This miniature compressed-air engine might be considered to be a more traditional example of "mechanical engineering". Designed in Solidworks and hand-machined from flat and round bar stock, it is a self-starting, single-piston engine of the 'wobbler' variety.
The ends of the arms, or 'temples' of cellulose acetate eyeglass frames must be trimmed near the hinges to a very high precision to fit the frame fronts. This process is traditionally done piece-by-piece, a laborious process with a high error rate. This machine can trim temples in batches of 12, speeding the process and reducing handling errors.
These much-used pieces of camera kit were responses to very specific problems. The jib and dolly are for ultra-low-budget international filmmaking. They're designed pack down to less than 1.5kg each, and fit in checked luggage by using locally-sourced components for their larger components. The stabiliser is a full isoelastic arm model designed for guerrilla film shoots.