Profile
I am an inventor, academic, and serial entrepreneur with a passion for creating and fostering innovative new ideas and growing them into sustainable businesses. My goal is to bring the best technology to fruition and to help engineers and developers make a living doing what they love.
My research and commercialization focus is on building smart technologies for a changing world through the thoughtful application of sensing, connectivity, inference, and actuation. In my academic pursuits, I help my students invent disruptive technologies and learn to become leaders and practitioners in emerging industries.
For the DeepTech Laboratory, please see my MSU lab page. My MSU CSE page is here. The latest print version of my Curriculum Vitae is available as a PDF and up-to-date citation counts are available from my Google Scholar page.
Highlights
Research Interests: Automotive, Internet of Things, design, manufacturing, networks, sensing, machine learning, robotics, security, energy efficiency, embedded systems, entrepreneurship.
Sample Projects:
- Developed and filed patents for an architecture improving security and efficiency for connected systems
- Led a team across universities to develop the award-winning telematics platform behind my company
- Collaborated with industry and academia to develop software improving use-phase vehicle efficiency
Teaching Interests: Internet of Things; connectivity and pervasive sensing, product design, manufacturing, automotive, robotics.
Sample Teaching:
- Organized 60+ hour, 60 person “Bootcamp” about the Internet of Things for MIT’s Office of Digital Learning
- Developed and taught a four day, 18 person course on designing, building, and testing circuit boards
- Wrote assignments and delivered lectures in Design and Manufacturing II, an upper-level MIT course
Education
July 2013 - June 2016
Doctorate of Philosophy
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
I worked with Professor Sanjay Sarma and the members of the Field Intelligence Laboratory, researching vehicle prognostics, sensors, data mining, and Internet of Things architecture. Much of my research related to the value in open data standards, data interoperability, and the use of machine learning to optimize vehicle efficiency, performance, and reliability.
- Thesis: "Data proxies, the cognitive layer, and application locality: enablers of cloud-connected vehicles and next-generation Internet of Things"
- Thesis Committee: Sanjay Sarma, Warren Seering, Maria Yang
- Creating theory to reduce resource use of Internet of Things connected devices, moving intelligence from device to Cloud
- Developing advanced analytics, vehicle prognostics, and context-aware applications making use of Cloud-sourced telematics data provided by the CloudThink platform and CarKnow hardware
- Won the 2015 $15,000 Lemelson-MIT National Collegiate Student Prize Competition "Drive It" Award
- Worked with MIT ILP, OSP to bring in, arrange, and begin a major, two-year, two-student funded project
- Successfully passed qualifying examination (January 2014)
- Previously supported by funded research project with focus on multimodal transportation
July 2011 - June 2013
Master of Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
I received my S.M. degree in Mechanical Engineering, continuing in the Field Intelligence Lab under the supervision of Professor Sanjay Sarma.
- Thesis: "CloudThink and the Avacar: Embedded Design to Create Virtual Vehicles for Cloud Informatics…"
- Development of unified, open-source and cross-platform vehicle data acquisition standard and app store
- Researched measurement approaches for VMT (vehicle miles traveled) tax, including hardware design, embedded software design, communications protocol and remote server architecture
- Addressed accuracy and privacy concerns for aforementioned technologies, including development of anti-spoofing technology for vehicle data collection systems.
- Launched CarKnow LLC, distributing canonical hardware and embedded software for use with the secure CloudThink platform
September 2007 - June 2011
Bachelor of Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
I received my S.B. degree in "Product Design and Operation Management," as recommended by the Department of Mechanical Engineering (Course 2A). I concentrated in Literature.
- Thesis: "Design, Development, and Validation of a Remotely Reconfigurable Vehicle Telemetry System for Consumer and Government Applications"
- Winner of Boeing Prize in 2008 Soldier Design Competition (MIT/Institute for Solder Nanotechnologies)
- Prize money funded startup "Course Zero Automation" General Partnership
- Finalist in 2009 and 2010 Soldier Design Competitions
- Received letter of commendation from MIT Associate Dean for inertial navigation unit development
- Awarded MIT Energy Initiative Summer Research Funding for fuel efficiency monitoring/vehicle diagnostic project
- Patented related technology:
"System and Method for Providing Road Condition and Congestion Monitoring Using Smart Messages"
(US 8566010 B2) - 3rd Place Award Winner ‘11 MIT deFlorez Mechanical Engineering Competition (CloudCar System)
- 4th place ‘10 (Non-Contact Voltage Detecting Glove)
- $100 Entrance Award ’09 (Low-Cost Inertial Navigation Unit)
September 2003 - June 2007
High School Diploma
Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School
- Cum Laude, Dean’s List, AP Scholar with Distinction, Semifinalist of Michigan Math Prize Competition
- McCaul Endowment Grant for self-directed autonomous vehicle development (software & hardware)
- 2 Cranbrook Prize Programming Awards
- 1st in 2007 University of Michigan, State of Michigan High School Programming Contest (team of 3)
- Cranbrook Studio Art Award (Sculpture - Metalwork), Excellence In Art Award (Design - Prints)
- Caltech Book Award, Strickland Writing Scholar Award
Honors
- 2015 Hero of the Year in the Cloud Innovation World Cup
- Finalist - Telematics Update 2015, 2017 "Industry Newcomer" Segment
- Finalist - 2015 Global Automotive Innovation Challenge
- Semi Finalist - 2016 Global Automotive and Mobility Innovation Challenge
- 2014 MassChallenge SemiFinalist
- 2014/15 IoT/M2M Hero of the Year in the Innovation World Cup
- 2014/15 Innovation World Cup - Finalist, Mobility Solutions
- 2011/15 Innovation World Cup - Finalist, GEO Award
- 2014 & 2017 Top 100 (out of 900) - NASA "Create the Future" Competition
- 2014 MassIT Government Innovation Competition Winner ($25,000 and opportunity to pilot with the state of Massachusetts)
- 2014 IPSO Alliance Challenge SemiFinalist (mentored by Presidential Innovation Fellow)
- 2015 Edmunds Hackomotive Invited Participant (Unable to attend due to conflict with trip to visit supercar manufacturer as followup to academic project)
- Accepted to pitch at 2014 MIT 100K Accelerate (Unable to attend due to conflict with GAIC)
- Winner - 2015 $15,000 Lemelson-MIT National Collegiate Graduate Student "Drive It" Prize
- Best Ideation Award (BMW-EURECOM Summer School, "Highly Autonomous Driving in the Internet of Things," 2014)
- Outstanding Research Travel Grant (1000 Euro) (BMW-EURECOM Summer School, "Highly Autonomous Driving in the Internet of Things," 2014)
- Participant in 2015 deFlorez Mechanical Engineering Competition with rapid 3D printing technology
- Winner of MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, Soldier Design Competition Boeing Prize in 2008 Soldier Design Competition (MIT/Institute for Solder Nanotechnologies)
- 3rd Place Award Winner ‘11 MIT deFlorez Mechanical Engineering Competition (CloudCar System)
- McCaul Endowment Grant for self-directed autonomous vehicle development (software & hardware)
- 2 Cranbrook Prize Programming Awards
- 1st in 2007 University of Michigan, State of Michigan High School Programming Contest (team of 3)
- Cranbrook Studio Art Award (Sculpture - Metalwork)
- Excellence In Art Award (Design - Prints)
- Caltech Book Award
- Strickland Writing Scholar Award
Corporate
While corporate accolades would not typically appear on a Curriculum Vitae, several are included here for your reference. These accolades are a marker of my entrepreneurial spirit, and the majority of awards, recognition, and articles presented here were garnered when I was the sole proprietor and sole employee of my venture, CarKnow. As such, they are as much a reflection on myself as on any corporate entity, and they are deemed worthy of inclusion herein.Graduate Career
Undergraduate Career
High School
Work and Entrepreneurship
January 2019 - Present
Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Engineering
Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)
I research the Internet of Things, pervasive sensing, autonomous vehicles, AI, and cybersecurity.
- Creating AI diagnostics for electric vehicle battery packs
- Teaching courses on self-driving vehicles and IoT
- Developing AI-backed cybersecurity and applications for pervasive (automotive) diagnostics
June 2017 - December 2018
Research Scientist
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)
I research architectures for the Internet of Things and applications of pervasive smartphone data to ve- hicle (and other object) failure prediction.
- Conducting experiments using IoT, RFID, additive manufacturing, and deep learning techniques
- Working with World Economic Forum to develop workshop on IoT and to author “Transformation Map” report on IoT.
- Successfully specified and negotiated $200K contract for funded research proposal developing smart, RFID-enabled wearables and co-developed two successful research grants with an automotive OEM
- Currently supervising several student researchers with projects focused on the Internet of Things, pervasive sensing, and data analytics.
December 2015 - December 2018
Founder and CTO
CarKnow LLC dba DataDriven (Brookline, MA)
DataDriven builds upon my Ph.D work to apply pervasive mobile phone sensing for the proactive detection of vehicle faults. Early detection of vehicle failures allows simplified response with reduced cost, and assures increased vehicle lifetime efficiency. I lead a team of researchers and businesspeople to identify and address the most significant in non-OBD vehicle diagnostics.
- Finalist for 2017 Global Automotive and Mobility Innovation Challenge, semi-finalist 2017 MIT 100K, shortlist Telematics Update “Best Aftermarket Telematics Product or Service,” qualified for 2016 MassChallenge Round 2 Judging and finalist for MIT 100K
- Currently engaging with multiple insurance companies and automotive suppliers to collect data for model validation and to conduct a technology pilot
June 2016 - May 2017
Postdoctoral Associate
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)
I research context- and cognition-based secure and efficient architectures for the Internet of Things, as well as the application of pervasively-sensed data to vehicle failure prediction and design optimization. These architectures will allow more devices to be connected to the Internet, facilitating the richer data generation, sharing, and analytics necessary to build intelligent devices.
- Developing the complete lecture and lab content for a week-long, intensive Internet of Things course. Outside of preparing content and arranging for guest lecturers, I work with a small team to market the course, handle admissions, and balance the budget
- Submitted five new manuscripts for consideration, since starting as a postdoctoral associate in June. These relate to the Internet of Things, network device security, connected vehicle design considerations, and data-informed applications for improving vehicle efficiency and reliability.
- Drafted $1.1M in grant applications to support my future automotive research AY`16-`17 ($600K approved as of Nov '16)
- Currently supervising several student researchers with projects focused on the Internet of Things, pervasive sensing, and data analytics. One of my current students is building an intelligent, Internet-connected circuit breaker. Another is building low-cost sensor-laden machine tools capable of identifying failures, tool wear, and material inconsistencies. I additionally supervise several students currently applying passive RFID tags for low-cost sensing and remote device control
February 2012 - Present
Founder and CTO
CarKnow LLC (Brookline, MA)
CarKnow commercialized my S.B. and S.M. research, building a platform for universal automotive application development, curating an app store for vehicles, and serving as a data broker for third parties. The company has a focus on embedded hardware and software, web applications, and intelligent IoT platform design, as well as vehicle reverse engineering and security analysis. Today, CarKnow primarily provides vehicle computer, network, and data analysis consulting services.
- Engineering and business lead, participating in hardware and architecture development. I also manage a team of hardware and software developers
- Conducting reverse engineering of vehicle data, networks, sensors, and security protocols in order to create telematics, infotainment and diagnostic applications
- Winner, 2014 MassIT Government Innovation Prize - opportunity to pilot technology within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to better serve constituents
- Press mention on AOL Media's "Translogic," The New York Times, Fox Sports Network WGME Maine, CW31 Sacramento, AutoBlog and more, including IoT whitepapers and startup profiles.
December 2007-Present
Researcher, Teaching Assistant
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)
FIL, LMP, and Electrochemical Labs
- Graduate student researcher and engineering lead for CloudCar (now CloudThink) project
- Teaching assistant for 2.008 - Design and Manufacturing II (developing curriculum, writing assignments and lectures, holding office hours) & TA/advisor to “Tech Startups I” and “Tech Startups II”
- Created an architecture reducing resource use and enhancing security for constrained connected devices. This architecture will ultimately allow low-power, low-cost devices to share information with remote servers, and facilitate secure remote actuation
- Engineering lead for CloudThink digital object mirroring platform, which served as the base technology for my award-winning company CarKnow
- Created open-source "Carduino" car to Cloud bridge hardware and embedded software, producing over 250 Carduinos for testing and data collection
- Developed failure prognostics and context-aware applications using Cloud-sourced telematics data
- Worked with MIT Industrial Liaison Program and Office of Sponsored Programs bring in, arrange, and deliver upon a major, two-year, two-student funded project with Jaguar Land Rover
- Supported by DOT and NSF funded research project with focus on multimodal transit. This project required developing iOS and Android applications to collect sensor data and identify motion type and transit trends
- Researched VMT (vehicle miles traveled) measurement including tamperproofing mechanisms, which helped to inform the state of Oregon's approach to mileage-based user fees for road access
- Developed sensors for wireless home power monitoring, working with Professor Sarma and Ivan Sergeev
- Awarded MIT Energy Initiative Summer Research Funding to develop a low-cost automotive diagnostic devices capable of sharing economy data with smartphones
- Developed and filed for patents on vehicle diagnostic sensors and software, working with Professor Sanjay Sarma
- Developed a test stand for thermal modeling of lithium ion batteries under supervision of Professor Yet-Ming Chiang
September 2010-March 2012
Researcher, Programmer, & Technical Advisory Board Member
AutoMob LLC [MySuzy] (Boston, MA)
- Commercialized patented undergraduate research on road condition monitoring
- Developed concept of sensor-based “context layer” for mobile devices, tailoring application function based on motion and timing cues
- Interviewed as acquisition possibility by major mobile operating system and related parent company
June 2011-January 2012
Self-Employed Consultant
EngVision IT Consulting (Boston, MA)
Served clients individually and in the context of academia and industry. Services revolved around business plans, startup growth strategies, hiring freelancers, core technology R&D, rapid prototyping of MVP and related DFM, subcontractor selection, vehicle reverse engineering, mobile app development, and microcontroller software development.
- Work with students and entrepreneurs from the MIT E-Club to develop and commercialize early-stage technology
- Projects include large-scale thermal imaging efforts, including vehicular camera mounting hardware and weatherproof electronic cabling
- Worked with client to design, validate, and mass-produce system
- System has imaged millions of buildings without failure, coming in on-time and under-budget
- Other projects include working with clients for general startup consultation, and specific industries such as food services
March 2008-January 2011
Co-Founder and President, Technology
Course Zero Automation (Boston, MA)
- Developed and commercialized low-cost inertial navigation hardware and software, implementing advanced filtering algorithms on low-power, embedded systems
- Designed hardware using COTS MEMS sensors to reduce cost and provide solid supply chain opportunities
- Software algorithms licensed by game-development studio
Summer 2007
Engineering Intern
Thermalwave Imaging (Ferndale, MI)
- Designed, tested high-speed shutters and suction mounting systems for thermographic camera setups
- Analyzed data from IR cameras to determine failure points within composite materials
Summers, 2003-2006