Education
I earned a Bachelor of Science in Robotics Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in December of 2025. The program is ABET-accredited. Because this degree is more specialized and less widely offered than typical computer, mechanical, or electrical engineering degrees, I created this page to provide additional detail.
The following is a list of the relevant courses I took that pertain to the fields of Robotics Engineering and Business.
Major Qualifying Project
The Major Qualifying Project (MQP) at WPI is a senior design requirement. My key contributions included:
- Designed and implemented mechanical bed leveling
- Established a GitHub-based workflow for version control and remote collaboration on SOLIDWORKS files
- Performed load and torque calculations to verify bearing capacity along the linear rails
- Discovered that the software "glitches" noticed by students were actually the result of electromagnetic interference (EMI) from the VFD powering the spindle
- Developed a laser probe and safety system for the automatic tool changer
- Calibrated axis motors and drivers
- Created new fixturing for the work area
- Contributed significantly to ten of the fourteen sections of the MQP final report
Robotics Engineering
The course was taught using Python and covered the following topics:
- A* search
- Dijkstra's algorithm
- Adversarial search
- Markov decision processes
- Reinforcement learning
- Neural networks
- Deep learning
- AlphaZero
Using SOLIDWORKS for CAD and FEA, gears were designed and integrated into a four-bar linkage. The objective was to lift an aluminum
part using a weak motor attached to a Romi robot, then move the part to a preset position using line-following and wall-sensing sensors.
IMU, sonar, vision, and infrared sensors were used with C++ to mathematically
blend feedback in software, enabling our Romi robots to navigate a field with ramps and communicate to open a door. PID code was
written to enable constant speed control and stopping on ramps at various angles.
Using forward and inverse kinematics, vision sensors, and trajectory planning, our team of
three wrote MATLAB code to detect, grasp, and sort balls according to their color.
Using ROS on Linux, we mapped the maze with a LiDAR sensor. The robot was then manually
moved and oriented itself on the map using LiDAR and Kalman filtering.
Our four-person team programmed an Arduino PLC, which controlled a system of industrial
robots (a UR5 Universal Robots arm and an M-1iA FANUC delta robot), as well as two conveyor belts.
Computer Science
- MSP430 programming in Assembly and C
- Raspberry Pi programming in C and Python
- Pico CNC with grblHAL firmware programming in C (MQP Mini CNC Mill)
- PLC programming: Arduino PLC IDE
On an eleven-person team, I built a full-stack web application. This course focused
on the agile method, daily scrums, modern libraries, and the PERN stack—PostgreSQL, Express, React, and Node.js. We used
GitHub for version control and collaboration.
I used Linux extensively throughout the robotics curriculum. I have experience with both
the graphical and command-line interfaces. For version control workflows, I primarily use Git via the command-line interface (Git Bash).
I programmed in C and C++ for automation based on sensor feedback. This experience strengthened my
understanding of low-level memory management and data representation—and how this knowledge pertains to higher-level languages such as Python.
Java was the language used in the Object-Oriented Programming
course. Python and C++ were used extensively in robotics coursework for implementing custom data structures.
For my Humanities Capstone, I took Writing for the Web. In this course, I built a fully
functional website starting with a blank text file. We did not use any libraries.
In Robotics Ethics, our team of four was required to write numerous reports using LaTeX.
In Industrial Robotics, we programmed a UR5 Universal Robots arm and an M-1iA FANUC delta
robot.
MATLAB was required for numerous courses, including Controls, Manipulation, and Industrial Robotics. I also chose
to use MATLAB in Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, and Circuit Analysis to solve problems ranging from vector fields to DC circuits.
I have professional experience altering G-Code from post-processors. I also worked with G-Code on the
MQP when calibrating the motor drivers.
Electrical Engineering
This course required the use of KiCad to develop schematics for all circuits.
The calculations to ensure proper design of voltages and currents were done with MATLAB, and electrical simulations were done
with MATLAB Simscape Electrical.
Communication protocols were applied extensively in robotics and embedded systems coursework.
- UART
- I2C
- SPI
This course primarily covered DC circuits, with some exposure to AC circuits. MATLAB was used
for solving systems of equations that modeled the circuits. The node method was used heavily in this course.
This calculus-based course covered the physics of electromagnetism. The lab associated
with this course required the building and analysis of DC circuits.
Mechanical Engineering
This course covered forces and moments acting on structures and mechanical systems in
equilibrium. A heavy emphasis was placed on creating free-body diagrams to model the system, then solving the resulting
systems of equations.
Controls was a required course for robotics majors and covered modeling of both closed- and
open-loop systems. The Laplace transform and MATLAB were used in this course for analyzing steady-state system behavior. This course covered
both mechanical and electrical systems.
This calculus-based course covered the Bohr model of the atom, which uses
probability to determine the location of electrons in corresponding shells. Lattice structures and their properties were covered, as
well as photons and electromagnetic waves.
This calculus-based course covered the energy, momentum, and kinematics.
This calculus-based course covered special and general relativity, as well as quantum energy such
as photons. The foundations of quantum mechanics were introduced as well.
Engineering Software and Tools
The engineering software and tools I used included:
- SOLIDWORKS CAD, Finite Element Analysis, and CAM
- Fusion 360 CAD and CAM
- MATLAB for mathematical modeling, vision sensors, as well as mechanical and electrical system simulations
- Linux, GitHub, VSCode, WebStorm, and Arduino
- Oscilloscopes, multimeters, and voltage supplies
- Basic soldering
- Strain gauges, tachometers, temperature sensors, electronic torque wrenches, and dial indicators
- Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo (graphic design)
Mathematics
- Differential and Integral Calculus
- Multivariable Vector Calculus
- Probability Applications
- Discrete Math with Boolean algebra and set theory
- Linear Algebra
- Differential Equations
- Engineering Math (covered the application of advanced math in engineering)
Business
This course was a three-term project on a team of four people. Our task
was to get an online store up and running, after gauging the market demand and deciding how best to implement the go-to-market
strategy.
This course covered the basics of taking an engineering innovation to market. The course
was based on the book, The Startup Playbook by David Kidder and Reid Hoffman.
This course covered the basics of microeconomics: demand, supply, and equilibrium price, as
well as price elasticity and market types—such as perfectly competitive versus monopolies and those in between.