Background
I started designing robots and random inventions at a young age. Swept up by the style and possibility of science fiction. My pallate of interests was complicated in middle school when I fixated on filmmaking, specifically the technology behind the 16mm and 35mm processes. I repaired and designed equipment in this time to get the shots I wanted in films made with my friends.
While in film school in Los Angeles, my interest in fabrication was expanded as I began a ground up restoration of an '86 BMW coupe. This led me to carpentry and metal working, just as COVID pulled me away from my film classes. Over the next year I would try to create props or restore film equipment. By the time I graduated from USC, I saw myself more as a scenery engineer and fabricator than a filmmaker. Thus I sought out fabrication roles, leading me to commercial set decoration as a freelancer and full time shop employee. In two years of building designs for Universal Studios, Boston Beer, and Paramount Studios, my interests coalesced around electrical engineering, propelled by my design of hi-fi audio circuits and experience with motion control for animatronics.
I returned to classes first at USC, then eventually online through CU Boulder, pursuing a MS-EE. While taking these graduate courses, I began my role as an assistant robotics instructor at the Marlborough School, helping lead students in the design and fabrication of robots for the FTC robotics season. This has been an opportunity to learn educational strategies, teach CAD, and further my familiarity with entry-level programming languages. Since starting the role, we have had 3 more teams proceed to regional level competition, and one more proceed to the world championship over previous years. The 2024 season concluded with one team winning 1st place Inspire award in their division at the world championships.
I'm continue to look for a path that combines these work experiences into a role implementing creative technology for robotic animation, motion control, or audio-visual purposes, ideally in an entertainment environment where I can call upon my undergraduate education and love for the design of electronic systems.
