Abylaikhan Mukhamejanov

Abylaikhan Mukhamejanov

Mechanical Engineering Student at Lehigh University ’27

Projects › Manufacturing · tooling

Injection-Molded Race Car

Design the part, design the tool, cut the tool, run the press.

Injection-Molded Race Car
My role
Part and mold design, machining, molding trials (team of four)
When
2026 · ME 240 Manufacturing
Where
Lehigh University
Tools
SolidWorks · CNC machining · waterjet · injection molding press

Injection molding is where a design meets the realities of making it: draft angles, wall thickness, where the plastic enters, where it meets itself, how the part comes out. In the manufacturing course my team designed a race-car body, designed the two-part aluminum mold to make it, cut the mold ourselves and molded the parts — then raced the cars.

What I did

  • Modeled the part and the mold in SolidWorks, with draft on every face, even walls, and the gate and runner system that feeds the plastic in.
  • Machined the mold by CNC and waterjet, keeping the two halves aligned so the part ejects cleanly.
  • Ran the molding trials, checked the parts for consistency, and tuned the process.
CAD of the two mold halves
The two mold halves in CAD.
Machined aluminum mold half
The machined mold.
Molded parts still on the runner
Fresh out of the press, still on the runner.
CAD render of the race car body
The body in CAD.
Molded cars on the race track
Finished cars on the track.
Team 04 display with the mold and finished car
Our display: mold, parts and the finished car.

How it turned out

Consistent parts with a clean finish and clean release, cycle after cycle — and our car placed fourth in the class race.