Gil Mebane
Mechanical engineer
Duke University, class of 2028
Durham, NC
Fall 2026 at the University of Edinburgh
Built for high-stakes environments.
Rigor and judgment, one discipline.
Find the constraint. Find the gap. Work out what it takes to close it. That habit started with fishing lures and now runs through organ perfusion hardware, surgical robotics, and the companies I diligence.
Nearly 100,000 Americans wait for a kidney.
Thousands of recovered kidneys go unused.
I help build the system that keeps them viable.
An autonomous dialysis circuit for ex vivo kidney perfusion, built at Duke’s DEVOL lab for the platform its spin-out BMI OrganBank is bringing to market. Patent application in review.
01Patent pending, the circuit I designed
Read the caseBMI OrganBank Kidney. Company imagery.
LUNA is a laparoscopic surgical robot.
Every part on it carries a cost and a tolerance.
I owned parts on both sides of that line.
A summer at Asensus Surgical, now part of Karl Storz. Corrected GD&T on production drawings, moved five components toward injection molding, designed three FDA-compliant test fixtures, and migrated full systems from Onshape to SolidWorks.
YoungestEngineer with a part on the LUNA robot
Read the caseAsensus LUNA surgical system. Company imagery.
Tulypp is a consortium of VCs, former founders, and family offices.
It backs growth-stage deep tech in the private markets.
I source, screen, and diligence the deals.
Growth Equity Analyst. Coverage in MedTech, aerospace, and other deep tech verticals. Founder calls, direct LP and investor interactions, full VDR reviews, technical and commercial diligence, first-pass legal review before counsel, and the IC memo at the end. Building my own book as I go.
40+Founder calls, from 1,000+ companies screened
How I investTulypp Capital Partners.
The work so far.
The projects that moved the line. Pick a station to open it. The full list is longer.
Swipe sideways to follow the line.
Where it started
Four seasons, three robots, one program rebuilt.
No onboarding, no playbook
I joined DARC SIDE in fall 2020 with a lab, a half-built robot, and no structured training. A year of building in a vacuum before I saw a competition.
Pit lead at 15
One of the first 10th graders given the role. Fifteen crew members, two district events, repairs between every round.
The only one allowed on the field
Sole technician authorized to repair the robot mid-match. Top 10 of 77 teams in North Carolina. Quality Award and Judges’ Choice.
Captain. $42K raised. A preseason, finally.
Recruited 20 of 60 members, applied for $100K in grants, and built the preseason training program the team never had. I joined in 2020 with no onboarding. The 2024 rookies got one. Read the case
Selected projects
Problem first. Then what I built.
Tulypp Capital Partners
Growth Equity Analyst, MedTech, aerospace, and deep tech coverage
Sourcing and diligencing growth-stage MedTech, aerospace, and other deep tech deals for a consortium of family offices, former founders, and VCs.
02
DEVOL and BMI OrganBank
Undergraduate Research Intern, Organ perfusion, Duke Surgery
An autonomous dialysis circuit for ex vivo kidney perfusion, with a patent application in progress.
03
ToleranceForge
Founder and Developer, AI tool for GD&T and cost
TurboTax for drawings. A multi-model AI tool that reads 2D drawings, flags GD&T errors, and prices the cost of over-tight tolerances.
04Asensus Surgical (Karl Storz)
Mechanical Engineering Intern, Surgical robotics, Durham NC
Cut machining costs 20%+ and sped tolerance analysis 50% on robotic laparoscopy components.
05
bCPAP Liquid Level Monitor
Research and Design Lead, Makerere University, Uganda
A sub-$15 monitor that alerts nurses when a bCPAP water chamber runs dry, designed for local manufacture in Kampala.
06
DARC SIDE, FRC Team 6502
Member to Pit Lead to Technician to Captain, FIRST Robotics Competition
Rebuilt a high school robotics program from the inside, then led it to a record fundraising year and top 10 in North Carolina.
Now
- Fall 2026 at the University of Edinburgh, working remotely for Tulypp from the UK.
- Covering MedTech, aerospace, and other deep tech verticals. Taking founder calls and writing IC memos.
- Diligencing companies end to end, from full VDR reviews and technical and commercial review to a first read of the legal documents before counsel sees them.
- Still working with DEVOL. The patent application for the circuit is in review, and the next project is coming soon.
- Recruiting for summer 2027. Open to conversations in devices, strategy, and early-stage investing.
43 frames About Gil →