IGERT Trainees

2009-2010 Trainees

Lucas Lincoln: Lucas was raised in Maine and earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA. He conducted his undergraduate research at the Center for Holographic Studies and Laser microMechatronics; where he worked on a laser interferometry system for in vivo measurement of human tympanic membrane dynamics. He is currently exploring projects of interest with the robotics faculty at the U, primarily in the fields of biomimetic robotics and bioinstrumentation.

Art Mahoney: Art Mahoney is a PhD student in the School of Computing at the University of Utah. He currently is performing research in magnetically controlled, wireless robotics under the mentorship of Dr. Jake Abbott. Prior to attending the University of Utah, Art received a B.S. degree in Computer Science and Computational Mathematics in 2009 at Utah State University. As an undergraduate, Art conducted research in computational search methods for discovering novel cancer therapies, massively parallel graph search strategies, and robotic motion planning. Art particularly enjoys sailing, wooden boats, and anything having to do with the outdoors.

Cody Sarrazin:

2008-2009 Trainees

Brittany Baker: Brittany is a native of Utah, but journeyed to the East Coast for her undergraduate studies at MIT. She graduated with a B.S. degree in aerospace engineering in June 2008. Brittany is currently investigating different robotics related projects for her PhD.

Mark Fehlberg: Mark grew up in Laytonsville, Maryland. He earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech while on an Army ROTC scholarship. He then served in the Ordnance Corps at Ft. Sill, OK, where he also earned a M.A. in Managerial Economics. After fulfilling his obligation to the military, Mark was employed by KPMG where he designed computer-based training courses and implemented finance and accounting systems. In 2002, he founded his own business, Initech Incorporated, which has provided financial and systems support services to the Air Force for the past six years. Recently he has decided to pursue a lifelong goal of obtaining an advanced degree in Engineering. Currently, he is working with Dr. Provancher conducting research on the Active Handrest. conducting gait analysis of ROCR, an oscillating climbing robot.

Thomas Fountain: Thomas grew up in Oswego, New York. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology. To date, his focus has been on experimental and computational fluid mechanics in aerospace and biomedical applications. He has held engineering positions at the Air Force Research Lab and the RIT Biodevice Prototyping Lab. For his Master's research, he experimentally investigated the effects of turbulent shear stresses on red blood cell damage. At the University of Utah, he will be working with Jake Abbott in the Telerobotics lab. Presently he is working with Steve Mascaro on an actuated prosthetic eye.

Marshall Floyd: Marshall lives in West Jordan, Utah. He earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Utah in 2008. He married Jenni Hunter in 2007 and now has a baby boy named Zavian. He started graduate work in his senior year while inthe BS/MS program, but has since switched to the PhD program. He has long been interested in biologically inspired mobile robots and their diverse applications.

2007-2008 Trainees

Jumana Mahmoud Abu-Khalaf: I grew up in Amman, Jordan and went to school there. In 2005, I received a B.S. in Mechatronic Engineering from the University of Jordan. Currently, I'm working on the design and analysis of stretchable fingernail sensors for the measurement of fingertip touch force with Dr. Stephen Mascaro.

Josh de Bever: Josh earned his Bachelor's degree in Physics and Computer Science and his Masters in Physics from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. While in London, he collaborated with a group from the University of Utah developing Magnetic Resonance Imaging hardware, and this eventually led to his discovery of the Robotics program. Currently Josh is doing research with the High Intensity Focused Ultrasound lab which is developing a medical robot that kills cancerous tumors non-invasively and without ionizing radiation.

Philip Dyer: I'm originally from a small secret town in Pennsylvania. After graduating high school, I was fortunate enough to join the Meyerhoff Scholarship Program at UMBC, where I earned my B.S. in physics and my M.S. in mechanical engineering. My masters research was focused on analyzing gait patterns of cows, which involved many a smelly trip to dairy farms. I've since upgraded and am now at the U doing research on gait analysis of people with Parkinson's disease with Dr. Stacy Bamberg.

Mitch Frankel: I grew up outside Washington D.C. in Fairfax, VA. I received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Kinesiology with a minor in Biochemistry from the University of Colorado at Boulder in August 1997. I then moved to Bozeman, MT, originally to live peacefully while applying to medical schools. While medical school was not for me, I was able to live in Montana for ten wonderful years enjoying the mountain lifestyle and later pursued a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, which I received with honors in December 2005 from Montana State University - Bozeman. I am currently working with Dr. Sanford Meek on upper-limb neuroprosthetics, specifically in the realm of multi-DOF electromyographic control and neural signal conditioning.

Brian Gleeson: Brian grew up in Colorado and received an BS in engineering physics from the University of Colorado. After teaching for a year in China, working for a while, and traveling around, Brian decided it was time to go back to school. He is currently working with Dr. Provancher on tactile robotic interfaces.

Cris Phipps: Cris Phipps is a Utah native. He received a combined B.S./M.S. degree from the University of Utah and is continuing his research as a Ph.D. student. He works with Prof. Mark Minor on hybrid mobility robots.

	Lucas Lincoln: Lucas was raised in Maine and earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA. He conducted his undergraduate research at the Center for Holographic Studies and Laser microMechatronics; where he worked on a laser interferometry system for in vivo measurement of human tympanic membrane dynamics. He is currently exploring projects of interest with the robotics faculty at the U, primarily in the fields of biomimetic robotics and bioinstrumentation.
	Art Mahoney: Art Mahoney is a PhD student in the School of Computing at the University of Utah. He currently is performing research in magnetically controlled, wireless robotics under the mentorship of Dr. Jake Abbott. Prior to attending the University of Utah, Art received a B.S. degree in Computer Science and Computational Mathematics in 2009 at Utah State University. As an undergraduate, Art conducted research in computational search methods for discovering novel cancer therapies, massively parallel graph search strategies, and robotic motion planning. Art particularly enjoys sailing, wooden boats, and anything having to do with the outdoors.
	Cody Sarrazin:

	Brittany Baker: Brittany is a native of Utah, but journeyed to the East Coast for her undergraduate studies at MIT. She graduated with a B.S. degree in aerospace engineering in June 2008. Brittany is currently investigating different robotics related projects for her PhD.
	Mark Fehlberg: Mark grew up in Laytonsville, Maryland. He earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech while on an Army ROTC scholarship. He then served in the Ordnance Corps at Ft. Sill, OK, where he also earned a M.A. in Managerial Economics. After fulfilling his obligation to the military, Mark was employed by KPMG where he designed computer-based training courses and implemented finance and accounting systems. In 2002, he founded his own business, Initech Incorporated, which has provided financial and systems support services to the Air Force for the past six years. Recently he has decided to pursue a lifelong goal of obtaining an advanced degree in Engineering. Currently, he is working with Dr. Provancher conducting research on the Active Handrest. conducting gait analysis of ROCR, an oscillating climbing robot.
	Thomas Fountain: Thomas grew up in Oswego, New York. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology. To date, his focus has been on experimental and computational fluid mechanics in aerospace and biomedical applications. He has held engineering positions at the Air Force Research Lab and the RIT Biodevice Prototyping Lab. For his Master's research, he experimentally investigated the effects of turbulent shear stresses on red blood cell damage. At the University of Utah, he will be working with Jake Abbott in the Telerobotics lab. Presently he is working with Steve Mascaro on an actuated prosthetic eye.
	Marshall Floyd: Marshall lives in West Jordan, Utah. He earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Utah in 2008. He married Jenni Hunter in 2007 and now has a baby boy named Zavian. He started graduate work in his senior year while inthe BS/MS program, but has since switched to the PhD program. He has long been interested in biologically inspired mobile robots and their diverse applications.

	Jumana Mahmoud Abu-Khalaf: I grew up in Amman, Jordan and went to school there. In 2005, I received a B.S. in Mechatronic Engineering from the University of Jordan. Currently, I'm working on the design and analysis of stretchable fingernail sensors for the measurement of fingertip touch force with Dr. Stephen Mascaro.
	Josh de Bever: Josh earned his Bachelor's degree in Physics and Computer Science and his Masters in Physics from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. While in London, he collaborated with a group from the University of Utah developing Magnetic Resonance Imaging hardware, and this eventually led to his discovery of the Robotics program. Currently Josh is doing research with the High Intensity Focused Ultrasound lab which is developing a medical robot that kills cancerous tumors non-invasively and without ionizing radiation.
	Philip Dyer: I'm originally from a small secret town in Pennsylvania. After graduating high school, I was fortunate enough to join the Meyerhoff Scholarship Program at UMBC, where I earned my B.S. in physics and my M.S. in mechanical engineering. My masters research was focused on analyzing gait patterns of cows, which involved many a smelly trip to dairy farms. I've since upgraded and am now at the U doing research on gait analysis of people with Parkinson's disease with Dr. Stacy Bamberg.
	Mitch Frankel: I grew up outside Washington D.C. in Fairfax, VA. I received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Kinesiology with a minor in Biochemistry from the University of Colorado at Boulder in August 1997. I then moved to Bozeman, MT, originally to live peacefully while applying to medical schools. While medical school was not for me, I was able to live in Montana for ten wonderful years enjoying the mountain lifestyle and later pursued a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, which I received with honors in December 2005 from Montana State University - Bozeman. I am currently working with Dr. Sanford Meek on upper-limb neuroprosthetics, specifically in the realm of multi-DOF electromyographic control and neural signal conditioning.
	Brian Gleeson: Brian grew up in Colorado and received an BS in engineering physics from the University of Colorado. After teaching for a year in China, working for a while, and traveling around, Brian decided it was time to go back to school. He is currently working with Dr. Provancher on tactile robotic interfaces.
	Cris Phipps: Cris Phipps is a Utah native. He received a combined B.S./M.S. degree from the University of Utah and is continuing his research as a Ph.D. student. He works with Prof. Mark Minor on hybrid mobility robots.