Benjamin Kunkov's Portfolio

Contact: [email protected]

Welcome to my portfolio!
This portfolio highlights my work in 3D design, FPV drones, and music. Updated monthly.

Scroll to explore, or use the links below to jump between sections.

About Me

I'm Benjamin Kunkov, but people call me Ben. I'm 18 years old and finishing up high school. I will be attending Northwestern University in the Fall for mechanical engineering.
As you will see, I have great interests in art, engineering, and music; more recently, I've been interested in finance and the business world.Currently reading: After Midnight by Daphne Du Maurier.
Currently learning: Waltz in C-Sharp Minor by Chopin (Piano).
Currently building: An automated liquidity-provision program for various markets.Some fun facts: I can speak Russian fluently and have a pending patent for swimmers!

KidWind Team

Perhaps the project I am most proud of is founding and leading the most successful KidWind team in West Texas, Patriot Energy. It is a school club and I have plans to pass it down once I graduate.

What is KidWind?

KidWind is a global renewable-energy engineering competition focused on small-scale wind turbine design and testing.

Please visit our website to learn more. Below are some pictures.

(From left to right) Our turbine spinning in a wind tunnel; welding the tower; advanced metal gearing system; designing the blade in Blender; new large-area blades.

Engineering

KidWind Honors

Three-time Regional Champions, reaching World Finals three times (2024–2026).
1st place in every category (2025, 2026).
2nd place international quizbowl (Worlds 2024).

Below are my favorite 3D-rendered projects, both still and animated.

300+ hours | 2021 - Present

Animated (click to play) – 17 Projects in 1 Reel

17 Projects, 1 Reel

Still (click to enlarge)

About Blender

This art is made with Blender, a free and open-source program that allows you to create anything under the sun! You can draw, animate, sculpt, edit, track, model, and color grade to name a few things. It was all created by me (no AI), solo.

Is this all you do with Blender?

Beyond art, I use Blender for engineering projects, whether it's a designing a lunar lander or adjusting a turbine blade. Recently, I've been using Blender to reshape and design custom turbine blades so they fit onto our turbine hub used for the KidWind competition.

What's next?

I hope to keep making art and explore different avenues, especially during college. I'll keep using it both as a creative outlet and as a tool for engineering design.

Below is an on-board video from my biggest FPV drone.

150+ hours | 2023 - Present

5-inch freestyle drone (on-board sound) – Nazgul5

5-inch propellor freestyle drone

This 1-foot long, 450 gram drone is the biggest and most powerful one in my collection. It's also the most tinkered-with and adjustable; I learned to solder and program in a new language to tune the drone to my liking. The above image highlights some of the hardware upgrades I've done to the drone.

75mm propellor whoop drone (5-inch for scale)

It's tiny and nearly impossible to upgrade, but that means it's nearly impossible to break. It's safe, reliable, and a bunch of fun to play around with. It's top speed is around 35mph and uses 1s lipos.

Music Performance & Production

1000+ hours (combined instruments) | 2016 - Present

I've been playing the piano since I was eight years old, and the alto sax since I was eleven.
Honors: 1st place state title for solo woodwind performance (saxophone); 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place titles for ensemble performance over six years (TAPPS).
My earliest memories were of me dancing to The Beatles. I always had a love for all things music, and it's something I wish to continue through college and beyond!

Music Production

I write, produce, and perform music on the side for fun. In 2025, I had one of the songs I made published under the penname of Finn Blackwood (for privacy).
Click to listen to it below!

Below is a screenshot of some channels in Logic Pro, the software I used to produce Seen You Smile.
The piano parts were played by me and fed through to the software. I am always working on music and plan to release something new in 2027.

Other selected awards/honors

MIT / NASA: International Zero Robotics Competition 1st Place
TAPPS 2A One Act Play: State Runner-Up
Scholastic Art & Writing: Gold Key Winner (Outstanding Fiction)
ACS Chemistry Olympiad: Advanced to National Stage
College Board: National Merit Commended Scholar; AP Scholar with Distinction
UIL/DOE: Science Champion; Regional Science Bowl Quarterfinalist (2x)
Athletics: Varsity Soccer (Founding Member), Varsity Swim (Founder), Varsity Tennis
Leadership: DECA Founding Member; NHS; Honor Council; Student Council Representative
School Honors: Headmaster Honor Roll; Proven Patriot Award (1 of 3); Student Scholar Awards (1 of 1)

All work by Benjamin Kunkov. These projects were created independently as personal and exploratory work.