The Research Team Present and Past
Joel Cates
Having joined the team in the Fall of 2007, Joel is the most recent addition to the research team. At the time of his joining, Joel had achieved Junior status in the Department of Engineering and Physics, his focus being electrical engineering. Joel has been vital in the transition to the E-puck hardware.
Outside of research, Joel enjoys playing guitar and drinking coffee. He is a worship team leader for his campus ministry.
Michael Siebold
Michael joined the team in the Spring of 2006. As of the Fall of 2007, Michael is a senior Engineering Physics major with a focus in electrical engineering. Michael developed much of the code for the motes on the original mitEbots and has worked with developing dispersion and search algorithms for the robots that followed.
Outside of research, Michael enjoys playing guitar, increasing his music library, playing chess, and is involved in his local church. He is also an Eagle Scout.
Shannon Nichols
Shannon has been a member of what he has dubbed the "Bot Squad" since the Spring of 2006. As of the Fall of 2007 he is a senior Engineering Physics and Secondary Education major. His engineering focus is electrical; however, his post-graduation plans are to be a high school physics teacher. Shannon completed the code for the motorboards on the mitEbots. Since then, he has worked with the Webots 5 simulation program and has explored sensors for use in future projects. Shannon's duties often include information searches and creative communications (websites, videos, pictures, posters, bulletin boards, etc.).
Outside of research, Shannon enjoys singing, acting, Google and Wikipedia searches, and he is actively involved in his campus ministry and local church.
Former Members
James Humes (2004-2005) Major: Applied Mathematics.
Tuze Kuyucu (2004-2007) Major: Engineering Physics. Minor: Computer Science.
Aaron Cowan (2005) Major: Engineering Physics.
Nick Galyen (2003) Major: Engineering Physics.
Charles Pruitt(2003) Major: Engineering Physics.
Ryan Pigford(2002) Major: Engineering Physics.
