Who I Am
I’m an aerospace & robotics nerd who is passionate about making things move, fly, actuate, better, faster, and more reliably.
What I Do
I’m currently the Head of Hardware at Traptic, Inc., an early stage startup located in Sunnyvale. We are building robotic harvesters for delicate fruits and vegetables which will enable the future of agriculture. I joined Traptic as the first non-founding employee and have had the opportunity to own designs from idea all the way through deployment in muddy fields. Since joining I’ve been the architect for the 3rd and 4th generation robotic strawberry harvesters which are currently deployed and operated daily in fields in California.
Previous Work
I previously worked for Goodrich Aerostructures, which while I was there turned into UTC Aerospace Systems, now is Collins Aerospace, and will soon to be Raytheon Technologies. The site that I worked at specializes primarily in thrust reversers for medium to large commercial aircraft. During the 4.5 years I was at the company I moved from being an R&D intern, through a year-long rotation program, and then was selected to join the specialty analysis team. I gained valuable experience from each team
Intern-Emerging Technology R&D, UTC Aerospace Systems 2012–2014
Modeled new aircraft exhaust concepts in CATIA. Performed structural analysis using Nastran and traditional methods. Analyzed material test results for novel materials. Generated concept designs for next generation aerospace fire seals. Identified nondestructive evaluation techniques for interior, composite joint structures
Associate Rotational Engineer, UTC Aerospace Systems
2014–2015
Performed various engineering roles as part of the rotational engineering program. Rotations included positions in the Weights, Loads, Stress, R&D and Test groups.
Engineer-Specialty analysis, UTC Aerospace Systems
2015–2017
Created analysis using STAR CCM+ (CFD), and traditional methods. Documented results in analysis records. Estimated and tracked aeroperformance for C-Series (A220) nacelle program. Supported design reviews, hardware tests, and production hardware deviations.
Head of hardware, Traptic
2017–present
Building hardware to enable the future of agriculture. I take designs from idea to deployed hardware. Perform and review structural analysis using FEA and hand calculations.