Industry Experience
- Staff Measurement Systems Development Engineer
Nutcracker Therapeutics Inc., Emeryville, CA
- Research & development of microfluidics scaled sensing technologies and system hardware for on-chip sensing and analytics used for in-process monitoring on the Nutcracker Manufacturing Unit (NMU), a mRNA drug and vaccine manufacturing platform
- Project lead & owner of the on-chip Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) sensor for real-time particle size characterization—a system that meets and exceeds industry standards capable of in-process testing to inform process decisions
- Perform multiple concurrent next-generation sensor development projects comprising proof-of-concept, design, modeling, fabrication & prototyping, experimentation on opto-mechanical and electrical bench setups, scripting, and custom material sourcing for on-chip sensors and sensing techniques
- Lead efforts with key cross-functional stakeholders to characterize, test, validate, and integrate hardware/software systems for sensor modules and analytical methods
- Ideation, development, and implementation of new gating methods for release testing of key biochip consumables
- Define material specifications and critical quality attributes of key consumable components used by the NTX manufacturing platform
- Optimized biochip consumable release test method efficiency, decreasing required testing time for manufacturing by 50%
- Lead interdisciplinary investigations to identify failure modes and engaged cross-functionally to develop preventative actions
- Perform continuous monitoring and statistical analysis of sensing and testing data
- Present and communicate work on Nutcracker ProcessVision™ sensing technologies to an international audience as well as regular progress updates to internal engineering leadership
- Research Intern
HRL Laboratories, Malibu, CA
- Created COMSOL simulation models for inertial sensors to study performance under extreme vibration and shock conditions
- Setup and modeled inertial sensing devices to include geometric and material nonlinearities to study how they affect the bias stability and sensitivity of the device
- Collaborated with team members on product design for multimillion dollar client contracts
- Presented in weekly project meetings, updated weekly progress using Confluence, and delivered a final presentation
PhD Research
- Optofluidics: Light Actuated Digital Microfluidics using Optoelectrowetting
Advisor: Prof. Ming C. Wu
Ming Wu Laboratory
Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, UC Berkeley
- Used Light-Actuated Digital Microfluidics (LADM) via Optoelectrowetting (OEW) to manipulate liquid droplets on chip
- Invented, designed, and modeled a novel co-planar OEW optofluidics consumable device that allows for a more flexible and wider range of system integration configurations, easier droplet accessibility, and low power light source requirements using COMSOL, MATLAB, and LTspice
- Fabricated the novel co-planar OEW device using the campus cleanroom facility and verified properties using metrology tools
- Characterized, tested, and analyzed measurement data (using MATLAB and OriginPro) of the devices and correlated device performance to design model: realized over 2x faster droplet speeds over previous generations and device operation capable of using over 95% less light intensity
- Designed and prototyped consumable packaging using SolidWorks, AutoCAD, soft lithography, and 3D printing techniques for large-scale droplet based lab-on-a-chip analysis
- Demonstrated macro- to micro- system integration and large-scale, unique droplet arrays on the novel co-planar OEW device
- Mentored and managed an independent OEW research project for an undergraduate student
- Directed laboratory safety by managing group operations to meet OSHA compliance
Previous Research Projects
- Undergraduate Research Assistant
Ming Wu Laboratory under Prof. Ming C. Wu
Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, UC Berkeley
- Independent project to design and simulate a novel phototransistor device to achieve high responsivities and high bandwidths
- Simulated and experimentally measured novel optoelectronic devices (phototransistors & photodiodes), and correlated performance through experimental measurement and characterization
- Created python scripts for 2D and 3D simulations of optical device structures using CST and Lumerical software
- Project Team Lead
Human Powered Gym under Prof. Alice Agogino
Mechanical Engineering, UC Berkeley
- Led independent research project funded by The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) to investigate methods of harvesting electrical energy from elliptical and stationary bike exercise machines. Retrofits implemented in the campus Recreational Sports Facility (RSF)
- Organized an educational campaign and outreach events to bring about sustainability and energy conservation awareness across the UC Berkeley campus population
- Managed three interdisciplinary engineering teams
- Mentored undergraduate and graduate student product development class teams
- Summer Research Intern
Device Research Laboratory under Prof. Kang Wang
Electrical Engineering, UCLA
June 2011 - August 2011
- Calculated spin diffusion length and hall mobility of Ge spintronic devices from measured data using MATLAB
- Measured and determined the Schottky Barrier Height of Fe/n-type Ge devices using MATLAB
- Summer Research Intern
Device Research Laboratory under Prof. Kang Wang
Electrical Engineering, UCLA
June 2009 - September 2009
- Identified and characterized mono- and multi- layers of graphene through Raman Spectroscopy & Atomic Force Microscopy
- Implemented techniques to transfer graphene onto various substrates: SOI, SiO2, PZT
- Attempted to improve methods of peeling graphene with the goal of a higher yield of mono-layer graphene
