Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Cal Poly Pomona
I am an Assistant Professor at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) in the department of Mechanical Engineering. My area of expertise is in Dynamic Systems and Control, which means I study how to characterize the motion of dynamic mechanical systems as well as how to manipulate them (think about how a Sewgay Scooter is able to balance itself). My work falls somewhere within the fields of Mechatronics, Robotics, and Control.
I did my graduate work (MS, PhD) at UCLA, where my research was based on applied adaptive control. I worked on implementing adaptive receding-horizon control algorithms on a laser-beam steering experiment as well as a magnetically levitating (Mag Lev) bearing. Prior to that, I earned my Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering (BS) from UC Berkeley and I worked for about 5 years in the HVAC industry doing mechanical design and control. During that span, I earned my California Professional Engineer (PE) license.
Check my Blog for sporadic and obscure posts about random stuff.
My area of expertise is in dynamic system modeling, simulation, and feedback control, but I also occasionally teach our ME orientation course and a course in numerical methods using MATLAB.
RESEARCH
As a graduate student at UCLA, I focused on applications of a novel receding-horizon adaptive control scheme. The basic goal was to reject complex (broadband and non-stationary) disturbances adaptively. This means that the controller itself was not static, but rather dynamic. I applied this controller on two experimental platforms (a laser beam steering experiment, and a magnetic bearing experiment). A very detailed account of this research can be found in my PhD Dissertation and in the publications listed in my CV.
Now as a faculty member at Cal Poly Pomona, my main focus is on teaching excellence, but I am still doing some research. I am continuing my work with my colleagues at UCLA, now in the area of real-time system identification. Additionally, I am shifting my focus to the area of engineering education (conferences such as ASEE) and publishing papers related to advancing teaching methods and exploring alternative learning tools such as online learning. I have recently become involved in our department's new video tutorial repository ME Online, which is an excellent resource for students at CPP and beyond.
