About Me

Starting our freshman year of high school, my two best friends and I formed a team to compete in the Vex Robotics Competition, a robotics competition in which teams face off in 2v2 matches to complete scoring objectives.

Struggling to compete against the experienced veterans, we eventually left our organization and formed our own team, 55645X Arsenal. It was in my teammate's basement where we spent our days after school, spending countless hours solving problem after problem. As we put the work in, our efforts started to show in our results.

Here's a recap of what we accomplished:

• New York State Champions
• 6x Tournament Champions
• 5x Robot Skills Champions
• 6 Judged Awards
• 3x World Championship Qualification
• High ranking in national events in Wisconsin, California, Massachusetts, and the international World Championship

During my junior year of high school, I spent 6 weeks discovering the world of soft robotics, meeting new friends, and exploring the avenues of Boston. This was all part of the Boston University RISE (Research In Science and Engineering) summer program, in which students are immersed in hands-on projects and given the opportunity to learn from leading experts.

For 6 weeks, I worked in the Morphable Biorobotics lab under PI Tommaso Ranzani and PhD student Jacob Rogatinsky, investigating applications of SBAs (Stacked Balloon Actuators) in minimally invasive heart surgery.

This work involved:

• Fabricating SBAs using a laser cutter, heat press, and a Teflon layering methodology
• Conducting strength testing and fabrication on SBAs
• Designing, fabricating, and programming a pick-and-place machine featuring an SBA end effector
• Programming SBA control using a Wii nunchuck

Along the way, I made like-minded and talented friends that I will always remember, and I will always look back at my time in BU fondly.

In my freshman and sophomore year of college, I joined GT Robowrestling, Georgia Tech's robot sumo team. Meeting twice weekly at the Student Competition Center, we worked on our robots for the 500 gram and 3 kilogram weight classes to compete against other robots from around the world.

These robots eventually competed in the Robogames competition and at an in-house competition, in which my 500g subteam won!

My contributions included:

• Developing C++ firmware on the Arduino Nano and Teensy microcontrollers for real-time sensor integration and motion control
• Coordinating with the electrical and mechanical teams to optimize performance under design constraints
• Providing software onboarding to first-year 500g teams
• Operation of waterjet and mills to manufacture steel / aluminum baseplates

The moment I found out about Georgia Tech's renowned student-run makerspace I knew that I wanted to get myself involved. The Invention Studio at Georgia Tech allows students to use hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of machinery, including CNC mills, industrial waterjets, laser cutters, 3D printers, and more!

From tablesaws to sewing machines, I went through numerous trainings and testings on various equipment during my freshman year. After finally becoming a Provisional PI (Prototyping Instructor) at the Invention Studio, I began staffing the space.

My responsibilities included supervising general users 3 hours per week to ensure safe use of equipment, as well as administering machine trainings to those also looking to staff the space. In exchange, I gained 24/7 access to the Invention Studio!

I then worked my way up to becoming a Full PI, meaning I could also administer testing and training to those trying to become provisional PIs!

As a computer science major, being at the Invention Studio allowed me to see a different side of Georgia Tech, giving me a more complete experience during my time in college.