work experience
university of pennsylvania faculty
university of pennsylvania microfabrication research
  • Postdoctoral researcher under the direction of Prof. Igor Bargatin
  • Developed, microfabricated, and tested thin spacer films for thermionic energy converters
  • Developed model to analyze mechanical stress in light sail during acceleration to relativistic velocities, and fabricated prototype portions of sail for optical and mechanical testing
  • Duration: August 2019 - December 2022
sigay kauyagan teaching and mentoring
  • Engineer and educator
  • Tutored underserved minority students at Mindanao State University (General Santos City) in the Philippines in engineering, mathematics, and science
  • Taught five-week mini-courses (about 7 students per class) on math, scientific writing, and programming
  • Served as member of committee to select scholarship recipients and monitored progress of scholars in program
  • Regularly met with scholarship recipients for academic/personal mentoring
  • Duration: February 2017 - April 2019
sandia national laboratory combustion research
  • Postdoctoral appointee under the direction of Prof. Hope Michelsen (now at the University of Colorado at Boulder)
  • Designed two miniature burners to generated controlled and reproducible flames for use in space-constrained environments
  • Developed X-ray Raman scattering diagnostic for probing incipient soot molecules at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource
  • Designed small angle X-ray scattering diagnostic for examining the size and morphology of mature soot particles at the Lawrence Berkeley Advanced Light Source
  • Duration: July 2014 - December 2016
stanford university combustion research
  • Research assistant to Prof. Ronald K. Hanson
  • Designed, assembled, and characterized shock tube for constrained reaction volume reactive test gas filling
  • Designed shock tube test section for laser-based diagnostic analysis of high temperature and pressure aerosols
  • Duration: April 2009 - July 2014
stanford university graduate housing
  • Community assistant
  • Worked with two other graduate students to organize at least ten quarterly community-building events for 130 graduate students in on-campus housing
  • Member of 7-member team to promote health and wellness among graduate students at Stanford
  • Duration: September 2009 - June 2010
medtronic surgical solutions
  • Mechanical engineering intern
  • Designed test station to determine 100% linear profile of part temperatures using infrared radiation
  • Achieved cycle time reduction of 35%, yielding estimated cost savings of $45,000 annually
  • Duration: June 2009 - September 2009
boston scientific cardiac rhythm management division
  • Mechanical engineering intern
  • Introduced rework into important battery insulation process, saving $368,000 annually
  • Increased required calibration precision by 30%, saving $45,000 annually
  • Established battery insulation cure wait time, saving $3000 annually
  • Duration: July 2008 - September 2008
boston scientific cardiac rhythm management division
  • Manufacturing and process engineering intern
  • Reduced fallout on key circuit manufacturing process from 0.0019 to 0.0000, saving $168,000 annually
  • Designed new fixture to decrease variation in circuit placement in machine by 50% and eliminate fallout, saving $2000 annually
  • Programmed Microsoft Visual Basic macro to catalogue manufacturing data of 178,000 circuits and link fallout to specific part lots
  • Duration: May 2007 - August 2007