Bios of Junior Exhibition Judges
Friday, September 18, 2020 8am - 10:30am (EDT)
Updated on Sep 10, 2020, listed by last name
Paul Akangah, is a newcomer as far as Robofest is concerned. However, he has actively been involved or managed several students’ projects. Some of these are the Mars 2020 Sample Cleaner sponsored by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Hydrogen Fuel Cell propelled vehicle sponsored by Shell Eco-Marathon among others. He brings a lot of experience to Robofest 2020 because of his time at prestigious laboratories such as Brookhaven National Laboratory and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He is the faculty responsible for the Fluid Power Club at the North Carolina A&T State University. His research interests are engineering education, advanced composite materials, thermal and structural applications of cellular structures.
David A. Carbery P.E. has been involved with Robofest since 2012 as a coach and judge in multiple competitions. He has recently taught a Bottle Sumo program at Bates Academy in Detroit. In 2018 he went to represent LTU at the Robofest competition in Mexico. David had previously worked with FIRST Robotics team 472. He has been working for FANUC America Corporation for 30 years. David has held positions in software and hardware design. He is currently a Product Development Staff Engineer. Responsibilities at FANUC include Hazardous Location approvals and electrostatics. David has recently signed a patent application for a new robot design. David earned a B.S. from LTU in Electrical Engineering. The degree requirement to take the F.E. exam set him up to earn an engineering license. David is scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 248 and is also a Merit Badge Counselor for: Engineering, Electronics, Electricity, Robotics, and Game Design. His daughter Jennifer participated in Robofest and volunteers periodically.
Morgan McCann has been involved with Robofest since 2005. He has been with General Motors for one year, and he is part of the graduate rotational program (TRACK). Morgan has held positions as an Electric Motor Calibration and Integration Engineer, and a Structural Development Engineer. He is currently pursuing a Master's of Science in Mechatronics Systems Engineering at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, MI. He graduated from Lawrence Technological University in 2018 with a Bachelor's of Science in Mechanical Engineering with an Automotive Engineering Concentration. During Morgan's time at Lawrence Technological University, he has been part of the Formula SAE team where he helped develop the first aerodynamic package in the history of the university. He has developed several different composite manufacturing techniques used to produce the aerodynamic components of the vehicle. He has also published a SAE paper while developing the FSAE vehicle titled "Using Computational Fluid Dynamics for the Design, Assessment and Optimization of an Aerodynamic Body Kit on a Newly Designed Formula SAE Collegiate Competition Vehicle". He is still an active member of the team helping to support composite manufacturing and aerodynamic development on his fourth vehicle. He is currently exploring membrane tube infusion, and working on developing methods to make the composite manufacturing method more eco-friendly.
Andrea Meister has been involved with Robofest since 2007 as a participant, mentor, intern, workshop instructor, and judge. Since graduating with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she has combined a long love of robotics with practical application in the supply chain industry at Vecna Robotics, working in project management and business. Her current work takes her to warehouses around the world to scope and implement autonomous solutions.
Wuming Jing received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology, China, and Xi’an Jiaotong University, China, in 2006 and 2009, respectively. He had the Ph.D. degree from Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, in 2014, also in Mechanical Engineering. From 2014 – 2016, he worked as Postdoctoral Research Associate in MSRAL, Purdue University. Currently, he works at Lawrence Technology University (LTU), Southfield, as Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical, Robotics and Industrial Engineering (MRIE). His research interests are on the micro-, nano-scale robotics. He also serves as faculty advisor for LTU Formula SAE team.
Elmer Santos has been the Robofest Assistant Director since 2017. Elmer is a Mechanical Engineer with a BS inMechanicalEngineering from Cornell University and MS in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Stanford University. He worked for General Motors for 30 years in body assembly, industrial engineering, injection molding, paint engineering, and advanced vehicle development as an engineer and an engineering group manager. At GM, Elmer has worked with various robotics applications in Body Shops (resistance spot welding, material handling) and Paint Shops (sealing, painting). He has been involved with student robotics activities since 2001, mentoring teams and volunteering in Robofest, First Lego League, First Tech Challenge, First Robotics Challenge, Vex Robotics Competition, Vex IQ Challenge, and World RobotOlympiad.
Josh Siegel is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Michigan State University and the lead instructor for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Internet of Things and DeepTech Bootcamps. He received Ph.D., S.M. and S.B. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. Josh and his automotive companies have been recognized with accolades including the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize and the MassIT Government Innovation Prize. He has multiple issued patents, published in top scholarly venues, and been featured in popular media. Dr. Siegel’s ongoing research develops architectures for secure and efficient connectivity, applications for pervasive sensing, and new approaches to autonomous driving. He became interested in software development and robotics systems through his participation in Robofest, starting in 2001 and continuing through 2007.