Professional

Organic Robotics Laboratory The Organic Robotics Laboratory led by Dr. Shepherd at Cornell University is an interdisciplinary team of mechanical engineers, materials scientists, and chemists. We are creating new breed of soft robots that mimic the capabilities of living organisms. By using soft materials such as elastomers and hydrogels we can create new modes of human/machine interaction . We are [...]

Holocene Clean Energy is renewable energy company based out of Raleigh, NC. Holocene Clean Energy provides expertise in construction, finance and technology to meet the needs of commercial clients around the United States. Holocene Technologies designs and fabricates custom, commercial grade solar thermal systems. The flagship product of the company is the Fluid Handling System (FHS), and integrated [...]

During the summer of 2011, I worked as a researcher in Dr. Seelecke's Multifunctional Materials Systems Lab at the Universität des Saarlandes in Saarbrücken, Germany. My work focused on the use of Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wires to mimic the function of biological muscles. First, a kinematic model of the bat motion is developed in order to determine the desired [...]

As a student at North Carolina State University, I performed research in Dr. Seelecke's Adaptive Structures Lab. During this time, my focus was working with Dielectric Electro-Active Polymers (DEAPs). DEAPs are thin, stretchable capacitors that can be used as either actuators or sensors. By applying a high electric field, the shape and stiffness of the [...]

During the summer of 2010, I performed research at the University of Hawaii and Manoa through the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program. Under the leadership of Dr. H. Ronald Riggs, I worked with other students to model the accumulated velocity of shipping containers in tsunami conditions using ANSYS Fluent. A tsunami bore can achieve on-shore [...]

During the summer of 2009, I performed research at Southern Methodist University through the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program. Working in Dr. Radovan Kovacevic's Research Center for Advanced Manufacturing, I helped develop components for an electron beam welding/plasma window system. Electron beam welding uses a stream of high velocity electrons to fuse two pieces of [...]