · EST
Background

I am in my 2B term as a Chemical Engineering student at the University of Waterloo, focused on battery technology, materials engineering, and simulation-driven design. I'm drawn to projects where chemistry meets hardware, where data has to explain real physical behavior, and where the best answer comes from testing, measuring, and iterating.

My experience has taken me through materials research, industrial testing, and engineering software development. At CanmetENERGY, I worked on biocarbon densification for sustainable steelmaking. At Kamkar Labs, I worked with graphene, hydrogels, aerogels, and 3D-printed nanomaterial systems for energy storage and carbon capture applications.

More recently, I worked with Pratt & Whitney Canada's aeroacoustics team, developing MATLAB-based simulation and analysis tools for aircraft noise validation. That project combined signal processing, uncertainty analysis, and engineering workflow design.

Outside of internships and research, I build projects around EV systems, battery testing, and experimental hardware. This portfolio is where I document that work: the projects, the decisions, the testing, and the engineering behind them.

Experience

Engineering experience across simulation, materials testing, and energy systems.

May 2026 to present

Signal Processing Engineering Intern

Pratt & Whitney Canada

Developed MATLAB-based simulation and analysis tools for aircraft noise validation, combining aeroacoustics, uncertainty analysis, and signal-processing workflows.

MATLABMonte CarloFFTEPNLSimulation Tooling
View aircraft noise simulation project
Jan 2025 to Apr 2025

Undergraduate Researcher

Kamkar Labs · University of Waterloo

Synthesized graphene-based hydrogel and aerogel systems using electrolysis, filtration, and 3D-printing workflows for energy-storage and carbon-capture applications.

GrapheneElectrolysisAerogelsHydrogels3D Printing
View nanomaterial aerogels project
Sep 2024 to Dec 2024

Materials Research Co-op

CanmetENERGY · Natural Resources Canada

Evaluated bio-oil and FeO hybrid binder systems through adhesion, wettability, pellet fabrication, and compression-strength testing.

Contact AngleCompression TestingPelletizationTGAFTIRPython
View binder testing project
2024 to present

B.A.Sc. Chemical Engineering

University of Waterloo

Building an engineering foundation in materials, energy systems, process design, statistics, controls, and experimental problem-solving.

MaterialsEnergy SystemsProcess DesignStatisticsControls
Toolkit

Not a comprehensive list — only things I've used in real projects.

Languages
03
PythonMATLABC
Tools
05
SolidWorksApp DesignerLaTeXGitExcel/VBA
Lab & instrumentation
06
Electrochemistry / CVFFT & spectral analysisContact angleMechanical testingFreeze-drying3D printing
Domains
04
MaterialsEnergyAerospaceSustainability
Principles
01
Measure before deciding.

I try to turn assumptions into data as early as possible. Whether it is a material test, simulation output, or design tradeoff, the goal is to make the next decision easier to defend.

02
Build the tool that removes friction.

A small script, dashboard, or fixture can save hours of repeated work. I like building practical tools that make testing, analysis, and iteration faster.

03
Document the path.

Good engineering work should be understandable after the first pass. I write down the setup, assumptions, failures, and decisions so the work can be repeated and improved.

04
Connect the domains.

My best projects sit between materials, data, hardware, and simulation. I look for patterns across fields because that is often where better engineering decisions come from.