About Me

(in about 502 words)

Intro

I am a Machine Learning Engineer with a focus on Reinforcement Learning. I love AI and robotics, and hope to use my RL and computer engineering background to help others in unique ways.

Currently

  • I work at MIT Lincoln Laboratory as an Autonomous Systems Engineer.
  • I am in the Advanced Capabilities and Systems Group in the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Department
  • I collaborate with students and faculty on MIT campus, specifically Prof. Luca Carlone
  • I work with the Boston Dynamics SPOT robot to do cool things

Previously

  • At Shield AI, I worked on the DARPA Alpha Dogfight Trials (ADT)
  • In my first internship with Shield (then Heron Systems), I worked on creating novel reward schemes and developing a transformer model for an RL Fighter Jet agent
  • I've learned how to build ML/RL pipelines for complex tasks, work as a part of large, well-performing teams, develop relationships with customers, and build cutting-edge technologies.

Some history

  • Born in Oklahoma, moved to Northern Virginia
  • Early fascination with robotics and vehicles
  • Attended Patriot High School, where I was part of the Governor's School Program. This gave me the opportunity to take classes at George Mason University.
  • Attended Virginia Tech for Undergrad, where I studied Machine Learning within the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
  • Attended Virginia Tech for my Masters, where I wrote a thesis titled Multi-Task Reinforcement Learning: From Single-Agent to Multi-Agent Systems, under the tutelage of the wonderful Dr. Thinh Doan
  • Moved to Massachusetts to work at MIT Lincoln Laboratory

I like

  • Basketball (OKC Thunder!!!)
  • Mechanical Pencils
  • Football (Minnesota Vikings!)
  • Anime/Manga
  • Productivity Tools
  • Good design
  • Reading
  • Minecraft
  • Geoguessr
  • Quantum Physics
  • Ricing Linux

Fun facts

  • I have labeled hundreds of dolphin bones for the Smithsonian
  • I have never left Kentucky Kingdom without winning a stuffed animal.
  • My hometown of Moore, Oklahoma has been struck by two category 5 tornadoes since 1999.
  • I can solve a Rubik's cube in 43.3 seconds (got lucky one time).

I dream of

  • scuba diving in a healthy Great Barrier Reef.
  • humans and AI co-existing to improve society.
  • how we can avoid AI destroying society.
  • building things that help people.
  • being a 10x engineer.