Projects

Performing LWFA is highly sensitive to plasma parameters, and each laser system requires a tailored gas plume with well-defined spatial extent and density

• Synthesized academic literature to parse LWFA scaling laws and inform Ansys Fluent CFD + WarpX PIC simulation parameters
• Developed bash scripts to leverage Linux-based national Fir supercomputing cluster for 100x faster simulations
• Scaled Python data analysis suite for optimized review and comparison of >300GB datasets
• Designed and performed optical experiments, working with sensitive optics and gas lines, for interferometric validation of gas nozzle
• Presented weekly to research group and visiting members ranging from non-technical to postdoctoral levels

• Successful interferometric characterization of gas nozzle in moderate agreement with simulation results, achieving 75% expected density

Previous impossible to view battery voltages during autonomous operation, detecting leaks in the pressurized battery encloser was subject to human error, resulting in Li-ion battery safety concens

• Designed and tested ultra-low multi-board power battery safety system in Altium Designer with magnet-activated display and STM32-based pressure, temperature, and voltage DAQ
• Engineered power delivery and IC function modes, validating <300 uA passive load against datasheet specifications with strict component testing
• Optimized C firmware in STM32CubeIDE using DMA, interrupts, and sleep mode for average current consumption of 315 uA
• Involved in full-stack PCBA design, including lower-power component selection and sourcing, schematic and PCB layout, manual assembly and bring-up, STM32CubeIDE firmware development, and system integration testing
• Custom footprint and symbol for various ICs and connectors respecting manufacturer capabilities, including: STM32L072CZ chip, QFN buck converter, and various resistor/capacitor packages
• Improved SI + user experience with technical PCB optimizations like controlled impedance routing of USB 2 conforming to manufacturer stackup, usage of Altium Designer differential pair and via stitching tooling, and successful USB-C DFU flashing

• Optimized layout of space-constrained battery pod PCB for intuitive operation
• Implemented firmware pressure-testing sequence to catch 100% of user errors in high-traffic battery system
• Improved ease of data reporting reduces under-voltage incidents by 90%

Need to accurately emulate high-energy electron radiation found in space to calibrate a satellite-mounted particle detector for climate research

• Automated FEMM electrostatic simulation of various cathode geometries using Lua and Python co-integration
• Vectorized Python relativistic Runge-Kutta 4 electron trajectory physics engine to simulate 1000+ electrons over 20000 steps in <10s on consumer laptop
• Constructed high-voltage rated Cockcroft-Walton multiplier to achieve >50 kV
• Synthesized vacuum breakdown literature to analyze arcing models, eliminating 90% of 'noisy' electrical discharge to permit reliable data acquisition
• Used SolidWorks and shop tools to design and fabricate a mount for vacuum chamber validation

• Successful 50 keV electron generation; outstanding poster award among 107 submissions

• Managed GitHub branches for collaborative simultaneous feature development
• Integrated MPU 6050 IMU, ultrasonic sensor, 8-bit display mode selection, servos and motors under embedded stackup of C + PlatformIO
• Tuned PD controller module for 'mission planner' usage with position and angular targets

• Only team to achieve 100% completion of all competition tasks

Commercial CV research drones cost $1000s and lack open-source firmware to enable industry-standard ROS2 development, making them sub-optimal for a research environment

• Engineered ROS 2 + OpenCV vision pipeline for 1080p 60fps video with <160ms capture-to-processing latency
• Optimized open-source foundations, forking ArduPilot C++ firmware to enable micro-XRCE DDS for smooth CV algorithm development
• Achieved 4x cost reduction over commercial model via consolidated BOM and SolidWorks design of modular structural components
• Configured optical flow sensor + rangefinder for stable hover (<10cm drift over 5+ minutes) to ensure operator safety
• Detailed technical design documentation for reproducibility and improvement; continued mentorship of undergraduate students working on the project
• Honed technical hardware assembly (crimping, soldering) and debugging

A Clearpath Jackal running ROS1 Noetic on legacy hardware had no autonomy capabilities, requiring migration to ROS2 and custom algorithm development

• Engineered system hierarchy with global planner running Dijkstra over an occupancy grid from Steve Macenski's slam_toolbox ensuring 100% goal convergence
• Integrated cubic-spline smoothing with adaptive downsampling to scale waypoint density to local curvature, eliminating >90% of jitter
• Designed low-level MPC loop to respect the Jackal's acceleration limits and produce a smooth velocity profile
• Ported the platform to ROS 2 Humble on ARM: rebuilt the Jetson Xavier AGX, compiled Velodyne VLP-16 and FOG IMU drivers from source, containerized with Docker for reproducibility
• Validated software in Gazebo + rviz2 before every hardware run to catch errors off-robot

• Sub-10 cm cross-track error and 100% goal convergence across hardware trials
• Runs as the lab's default autonomy baseline for follow-on projects

• Engineered OpenCV + Python custom tracker, fusing circle Hough Transform with motion-based prediction for resilience across 5+ consecutive failed detections
• Tuned PID to control Tello SDK velocity commands; designed communication model to fail safely, resulting in drone auto-landing if connection drops

• Designed hardware-redundant magnetic killswitch PCBA ensuring diver safety with 100% AUV kill rate on 500+ triggers
• Magnetic field strength threshold simulations to ensure 100% consistency; meets all RoboSub competition safety requirements
• Added custom component symbols/footprints in Altium Designer, standardized against workspace requirements and manufacturer clearance constraints

• Leveraged Archimedes' screw geometry with belt-driven generator to power LED
• Designed model in SolidWorks and rendered in Blender; fabricated from 3D printed, laser-cut and heat moulded components

• Achieved near-perfect score across design documentation and output power performance

• Coded calibration sequence to perform dynamic statistical analysis of startup sensor readings to improve low-contrast operation
• Tuned C-based PID controller to reduce robot jitter, resulting in <1cm overshoot
• Modelled and 3D-printed custom CAD frame in SolidWorks for sensor mounting and wiring harness

Build a robotic arm to sort plastic balls constrained to a tight budget

• Led a team of 5 to iteratively prototype 4DOF claw machine-inspired manipulator
• Repurposed recycled materials (scrap wood, PVC, thread spools) to spend <$5 on components excluding motors

• Achieved the Gold Standard (highest competition tier), successfully completing all competition tasks

• Optimized minimax search algorithm with alpha-beta pruning to reduce game tree exploration time by >60%
• Used Python to implement recursive game loop and lightweight Flask REST API

• The agent is very challenging to beat at a recursive depth limit of n=8