Employment: Since 2008 I have been employed as a Senior Controls Engineer at General Dynamics Electric Boat, the U.S Navy's premiere submarine developers. During my employment I have held positions as a Lead System Engineer of Combat and Weapon Systems and Lead Controls Engineering Supporting U.S. Navy Special Programs. In my current role I lead a team of engineers responsible for the development and implementation of automatic control systems which support underwater robotics and Navy special programs.

Education: I entered Electric Boat in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Engineering and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Polytechnic Institute of New York University. While at Electric Boat I earned a Masters of Engineering Degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Control Systems and Robotics Engineering focusing on the development of mobile robotic control systems. I am currently a 2nd year PhD candidate at Worcester Polytechnic Institute where my research focuses on artificial intelligence and the development of the automated control systems of autonomous passenger cars and other search and rescue autonomous robotics. My hope is to help contribute to the fast paced world of autonomous passenger vehicles through my knowledge of developing advanced defense and reactive control systems.

Community: For the last 8 years, I have maintained connection with the local community by building an Engineering curriculum at the local High School and continuously volunteering to support the growth of youth STEM programs. I and others have spent years to develop Engineering after school programs at Groton Fitch high school where professional Engineers volunteer hundreds of hours each year to mentor high school students in every aspect of engineering from Computer Aided Design, to Mechanical Engineering, to Community Outreach, fund-raising, and budgeting. We do this by building various robots together to take on different world challenges, and compete around the country representing our community in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). I personally teach control system design and java programming and development to these high school students. For the last 3 years I have assumed the role of Lead Engineer for the non-profit organization Aluminum Falcon Robotics (AFR) Inc. whose mission is not only to help high school children gain exposure to STEM related fields through hands on training and research, but also provides various community services. Through AFR we have held food drives for the local Groton food bank, volunteered at the CT humane society, participated in the packaging of care packages for our troops over-seas and helped the United Way clean up local homes for veterans. Each year we put on demonstrations and talks at local middle and elementary schools to engage children with various aspects of how rewarding a career in STEM fields can be with special focus on increasing the female population. Through AFR over 50 high school graduates of the Robotics Program have gone to attend various prestigious colleges majoring in STEM related fields. More importantly, through AFR, I am able to lead independent research which can greatly impact our local community. Currently I am leading an effort to design rapid prototype child prosthetics, making use of our expertise in robotic systems and access to rapid prototyping CNC and 3D printing technologies to donate these prosthetics for free to local children in need.

Research Interests: Computer Vision, Autonomous Navigation, Dynamic Systems, Mecatronics, Mobile Robotics, Swarm Robotics, Rapid Prototyping Technologies, Bionics.

Awards:

• 2016 BEYA - Modern Day Technology Leader in the Field of Engineering
• 2016 FIRST Robotics World Championship - Innovation In Controls
• 2015 FIRST New England Championship - Innovation in Controls
• 2014 FIRST New England Championship - Innovation in Controls