Alex |
FROM ALEX FABRIKANT: I was born in Russia, but grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles. After spending my high school years convinced that I was born to be a chemist, I went to UC Berkeley and ended up, naturally, a computer science major (well, I also ended up with math and linguistics degrees, somewhat unintentionally). I stayed at Berkeley for my PhD in theoretical computer science, focusing on computational properties of selfish behavior (aka algorithmic game theory). The academic highlight of grad school was proving that figuring out if the internet is broken is roughly as hard as playing checkers [1, 2].
|
FROM ALLEN NUTTLE: When I was a kid -- not so very long ago -- the Apollo Program was landing people on the Moon. As I was growing up, so were computers; I've been involved with these nearly all of my life. I was fortunate to live overseas when I was young, and to attend the first public high school for math and science (it was a residential school). I graduated from Carnegie Mellon with degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering. FIRST came along not long after I finished my formal education, I'd have been all over it if it had started some years earlier.
|
Allen |
Alycia |
ALYCIA J. WEINBERGER is an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science’s Earth and Planets Laboratory, in Washington, DC. She wants to understand how planets form, so she observes the birthplaces of planets – disks of dust and gas around young stars. With the Hubble Space Telescope and the largest ground-based telescopes in the world, she looks at the dust made by the collisions of asteroids and comets around other stars. She also searches for young and old planets in other star systems, called exoplanets, to see where they formed. She observes at many observatories world-wide, has flown on NASA’s 747, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, and works on planning for future space missions and the world’s largest ground-based telescope.
|
DR. ERIK ANDERSEN earned his B.S. in Biological Sciences at Stanford University, where he also earned the Firestone Medal for Excellence in Research given to the top undergraduate researcher. He earned his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was an Anna Fuller Cancer Research Fellow, studying the developmental genetics of chromatin modulation in Caenorhabditis elegans advised by Dr. H. Robert Horvitz. His research interests shifted to statistical genetics and computational genomics for his National Research Service Award Post-doctoral and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship with Dr. Leonid Kruglyak at Princeton University.
|
Erik |
iRobot |
iROBOT EMPLOYEES Mike Mullinax, Zacaria Daignault, Andy Reichel, Laura Herlant, and Matt Nichols will be presenters. To learn about the company, click here. |
JOHN FARLEY has worked as a Meteorologist for more than 25 years and is honored to be the Chief Meteorologist for ABC Columbia. He understands the challenges of forecasting the ever-changing weather of the Midlands. That was never more important than on Saturday night October 3rd, when the worst storm of a generation dropped up to 21 inches of rain right here in Columbia. During that storm, John spent the night and following day in continuous coverage, warning viewers of the perils of the flooding. He says, “It’s a period of 36 hours that has left an indelible imprint on me. Seeing our neighbors, whose lives are now changed forever because of the power of this storm, is very impacting.”
|
John |
Meenakshi |
MEENAKSHI PATIL, a very passionate tech enthusiast, comes with 20+ years’ experience in Software Industry – inclusive of Sales,
Business development, Setting up CoC, Business & technology Consulting, Business & Process Automation, Program and
Delivery management, Commercial off the shelf (COTS) product implementation. Prior to joining IBM, she worked as
Program Director – Testing Services with Mindtree based out of London, covering UK & Continental Europe.
|
PAUL BIERMANN has over forty one years’ experience with materials selection and fabrication of prototype structures and components. He has an extensive background in adhesive bonding, polymer molding and casting, the manufacture and characterization of a variety of composite fiber/resin systems, from glass/epoxy to carbon/carbon, rapid prototyping (additive manufacturing), composite cure and assembly techniques, reverse engineering, model making, tooling and mold fabrication. He is an APL Master Inventor and holds 17 US Patents.
|
Paul |
Samir |
SAMIR DURVASULA graduated with an Electrical and Computer Engineering degree from Cornell University (Bachelor’s of Science 2017, Master’s of Engineering 2018). He currently works as an electrical engineer at the MITRE Corporation. His passion is finding innovative ways to apply his background towards health applications. Samir is currently working on engineering solutions towards the COVID-19 pandemic through expanding telehealth capabilities to everyone. In addition to his work at MITRE, Samir is currently pursuing a Master’s of Science degree in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University. In his free time, Samir can be found developing his island on Animal Crossing, and trying to catch all of the fish. |
SAUL SCHAFFER is a PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University in the Biohybrid and Organic Robotics Group (B.O.R.G.). Saul did his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, focusing on medical robotics and advanced manufacturing. In his free time, Saul enjoys hiking, listening to audio books, tinkering with electronics and perfecting his egg fried rice recipe. |
Saul |