2015-2016 Team Members
Team Members
Mark Acoba
Mark is currently a senior in the BSME program at San José State University. Pursuing
a bachelor's of science in mechanical engineering, Mark seeks to develop solutions
for everyday problems in the world we live in. With an emphasis in design, he hopes
to contribute to the Spartan Superway to help design and improve current work on the
PRT (Personal Rapid Transport) system. Mark also enjoys working on cars and playing
sports.
Cassie Acosta
Cassie a senior studying Mechanical Engineering with an emphasis in Mechanical Design
and a minor in Business at San José State University. The main reason she got into
engineering was to give back to her community. She was drawn to the Spartan Superway
because it is a project that will help improve public transportation and be eco-friendly;
to her, it feels like a project that gives back in two-fold.
Kenneth Aganon
Kenneth is a student currently attending San José State University. He is in his 5th
year earning his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, with a focus in Mechatronics.
He is more than excited to be a part of the Spartan Superway project. One of the things
that primarily drew him to this project was the idea of creating something much larger
than himself. Seeing the importance of sustainability in today's world, he found the
Spartan Superway as a perfect opportunity to contribute to a global solution. In the
summer of 2015, Kenneth was a Design Intern at Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials
Company in Hollister, CA. Through his internship, he gained exposure to various concepts
of design, primarily through failure investigations of the products manufactured there.
He was able to grasp the concept of what it means to improve a product. With the combination
of experience and material that he has learned throughout his academic career, he
feel that he has a lot to offer for the Spartan Superway!
Rebecca Alvarez
Rebecca is currently finishing up dual-degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Anthropology
at SJSU. Her two main focuses are in design and culture, because both compliment each
other. Participating in the Spartan Superway project, she felt that it could encompass
both areas of her studies. Rebeccas's engineering knowledge will help her analyze,
calculate, and improve functions of the Superway. Implementing anthropological techniques,
she will be able to find and integrate the needs of the people (culture) whom will
be using the Superway one day. Getting involved with the Superway also interested
her because she has been using public transportation for over 21 years, finding a
way to improve this system would benefit society and the environment.
Enkhjin Baasandorj
NJ is a Senior Mechanical Engineering student at San José State University. He has
joined the Active Suspension Team, for the Spartan Superway Project. He has always
been enthusiastic about off road vehicles, specifically lifting and increasing the
suspension travel, while keeping the vehicle balanced. When the opportunity arose
to be involved in the active suspension design and fabricating, he jumped on board
right away! This project has presented a big opportunity to improve and challenge
his skills in CAD, and ANSYS software programs, as well as making new friends, and
developing stronger communication skills. Based on the experience he acquires through
working on this project, he hopes to further his knowledge and gain essential skills
to get into the automotive industry. Overall, he is very excited to be on this team,
and working with everyone involved in it.
Ali Bootwala
Ali is a Senior in Mechanical Engineering with a capstone in Mechatronics. He was
born and raised in the Bay Area and lives in South San José. With his capstone in
Mechatronics, I hope to ensure passenger safety with the collision aversion hardware/software
and see how to make the Superway a convenient mode of transportation for people to
use everyday. He also would like to improve the small scale track to make the passenger
car move smoothly around corners. In his free time, Ali likes to watch basketball,
football, and listen to music.
Tyler Broder
Tyler is a senior mechanical engineering major with a focus in mechanical design at
SJSU. He is a car/motorcycle enthusiast and has always had an interest in transportation
as long as it has a motor, which is what drew him closer to becoming a member of the
Spartan Superway project. Being a part of a team that is focusing on the future of
public transportation fascinated him, as there currently are no automated transit
networks as sophisticated as the current project at SJSU. Tyler looks forward to bringing
his engineering and leadership skills to the project and hopefully creating new work
that will gain the interest of others in the transportation field along with the public.
Tyler senes the challenge for the upcoming year, but he knows it will be very rewarding.
Wade Brown
Wade is an MSME student at SJSU. He will be working under Dr. Furman and in conjunction
with the Spartan Superway team for his thesis. Because his long term career goals
are to specialize in mechatronics and automation, he was drawn to the Superway project
for his graduate thesis as a way to further his knowledge in this area and to support
development of a unique form of alternative transportation. His thesis topic will
be developing a novel asynchronous controller for the pod cars based on tools from
autonomous vehicles and robotics research. Additionally, although he will be working
somewhat independently from the rest of the undergraduate Superway team due to the
nature of his project, he is excited to see if there can be any knowledge exchange
between his work and the rest of the team. When Wade has free time from working or
from school, he enjoys hiking around various trails in the Bay Area.
Jeffrey Chau
Jeffrey is one of the members in the 2015 ME 195 Superway Team. He is majoring in
mechanical engineering in San José State University and his focusing discipline is
mechanical design. Jeffrey's anticipated graduation is in June 2016. He was an international
student from Hong Kong before he transferred to SJSU. He is interested in automobile
repair, learning to play the piano, and other musical instruments. After Jeffrey graduated,
he would like to pursue a career in mechanical engineering or manufacturing field.
David Chen
David is a senior Mechanical engineering student at San José State University with
a focus on mechatronics and mechatronic systems. He is a member of several clubs at
SJSU which include Pi Tau Sigma Honorary Mechanical Engineering Society, Association
for Facilities Engineering, and American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning
Engineers. David chose to join the Spartan Superway team because it gives the unique
opportunity to work on something that has the potential to make a big difference in
the way people use public transportation.
Aaron Cheng
Aaron is a senior Mechanical Engineering student at San José State University. He
choose to work on the Spartan Superway because he saw a system that can potentially
change the future of transportation. For his senior project, he has chosen to work
on the fail safe mechanism on the Spartan Superway. Aaron's interests include automotive/transportation,
mechanical mechanisms, hydraulics, and suspension. In his free time he likes to work
on cars and spend time with friends and family. Aaron hopes to accomplish something
amazing this year.
David DeOcampo
David is a senior mechanical engineering major with an emphasis in mechanical design
at SJSU. His favorite hobbies are working out and cooking. The Spartan Superway project
drew his interests because of how the project can improve public transportation. David's
social and engineering skills will help make this project successful.
Christopher Fong
Christopher Fong is a senior at San José State University, and is pursuing his Mechanical
Engineering degree with a focus in Mechatronics. He has a diverse work history, and
is currently driving for Lyft (an SF based transportation network). Outside of work
and school, he enjoys learning and playing with CAD software and programming languages.
In 2011, he received his Eagle Scout rank in Boy Scouts by planning and leading the
installation of a new sign for a community church. Even outside of scouts he enjoys
camping and fishing, and his love for the outdoors is the main reason he joined the
SMSSV project. Looking forward, he hopes to pursue a career in biomedical technology,
but also has a strong interest in sustainable energy as well as robotics.
Dale Franklin
Dale Franklin is a Senior at San José State University majoring in Mechanical Engineering.
His interest in efficiency and automobiles led him to join the Spartan Superway as
his senior project. Dale feels confident working in a team, leading when necessary
but always open to new points of view and input. Outside of academics, Dale enjoys
the outdoors which probably contributes to his desire to create sustainable methodologies.
Scott Garfield
Scott is a graduating senior pursuing a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering with an
emphasis in Design at San José State University. Ever since he was a child, he has
had a strong passion for motorsports. He is constantly observing how the technology
in both passenger cars and race cars has improved over the years. This passion is
what decided his degree path and the kind of work he is passionate for. When he saw
how the Spartan Superway is not only a solution to a worldwide transportation problem
but also the completely new mode of transportation, he became immediately attracted
to it. Scott hopes to use the vast knowledge that he has gained from his passion for
motorsports to help make this transportation system a reality.
Garrett Gemmel
Garrett is a Mechanical Engineering Senior with a focus in Mechatronics. He is currently
enrolled at San José State University. He has always loved building things and taking
them apart. When Garrett was young, he started taking toys apart to see how they worked;
if they were broken, he would try to fix them. To this day, he is doing the same thing,
but now if something is broken and he cannot fix it, he will get his soldering gun
and start taking parts out that he needs for other projects. This is where his passion
for engineering came from. He has always been interested in mechanics and electronics,
that is why he is focusing in Mechatronics, and that is why he wanted to go with the
small (1/12) scale model on the Spartan Superway Project.
Nasrat Haidari
Hasrat is a senior BSME major at San José State University with a concentration in
Mechatronics. He has transferred from Chabot Community College. Nasrat has been involved
in various projects throughout his educational journey such as: automatic wave tank
agitating system, optical keyboard, and recently in fruit peeler and cutter. He has
a great interest in making everyday life better and he believes the Spartan Superway
serves that purpose. The project is environment friendly and focuses on bringing transportation
system to a next level for the ease of everyday commute. His field of interest in
this project is to work on small scale model, more particularly in the implementation
of solar power and improvements of a control unit.
Mitch Hatfield
Mitch Hatfield is working with the solar team to create a power interface that will
supply power to the podcars.
Bryan Ho
Bryan is a senior BSME student in San José State University with a concentration on
Mechatronics. He is interested in big community projects like Spartan Superway. As
an international student from Hong Kong, he see many improvements need in current
public transportation in California. In this project, he hope to contribute to show
the whole design of the bogie in the small scale model. He enjoys playing computer
games and sports.
Matt Holst
Matt is currently a senior majoring in Electrical Engineering at San José State University.
His main area of study is analog circuit design, but he is also very interested in
electrical power systems, specifically utilizing renewable resources and "green" energy.
Matt is excited to be working on the Spartan Superway as part of a multidisciplinary
team of engineers dedicated to renewable energy and sustainability. He is currently
working with several other Electrical Engineering students alongside the Wayside Power
Team and Solar Team to design an electrical interface to integrate solar power into
the 1:12 and 1:4 scale models.
Michael Hurst
Michael is in the mechatronics focus area for mechanical engineering at SJSU and plans
to work on the scale model of the Spartan Superway. He has attended the senior project
presentations for the Superway the past few years and he am excited to finally be
able to contribute. Some of his professional interests include transportation, sustainability,
STEM education, aerospace, medical systems, and controls. In Michael's free time,
he likes to rock climb, mountain bike, and make things with his hands.
Ian Johnson
Ian is a Mechanical Engineering student at San José State University who is concentrating
in design. Some of his hobbies include hiking, video games, skateboarding and playing
music. He is also Buddhist, which is a major part of his life. Ian decided to join
Spartan Superway because he want to help build a sustainable future in America. More
and more people are continuing to move to the Bay Area, making traffic and air pollution
worse and worse. Spartan Superway is an elegant and innovative transportation system
that will get people off the streets and into the skies!
Chin Ming Lui
Chin is a senior pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering with a focus
on mechanical design. He joined SMSSV because of my big interest in vehicles and find
it to be a great opportunity to explore new transportation concepts to help improve
the current infrastructure. Having a previous internship at Zeta Instruments, a company
specialized in designing and building optical profilers, he has acquired invaluable
hands-on experience in assembling and calibrating systems, and modifying parts. The
SMSSV project will provide an exciting opportunity for him to utilize his skills gained
from academics and internship to the fullest. Furthermore, being part of SMSSV allows
him to improve his networking with other people and gain more experience in design
and machining. During his free time, he enjoys bowling, listening to music, keeping
up with the latest car news, and spending time with family and friends.
David Luo
David is a senior Mechanical Engineering student at San José State University with
a focus in Mechatronics. Robots and cars has always been an interest to him. He is
a big advocate in learning more about transportation and helping people. David can
contribute towards creating a sustainable automated transit network that can alleviate
the problems we face when dealing with transportation on a daily basis. Some of his
professional interests are but not limit to: automation, sustainability, and controls.
He looks forward to making a contribution to Spartan Superway by building onto the
work of previous teams and by working with his current teammates to improve the project
as a whole, but most importantly, gain valuable experiences while making fond memories.
Steven Luong
Steven Luong is a student at San José State University (SJSU) majoring in Mechanical
Engineering. Steven is part of the bogie team. He chose to work on the Spartan Superway
because he is primarily interested in working on the fail safe mechanism and learning
more about Mechanical Design. Steven has gone to Taiwan with the program called Global
Technology Initiative (GTI), where he got to explore industrial sites and work with
international students. The experience gave him the opportunity learn more about working
with others as well as overcoming obstacles like language barriers and cultural differences.
Steven has worked with the SJSU Admissions Office for the past year and helps record
documents into the school system. Outside of his academic life, Steven enjoys watching
television, light reading, and spending time with family and friends.
Mehnaz Mahbub
Mehnaz came to the USA from Bangladesh to pursue her dream of higher education. She
received her Associate Degree from Riverside Community College, and transferred to
SJSU to finish a BS in Electrical Engineering. She is a member of the Electrical Team
overseeing the power supply and management for the Spartan Superway project. With
the sound knowledge of circuit design, strong background in Mathematics, and the experience
from various projects dealing with power and solar energy, she hopes to contribute
to this project in a meaningful way. Her passion and admiration for Math was her first
motivation to pursue engineering. Someday, she hopes to join the most esteemed team
of engineers of the world and be a part of the glorious journey of technological advancement
of mankind.
Dianna Man
Dianna is a senior BSME major with a concentration in Thermal/Fluids at San José State
University. She is interested in working on projects that helps the environment and
fight climate change, which is why she became very interested by the Spartan Superway
project. The Spartan Superway is a solar powered Automated Transit Network (ATN).
ATNs have existed around the world, but there is not one that is solar powered and
sustainable. She invisions the Spartan Superway as a great potential for the future
of transportation. Dianna plans on working on the Small Scale Model integrating the
solar panels into the railing of the system.
Christopher McCormick
Christopher is a senior BSME student at SJSU and untested as a professional engineer.
He joined the Spartan Superway project hoping to contribute to the mechanical design
of one of the most important projects presented to the senior class. He brings to
the project leadership and communication skills learned as an Eagle Scout as well
as everything he has learned in mechanical engineering classes at SJSU.
Matthew Menezes
Matthew is a Senior Mechanical Engineering student at SJSU with a focus in Mechanical
Design (or maybe mechatronics, he still hasn't decided). He was born and raised in
the Bay Area, and went to Las Positas Community College before transferring to San
José State. Growing up, he was always the kind of kid who loved to tinker with old
things around the house, take things apart and see how they worked. As soon as he
was old enough, he started to work on anything that moved; bikes, scooters, Go-Peds,
and then eventually cars and trucks. He has always been passionate about (maybe obsessed)
with working, fixing, and modifying vehicles. He feels that this is what drove to
me toward wanting to become a mechanical engineer. Now that Matthew is beginning Senior
Project, he is eager to take what practical skills he has and apply them toward a
great, forward-thinking, community minded project that is Spartan Superway. The active
suspension facet of this project interested him the most, probably due to the fact
that it is a team that will need to do extensive mechanical designing likely coupled
with mechatronic controls. He expects that working on this project will give him invaluable
experience in many forms, such as working in a team/communicating across many other
groups to come to a common goal (as will likely be the case in the real world). He
hopes to use his strengths to better the team, and learn from others where he needs
to improve.
Thang Ngo
Thang is a senior in Mechanical Engineer Student at San José State. His concentration
is designing and he is looking forward to work on the Spartan Superway project. He
finds this project is very important in the future of public transportation since
it provides a unique way of commuting at convenience of passengers. He would like
to use his knowledge in vibration & control, heat transfer, dynamics and mechanical
design in building this project. His favorite hobbies are playing sports, listening
to music and practicing martial arts.
Thomas Nguyen
Thomas is currently studying mechanical engineering at San José State University with
a focus in mechatronics. He will be working on the scale model of the Spartan Superway
project. Thomas is particularly interested in the controls, bogey fail safe mechanism,
and collision prevention between the cars. Outside of school, Thomas likes to read
comic books, rock climb, and playing video games.
Lucas Peterson
Lucas is currently a senior at San José State University pursuing a BS Degree in Mechanical
Engineering. As part of the 2015 Spartan Superway team, Lucas hopes to be involved
in the development and the production of a fail safe in the case of disaster. One
of the reasons he chose to be with the fail safe design is because he wanted to start
fresh with a design aspect. He wants to help design a fail safe form the ground up
through all levels of the design process. Another reason he became interested in this
project is because he is very interested in the future of public transportation and
solar power. Lucas has taken the bus to campus all four years so far, and another
viable transportation option is always welcome. In his free time, he enjoys video
games (CS:GO, League of Legends), reading (Fantasy, Adventure, Science Fiction), and
general outdoor activities. He hopes to become more involved in the Table Top Gaming
club on campus.
Uday Ranjeet
Uday is a senior in Mechanical Engineering at SJSU, concentrating on thermal system
design. He transferred to SJSU from De Anza/Foothill on fall 2103. The versatility
of the Spartan Superway drew him towards this project. Uday is looking forward to
imply his knowledge and skills that he has learned and gained previously, on this
project and help to make a proper modification to the Spartan Superway. Beside engineering,
he is a sports fanatic and loves to travel to new places and explore the scenic views.
David Paul Yap Sales
David is a senior BSME major student at San José State University with a concentration
in Mechanical Design. He has been involved in multiple class projects in the past;
from making a small Laser Harp to a more recent Fruit Peeler and Cutter. This year,
he decided to join the Spartan Superway team because he saw it had the potential to
create a positive impact in society, and he wanted to be part of a bigger team who
are serious and dedicated in providing a possible solution for our daily transportation
problems. David is planning to join the Small Scale Model team for the project because
he wants to help improve the structure and integrity of the tracks to provide a fully-functional
visual representation of the Autonomous Transit Network (ATN) that the previous teams
have tried to create and present for the public.
Ivan Servin
Ivan is a senior in mechanical engineering at SJSU with a focus on machine design.
He choose design because as a kid, Ivan was always interested in how things were made.
He would often result in taking items apart to help him understand the design of it.
As far as hobbies go, Ivan really enjoys physical activities, cooking, watching football,
and hanging out with friends. He choose to join the Spartan Superway because he really
felt like this one is a great alternative to current transportations. Also because
he commuted from Santa Cruz all last year, he knows the effects that traffic and accidents
can have on your commute.
Karmjot Singh
Karmjot is a graduating senior at San José State University in the Mechanical Engineering
program with an emphasis in the area of Thermal Systems. However, he also carries
high interest and skills in the area of mechanical design and mechatronics. Prior
to joining this project, he has worked on several course related projects where he
was able to apply theoretical concepts from classes into designing something. Moreover,
Karmjot has also interned with Bart (Bay Area Rapid Transit) on the Warm Springs Extension
Project in Fremont. From the internship, he was able to explore many applications
pertaining to multi-engineering disciplines. He joined the Spartan Superway project
because he wanted to contribute his skills and knowledge into creating something that
would help the society and our environment. The Spartan Superway has the potential
to help people commute around urbanized cities like San José without having to take
on stress from the traffic. Also, the Spartan Superway would help the environment
by using solar energy which would save the environment from pollutions to a certain
degree.
Gus Soucy
Augustine Soucy is a Senior in the BSME program at San José State University involved
in the SMSSV project as the Solar Team Lead. As a local from the South Bay and Santa
Cruz area the idea of more efficient and effective public transit piqued interest
with him when first discovering the Superway project. He hopes to bring a positive
attitude and logical thought process to the project and improve on the many ideas
left by previous participants of the project. With a background in HVAC, CAD, and
fabrication, branching out into Solar research and development should provide ample
challenge and a rewarding experience. He chose the Solar aspect of this project because
it is one of the main components that will make the system more efficient and revolutionary,
but it seems to have been neglected although it is a linchpin of the project.
Kenny Strickland
Kenny Strickland is a Mechanical Engineering student at San José State University.
His childhood passion was backpacking and enjoying the outdoors with his Boy Scout
Troop. It wasn't until he took Marine Biology during his last year of high school
where he learned about the impacts of human existence on the ecosystem, and its natural
resources. He joined the Spartan Superway team and is excited to be working on a sustainable
and needed transportation revelation. He will be working on the small scale track
to demonstrate the automated transit network. He will also be serving as the SMSSV
club treasurer.
Ivan Tapia
Ivan is currently pursuing his BSME at San José State University. He is currently
a senior and for his senior project he will be working on the Spartan Superway. Ivan
has an extensive background in Computer Aided Design (CAD) and some shop work experience
as well. He has worked for JM Construction and Engineering and Walters and Wolf in
which he developed CAD drawings for shop fabrication. He also worked as part of a
takeoff group in which he had to coordinate with project managers and project coordinators
to achieve a common goal and meet deadlines. Ivan is excited to work on the Spartan
Superway because it has potential to be something great in our community. He also
love the interest that the Superway has created from other countries as well as from
other universities here in the states.
Brian To
Brian To is currently a senior attending San José State University. As a BSME major,
Brian’s concentration is focused on Mechatronics. Brian enjoys working with home automation
and incorporating his skills in home renovation. Brian is a member of the Solar and
Controls team and also one of the event planners for the SMSSV team. As a San José
native, Brian is excited to help the city flourish and grow into one of the leading
cities in green technology. Outside of school, Brian enjoys finding old furniture
and refurbishing it. Brian is very passionate about woodworking and spends his free
time building furniture for his family and friends. When he is not busy with school
and projects, Brian loves spending time and playing with his six dogs.
Steve Trevillyan
Steve lives in Salida, California with his wife, Brieann, their two month old son,
Jeremiah, and their eleven year old toy poodle, Pierre. He enjoys the outdoors and
anything adventurous is sure to hold his attention. Family means everything to him.
Steve's motivation for earning a BSME degree stems from those closest to him and his
willingness to improve his family's lives, financially. Steve is currently a Senior
Mechanical Engineering student at San José State University where he is a member of
the Spartan Superway Team. His contributions to this team will be the testing and
analysis of the full-scale guide way.
Alex Valenzuela
Alex Valenzuela is a student at San José State University. He is earning his Bachelors
Degree in Mechanical Engineering. For his senior project he will be working with fellow
ME students on the Spartan Superway project. His role for the project will be to assist
in the design of the intermediate scale bogie, fail safe, braking, and the intermediate
scale railing. Another role he was given was lead in the procurement duty. He is looking
forward to working on this project, because he believes there is big potential for
a green energy public transportation and the help it would be for people and the planet.
When he is not at school, he is currently employed at the Home Depot assisting people
on their personal home projects. His hobbies include solving puzzles, reading, playing
tennis, going to the gym, paintball shooting, and watching movies, to name a few.
He hopes that he can make a positive impact for the world through his knowledge in
engineering.
Vicente Viqueira
Vincente is an international student from Venezuela. He is a senior Mechanical Engineering
student at San José State University, with an emphasis in mechanical design. Vincente
decided to join the Spartan Superway project, because he found it to be a great solution
for the heavy traffic that affects the community in the Silicon Valley. As part of
the team, he will be working on the “fail safe” system to make the Superway as safe
as possible for its users. Outside of his studies, he enjoys being outdoors and riding
his motorcycle.
Allan Wai
Allan is in his senior year at San José State University pursing a BSME degree in
Mechatronics. His interest for Mechatronics spawns from robotics and automation control.
Allan joined the Spartan Superway team to implement olar power to the model Superway.
Using the leadership skills he had gained from his job experiences, he plans to coordinate
events for the team. He is also looking forward to work with his team and build upon
last year's previous work to reach the 2016 goal. Aside from his studies, he tries
to find time to ride or fix his motorcycle.
Henry Xie
Henry Xie is a fifth year student at San José State University majoring in mechanical
engineering. He is pursuing a focus in mechatronics hence going to work with the small
scale team on the Spartan Superway project since it relates more to what he is interested
in doing. He also has an interest in design, not just in engineering but also in aesthetics;
he believed that engineering, science, and art are all related and should not be separated.
He seeks to gain experience working on this large interdisciplinary project that he
will be able to apply later on in his career. Henry also believes in the philosophy
of 'Question Everything', at least the things you understand.
Jaymie Zapata
Jaymie is currently a senior at SJSU in the BSME program. He will be a part of the
solar team. The solar team is looking towards improving the process of installation
as well as, improving the over all design. His experiences include working as a quality
control inspector, as well as project manager for the San Mateo Foster City school
district. Once he heard about the Spartan Superway, he immediately jumped at the opportunity
to improve the lives of others, by creating a sustainable transportation system. Through
this project, he hopes to bring awareness that the Spartan Superway is viable alternative,
and it will be beneficial to everyone.
Mentors
Dr. Burford Furman
Buff is a professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at San José State University,
where he has been affiliated since 1994. He is also a registered professional engineer
in the state of California in mechanical engineering since 1984. Prior to arriving
at SJSU, he worked at IBM in San José in the development of disk drive actuators and
spindle motors. He has also been a consultant in the optomechanical and laboratory
automation industries. His areas of teaching and research are focused primarily in
Automated Transit Networks, mechatronics, precision machine design, and engineering
measurements.
Ron Swenson
Ron Swenson is co-founder of INIST, the International Institute of Sustainable Transportation,
and advisor to the Spartan Superway, with emphasis on solar energy and mechanical
systems. He has been amazed by the continuing progress since INIST sponsored the Solar
Skyways Challenge prize which was awarded to the Spartan Superway team at the 7th
annual Podcar City conference in Washington DC in 2013. Ron's company Swenson Solar
has developed a number of commercial solar systems. In the 1990s he co-founded Tonatiuh,
Mexico's solar race car team which competed in the USA and Australia. In the 1960's
he taught mechanical design, computer programming, and cybernetic systems in the Engineering
School at San José State. He holds an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University
and plays old timey songs on the banjo.
Paul Albulet
Paul has worked for several medical device startup and larger companies in Silicon
Valley over the past 15 years, including Boston Scientific, BD Biosciences, Aerogen,
Nex-ray, Mission Medical and Polyremedy. Prior to that he worked at Abbott, Hospital
Products division, developing drug infusion pumps for the hospital critical care market.
Founder and director of product design for Albulet Design, LLC, Paul now consults
with high tech companies in Silicon Valley providing product design, design for manufacturing,
and industrial design. Paul is providing mentoring support in Solidworks and design
for manufacturing to the teams on the Spartan Superway project. Paul has a BS degree
in mechanical engineering from University of California, Davis and a BS degree in
industrial design from San José State University. When not doing product development,
Paul enjoys mountain bike riding and nature photography.
Bryan Burlingame
Bryan has spent most of his professional career at Microsoft as part of their ASIC
Research and Development efforts managing large scale engineering compute farms while
leading teams supporting Microsoft's hardware related engineering efforts.In addition
to his professional efforts, Bryan instructs at SJSU in the Mechanical Engineering
department and has been involved in the Personal Rapid Transit efforts & the Spartan
Superway since its inception.
Anuradha Munshi
Anuradha Munshi is Founder and President at SunDraft Energy Inc. and also serves as
Program Advisor for Smart Energy Enterprise Development (SEEDZ) initiative at Joint
Venture Silicon Valley. She brings her knowledge, expertise and experience working
with academia, government and corporate industry experts to the SMSSV project as a
mentor helping students design innovative transit solutions that include integration
with renewable sources like solar.Anuradha has more than 10 years of experience in
the building construction and energy industry. Prior to joining Joint Venture Silicon
Valley, she was the Energy Lead with Sustainable Silicon Valley where she managed
research projects and led the energy content development team for the EcoCloud social
media platform. She is also an architect, with experience managing multiple large-scale
commercial building construction projects. Anuradha's education portfolio includes
Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies program at Stanford University, a major
in Energy Management and Climate Policy, Project Management and a Bachelor's degree
in Architecture from the University of Pune in India.
To learn more about the 2015-2016 Spartan Superway team, visit their team blog below.
