Curriculum Vitae

For information on my research activities, click here.

Bio

Aerospace engineering PhD candidate conducting research in robust safety-critical control of distributed parameter systems and systems facing adverse operating conditions.

Academics

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — PhD Candidate

August 2020— in Urbana-Champaign, IL

Jointly supervised PhD program in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Science and Engineering, focusing on control theory, especially regarding safety-critical control in environments with limited prior knowledge, as well as biomedical applications.

Teaching Assistantships

ME 462/597: Advanced Computer Control (Fall 2021):

A course aimed at providing students a foundation in modern real-time-computable control design through progression from basic theory to advanced control algorithms that have proven successful in applications. Both discrete time (DT) and (CT) formats are employed and linked through discrete-continuous (sampled-data) concepts. The laboratory part of the course provides exposure to

the elements of AI and machine learning proven useful in enhancing these algorithms,
the related Matlab toolboxes and algorithm implementations from the ground up,
implementation of these algorithms on modern computing platforms (GPUs and FPGAs), and
applications in aerospace, power generation, manufacturing, and other areas.

I was responsible for grading homeworks, lab reports, and the final project (a project where students independently explore an robust adaptive control concept and apply it to their research). I was also responsible for developing the lab materials (a rigorous exploration of the theory, followed by interactive code examples and exercises related to real-life applications), in addition to and teaching lab lectures and having office hours. Original lab materials include, but are not limited to:

An interior point method based constrained discrete-time linear model predictive control (MPC) solver;
A massively parallel GPU implementation of a bank of PID controllers;
Generalized predictive control (GPC) algorithms with rate-constraints and adaptive extensions;
Recursive least-squares (RLS), multi-step-ahead predictive identification (MSPI), long-range predictive identification (LRPI) system identification algorithms.

AE 461: Structures & Control Lab (Spring 2021):

A course aimed at providing students hands-on experience with applied structures and control problems. I was responsible for the control part, administering lab sessions that focused on system identification and feedback controller design.

ME 498/598: Advanced Computer Control (Fall 2020):

the elements of AI and machine learning proven useful in enhancing these algorithms,
the related Matlab toolboxes and algorithm implementations from the ground up,
implementation of these algorithms on modern computing platforms (GPUs and FPGAs), and
applications in aerospace, power generation, manufacturing, and other areas.

Delft University of Technology — Undergraduate Aerospace Engineering

September 2017–July 2020 (3 years) in Delft, The Netherlands

Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, with a graduation thesis on a cost-effective civilian aircraft flight simulator for upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT).

Delft University of Technology — Honours Programme Delft Bachelor Student

September 2018–July 2020 (2 years) in Delft, The Netherlands

Program for honors students, including a research segment (14 ECTS) and an interdisciplinary segment (6 ECTS). The research is on a range-restricted guidance law for the optimal ascent of experimental rockets. The interdisciplinary segment consisted on a course on Global Development Engineering, and a summer school at CERN on innovative engineering and design thinking.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — Exchange Student

August 2019–January 2020 (5 months) in Urbana-Champaign, IL

Semester-long exchange at the University of Illinois, focusing on hypersonic aerodynamics, real-time computer control and machine learning. Additionally working on an independent study on in-flight change-conscious estimation and prediction of environmental parameters in aerospace vehicles.

Internships

CERN — CERN Honours Programme Summer School

July 2019 (1 month) in Meyrin, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland

A three week summer course at CERN IdeaSquare in Geneva in which students work in multidisciplinary teams to investigate a novel technology to find innovative applications which solve societal problems.

European Space Agency - ESA — Introduction to Space Law Training Course

June 2019 (1 week) in Redu, Belgium

A week-long intensive training course on the concept of Space Law, including its implementation within the European space program and national law. Among the speakers were experts from ESA, as well as national officials from space offices in Europe and the Secretary-General of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. The course was wrapped up with a model United Nations General-Assembly meeting.

Extracurricular activities

The Illinois Space Society — Technical Manager

September 2019–January 2020 (5 months) in Urbana-Champaign, IL

Full design and engineering of a sounding rocket and aerially-deployed quadcopter payload as the Technical Manager for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s NASA University Student Launch Initiative team.

This entails managing a team of students to develop an in-house project with limited funds. In addition to production, careful design and simulations are an integral part of the process, and much efforts are invested in the study of highfidelity simulation methods for trajectory, flight loads, and stability assessment.

Finally, advanced robust autonomous control systems design for a quadcopter that can retrieve a ground sample are a unique aspect of the project. Here, I have introduced team members to safety critical programming in C++, and have lead the groundwork to informed system design, as well as controller design and communications protocols between ground and the vehicle.

Delft Aerospace Rocket Engineering — Flight Simulations Engineer

November 2018–August 2019 (10 months) in Delft, The Netherlands

Responsible for creating a novel sounding rocket flight simulation code from scratch. This code is object oriented and written in C++, with Python bindings for easy interfacing. Aerodynamics and environmental effects (atmosphere and gravity) are included in a six degrees-of-freedom kinematics model, with variable geometry, engines and stage separation and recovery systems. Apart from apogee and expected landing location prediction, vehicle-environment interaction is also modeled.

TV Tokyo — Participation in a program of TV Tokyo

December 2016, August 2017 in Japan

Participation in an educational Japanese TV-program by TV Tokyo called “I want to go to Japan!", about the North-Japanese dialect.

Work

Fugro ICT B.V. — Helpdesk Employee

July 2018–August 2018 (2 months) in Leidschendam, The Netherlands

Assisting with general tasks for which the servicedesk is responsible, in addition to developing software (in Python) that enables automating processes within the department at a regional scale. This entailed taking the lead in developing major ICT campaigns including, but not limited to, a region-wide ICT asset replacement campaign and the construction of a comprehensive database cataloging the software and hardware inventory of Fugro NL (The Netherlands, Belgium and Africa) both by person and subsidiary.

Qualifications

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL iBT) — 117/120

November 2019.

Japanese Language Proficiency Test — N1 Level

August 2017, 93rd percentile. Advanced level Japanese language proficiency.

International Baccalaureate — Higher Level English

July 2017, 6/7 points.

Cambridge English Certificate in Advanced English — Level A (CEFR Level C2)

July 2015. Advanced level English mastery.

Awards

NASA — NASA LEAPFROG Software Competition Winner

August 2021.

Awarded as part of the Artemis Student Challenges. More information may be found at https://leapfrog.isi.edu/.

Engineering Council — Society Member of the Month

September 2019.

Awarded by the Engineering Council of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign “for hard work and dedication to the College of Engineering and Illinois Space Society.”

Embassy of Japan in the Netherlands — 30th Japanese Speaking Contest, Grand Prize

March 2017.

Grand Prize at the 30th Japanese Speaking Contest (five minute speech in Japanese).

Skills

Languages

Dutch: Fluent in word and writing
English: Fluent in word and writing
Japanese: Fluent in word and writing
Arabic: Average in word and writing
French: Average in word and writing

Computer skills

Basic

CSS, XML, Ada 2012

Intermediate

Ruby, OpenFOAM, MOOSE

Extensive

Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects), Microsoft Windows, Linux, HTML, JavaScript, C/C++, Haxe, Python, bash, LaTeX.

Python: Extensive experience, both in the capacity of a scripting language coupled with high-performance compiled (C/C++) libraries, as well as standalone usage.
C/C++: Experience developing high-performance control software subject to stringent resource constraint, both on dedicated Linux machines, as well as on embedded system. See the Lodestar Engine project for more information on a real-time control library that I am currently developing.
ROS/Gazebo: Experience in controlling simulated systems in a software-in-the-loop fashion using a combination of ROS and Gazebo; see my achievements in the NASA LEAPFROG competition. I also have extensive experience implementing controllers in ROS on hardware systems, both in C++ as well as externally through Python on a remote control station.
MATLAB: Extensive experience with MATLAB, its control and system identification packages (MPC, wavelets, reinforcement learning, etc.), as well as external packages (CORA, YALMIP, etc.).