Mechanical Engineering Assistant

Steven C. Peters

********@****.***.*** ** Lopez Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 Mobile: 857-***-****

http://alum.mit.edu/www/scpeters

E D U C AT I O N

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (MIT), Cambridge, MA! Sept. 2006-Jan. 2012

! Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering! GPA 4.9 / 5.0

! Major: Robotics, dynamics, and control! Minor: Energy, environment, and sustainability

Thesis: Optimal Planning and Control for Hazard Avoidance of Front-Steered Ground Vehicles

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (MIT), Cambridge, MA! Sept. 2004-Aug. 2006

M.S. Mechanical Engineering ! GPA 4.9 / 5.0

Thesis: Modeling, Analysis, and Measurement of Passenger Vehicle Stability

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS (UC DAVIS), Davis, CA! Sept. 2000-June 2004

B.S. Mechanical Engineering, with highest honors! GPA 3.8 / 4.0

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Robotic Mobility Group, MIT Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity

Postdoctoral Associate! Feb. 2012 - Present

Graduate Research Assistant! Feb. 2007 - Jan. 2012

For my PhD research, I developed and validated planning and control algorithms for high-speed

robot cars. This work included a thorough analysis of vehicle dynamics and tire behavior during

skidding and limit handling maneuvers using high- delity vehicle dynamics simulation software

(MSC.ADAMS). This analysis led to the synthesis of a control algorithm to allow robotic cars to

compensate for skidding during hazard avoidance and a computationally ef cient motion

planning algorithm for optimal hazard avoidance. These algorithms were demonstrated

experimentally and are the subject of several publications.

Field and Space Robotics Lab, MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering

Graduate Research Assistant! Sept. 2004 - Jan. 2007

For my Master s research, I studied the effects of off-road terrain on vehicle rollover dynamics and

stability measurement. The effect of terrain slope, roughness, and deformability was explored

through a rst principles analysis and high- delity vehicle dynamics simulation. A technique for

measuring vehicle stability on uneven terrain surfaces using practical on-board sensors was

developed and published. The use of passenger vehicle suspension sensors for surface

identi cation was explored experimentally.

UC Davis Hybrid Electric Vehicle Center

Undergraduate Research Assistant ! 2002 - 2003

Team member, FutureTruck student design competition! 2002 - 2003

I developed embedded hardware and software for a number of vehicle applications, including:

Gauges for an award-winning instrument cluster in a hybrid-electric SUV

CompactFlash data-loggers for management of electric vehicle eets

Data acquisition and control for continuously variable transmission (CVT) test stand

P R O J E C T- B A S E D C O U R S E W O R K

Photovoltaics: design of spectral splitting mechanism for high-ef ciency solar cells

Precision Machine Design: oral medicine delivery devices that counteract negative taste of medicine

Robotics: experiment-based endpoint control of 4-link manipulator

Underactuated Robotics: simulation-based control of vehicle dynamics near rollover, leading to a

peer-reviewed conference publication

LEADERSHIP

St. Peter s Episcopal Church, Cambridge, MA

Assistant Treasurer! 2010-2011

Served as church nance of cer and member of church governing board

Facilitated uorescent lighting and occupancy sensor improvements through utility program

Assisted with lighting and insulation retro ts at other Boston-area churches

MIT Energy Club

Software Developer for MIT Energy Map! 2005-2008

Chair, Campus Energy Projects! 2005-2006

Served as club of cer coordinating student projects to improve campus energy ef ciency

Co-founded energymap.mit.edu website for visualizing energy intensity of MIT buildings

Identi ed energy hotspots on campus for targeted retro ts and improvements

SKILLS

Technical software: Matlab, Simulink, MSC.ADAMS, Solidworks, Labview, NPSOL

Fabrication: Machine shop, Circuit board design & soldering, Automotive electronics

Programming: C, Python, Ruby on Rails, HTML, Javascript, Unix shell scripting

Language: Spanish (conversational, non-technical)

Presentations: presented technical papers at 5 international conferences to audiences of 50+

P U B L I C AT I O N S

First author of 1 peer-reviewed article in Vehicle System Dynamics

Co-author of 2 peer-reviewed articles in International Journal of Vehicle Autonomous Systems

(IJVAS) and IEEE Control Systems Magazine

First author of 4 peer-reviewed papers in proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics

and Automation (ICRA) and IEEE International Conference on Robots and Systems (IROS)

Co-author of 5 peer-reviewed papers in proceedings of other robotics and controls conferences

A detailed publication list is available on request

H O N O R S / AWA R D S

Student Leadership Award, Jenzabar Foundation, 2009, for campus ministry programs that

reach outside campus boundaries, awarded for energy-ef ciency projects at churches.

Departmental Citation, Academic Excellence in Mechanical Engineering, UC Davis 2004.

Best Use of Advanced Technology, for Design of Instrument Cluster, FutureTruck student design

competition, 2002.

National Merit Scholarship winner, 2000.

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