Jacob Epshteyn. Electrical Engineering with Computing at MIT, Class of 2029.
Projects: a 34-string lever harp built at the MIT Hobby Shop, and Auralis, a hand-controlled electronic instrument.
34-string lever harp
A five-foot instrument built through CNC machining, woodworking, precision drilling, hardware installation, and stringing. The project spanned two semesters and was my introduction to woodworking.
The design comes from MusicMakers, which provides it only as paper blueprints. I modeled the whole harp in Fusion 360 so its parts could be cut on a CNC router. Much gratitude is owed to the Hobby Shop staff, who provided endless support.
- Strings
- 34
- Height
- About 5 ft
- String tension
- 1,000+ lbs
- CAD
- Fusion 360, modeled from paper blueprints
- Fabrication
- CNC routing, glue-ups, sanding, hand drilling, hardware, stringing
Build log
17 photos · Oct 2025 – Apr 2026Auralis
A hand-controlled electronic instrument. You play it by moving a hand over one of twelve note sensors set around an illuminated ring. It plays single notes, chords, and a large library of instrument files, and its programmable lights let it double as a light show.
I designed it over two summers and my junior year of high school, and learned CAD and programming along the way. It was inspired by Animusic, the animated series of automatic instruments. I performed it for my graduating class in 2025.
- Sensors
- 12 × VL53L0X time-of-flight, shared I²C bus
- Controllers
- Raspberry Pi 4B and Raspberry Pi Zero
- Lighting
- WS2812B addressable LED strip
- Latency
- Under 50 ms, hand to sound
- Enclosure
- Modular illuminated frame, modeled in CAD
Design and build
13 imagesOne page covering education, technical projects, work experience, skills, and awards. PDF, updated September 2026.
Download resume