Arthur Shi

I’m Arthur—technical writer, teardown engineer, researcher, and photographer at iFixit.

I have the illustrious honor of taking devices apart, identifying components, figuring out how things work, and showing others how to fix stuff. In addition, I perform electrical analysis and research how emergent tech works.

A day at the office: working on Google Pixel 3 guides

I graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a master’s degree in electrical engineering, with a focus on control systems and mechatronics. Along the way, I designed high efficiency DC power circuits, grew organic OLED panels in a vacuum, and programmed a small swarm of robots to autonomously navigate and map out a cluttered room. My thesis work involved training neural networks to detect hidden structural faults in commercial buildings using acceleration sensor data. I enjoy both the theoretical and practical hands-on nature of my degree.

Making single pixel OLED panels in vacuum

Much of my time at iFixit is spent instructing people how to fix stuff by writing step-by-step repair guides. So far, I’ve written over 180 guides for devices ranging from Rug Doctors to iPads. As I research, disassemble, and document repair procedures, I’m always learning something new. Working on smartphones necessitated a good understanding of how lithium-ion batteries work; writing Rug Doctor guides taught me how to remove rivets— something I haven’t had to deal with in smartphones…yet.

Installing a rivet onto the Rug Doctor

I am also a member of iFixit’s team of teardown engineers, publishing informative, in-depth reports on the inner workings of newly-released gadgets such as the Magic Leap One and the iPhone XS. These teardowns include chip analysis and explanations for complicated concepts (such as waveguides) in layman’s terms.

Identifying chips for the iPhone XS

I’m curious by nature; I enjoy exploring long-forgotten roads, trying non-mainstream food, and disassembling new smartphones! I like retro, well-designed mechanical machines; I own four typewriters and drive a Suzuki Samurai.

Driving the Sammy on Quatal Canyon road