Education
University of Pennsylvania
(2015-2020)
School of Engineering
M.S.E. Mechanical Engineering
Concentration in Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics, Energy
B.S.E. Mechanical Engineering
Minor in Mathematics
Dean's list 2016-2020
Wharton School
B.S. Economics
Concentration in Management
GPA: 3.94 / 4.00
Skills
Data Analytics
Machine Learning (Pytorch/Python), Predictive Analytics (R), Engineering Analysis (Matlab, Excel, etc.), and Statistics
Mechanical Engineering Analysis
Fluids and Energy Systems Optimization, Structural Stress and Fatigue Analysis,
Entrepreneurship
Technology Development, Ideation, Intellectual Property, Fundraising, Project Management, Hiring, and Public Speaking
Business
Business Strategy, Organization Design, Digital Marketing, Accounting, Real Estate. Finance, and Negotiations
Rapid Prototyping
Machining, Mechatronics, 3D printing, Laser and water jet cutting, and Pumped systems
Manufacturing
Supply chain development, design for manufacturing, assembly process development
Aerate
Philadelphia, PA
Aerate is a company I led and co-founded with my engineering senior design team. Aerate designed efficient air conditioners that could be the future of cooling.
The Global Cooling Problem
Right now, cooling down living spaces all over the world is a growing problem. Climate change, urbanization, and a number of other factors have led to a massive increase in cooling demand. Specifically, by 2050, there will be an estimated 3.3 billion more air conditioners in the world, using twice as much power as the entire EU uses today.
The Aerate Concept
We developed an air conditioning system that is 5X more efficient than what exists on the market today. It uses a unique combination of high-efficiency de-humidification and evaporative cooling to control the amount of water in air and cool.
I conducted extensive thermodynamic and fluid dynamic analyses of this system to develop models of the performance in terms of energy usage, water usage, and cost over the course of an entire year.
My team and I built multiple prototypes of the system based on this analysis, including the one on the right. We filed a provisional patent application on this system.
Successes with Aerate
We competed in a variety of pitch competitions to fund our technology development. This culminated in winning the Penn Wharton Entrepreneurship Startup Challenge and speaking at the Nasdaq closing bell ceremony.
This funding allowed me to hire a small team of engineers to develop the concept beyond what we created for our senior design project.
Boeing
Philadelphia, PA
Fatigue Analysis for the KC-46 Pegasus Tanker
Analyzed thousands of data points from multiple sources to check safety critical components of the new KC-46 Pegasus tanker airplane for tanker-to-tanker aerial refueling (image at right).
WAZER
Shenzhen, China
WAZER
World's First Desktop Waterjet Cutter
In the Summer of 2017, I was a product development intern with Wazer in Shenzhen, China. Wazer is a small startup bringing the world's first desktop water-jet cutter to market after a successful Kickstarter. Water jet cutters use high pressure water mixed with abrasive to cut through many different materials. While in Shenzhen, I worked on the last stages of product development, manufacturing, and research for the first generation of the Wazer.
Product Development
I focused on completing development of several subsystems of the Wazer related to abrasives, pressurized water, and controls. I used the Shenzhen manufacturing ecosystem to test many iterations of custom components, and outsource manufacturing.
While developing custom components, I including: compression molding, injection molding, thermo-forming, custom printed circuit boards, custom wiring, and sheet metal.
Intelligent Precision Jigging Robots
NASA Langley Research Center
Modular Robotics
How do you move big, heavy objects precisely in Space?
One solution is an expensive, high precision robotic arm like the Canada Arm on the International Space Station. A cheaper, versatile option is two modular robots. A robotic arm for large-scale movement, and a small ultra-precise robot for exact positioning.
In-Space Assembly
What can two robots do?
Trusses are the building blocks of many structures on earth and in space. However, their large volume becomes a problem in space. Rather than launching pre-built fold-able structures, modular robots could build larger, stronger, cheaper trusses in space from simple beams!
The Real Deal
5th Gen Intelligent Precision Jigging Robot
Over the Summer of 2016, I helped build and test a complete modular robotic system in a small team. I integrated the larger robotic arm into the system and conducted human operated truss assembly trials.
Publication
NASA.gov, IROS 2016, IROS 2017
"NASA Langley Interns Talk About What They Learned--and Built--This Summer"
Featurette in an article on NASA.gov
Komendera, Erik E, et al. “Structure Assembly by a Heterogeneous Team of Robots Using State Estimation, Generalized Joints, and Mobile Parallel Manipulators.” 2017 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) , 28 Sept. 2017, pp. 4672–4679.
Download Resume