Virginia Tech

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Scott Huxtable is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech. He received his BS degree in mechanical engineering from Bucknell University in 1997 and his MS and PhD degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 1999 and 2002, respectively.

Before joining Virginia Tech in 2003, he spent a year as a post-doctoral research associate in the Materials Science Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

His research interests include electric vehicles, thermal management in power electronics and nanoscale thermal transport.

Dr. Ryan Gerdes is an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech. She received her BS degree in computer engineering, her M.Eng. in electrical engineering and her Ph.D. in electrical engineering - all from Iowa State University.

Dr. Gerdes received the Teacher of the Year Award from Utah State University's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2015 and 2013, and the National Science Foundation's Creating Effective Future Faculty in Engineering Award.

Her research interests include, Operation of autonomous systems, Device fingerprinting, Embedded systems security Sensor security, Controls security, Cybersecurity and Cyber-physical systems security.

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Soham Dange is a second-year graduate student pursuing a MS in mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech. In 2018, he received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Savitribai Phule Pune University. 

Before joining HEVT, he worked as the program leader for a collegiate student science forum for 7 years and worked on COVID-19 relief work developing oxygen concentrators to rural public health centers across 3 states in India. 

He is interested in soccer, cricket and hiking and can beat anyone on HEVT in a chess game.

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Sopan Kane is a second-year graduate student pursuing his MS in mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech. 

In 2021, he graduated with his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University. He is passionate about robotics and controls and is working on researching these topics and their applications towards the future of green mobility.

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Elizabeth Fox is a fourth-year undergraduate student pursuing a BA in communications at Virginia Tech, and a first-year accelerated Master of Public Health Student at the Virginia-Maryland Veterinary Medicine School.

Before joining HEVT in 2022, she worked as support for the Technology-Enhanced and Online Strategies Department at Virginia Tech. After joining HEVT, she worked as a communications intern for Argonne National Laboratory during the summer of 2023.

Her hobbies include playing tennis, creating art, and owning too many plants.

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Holland Forsythe is a fourth- year undergraduate student pursuing a BA in Philosophy at Virginia Tech. It is Holland's first year on HEVT, and she is interested in taking an interdisciplinary approach to solving technological challenges through her leadership role. She is also interested in cooking, painting and yoga outside of academics. 

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Shubhang Gollarahalli is set to graduate in 2025 from Virginia Tech with a BS in mechanical engineering. His research interests include propulsion and autonomy hardware integration and computer aided design. 

He has two dogs named Teddy and James Bond and is interested in gaming, drawing and playing football outside of academics.

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Noah Beane is a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in mechanical engineering, set to graduate in 2025.

He is a veteran of the United States Air Force and is interested in researching electric vehicle power trains.

His hobbies include Playing guitar, video games, watching sports, hanging out with friends and he has a pet turtle named Franklin.

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Amber Moody is a fourth-year undergraduate student pursuing her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech.

In the future, she hopes to use her creativity in the field of mechanical engineering to work with her long-time passion of renewable energy and sustainable technologies. This past summer, she worked for Power Design as a mechanical engineering ontern and she is involved in Black Engineering Excellence, Hypatia Living Learning Community, Ujima Living Learning Community and the Art Club.

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Ansh Gwash is a graduate student pursuing a MS in computer science at Virginia Tech. In 2023, he completed his bachelor's of science degree in mechanical engineering also at Virginia Tech. He is focused on modeling predictive control for adaptive cruise research for HEVT.

His hobbies include playing the guitar and hiking around Blacksburg.

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Aadi Kothari is currently a graduate student at Virginia Tech, pursuing an MS in electrical & computer engineering, graduating in the Fall of 2024.

In the spring of 2023, he received his bachelor’s of science in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech and previously served as the undergraduate lead for the CAVs sub team.

His hobbies include hiking, traveling, playing soccer, Formula 1, and he has been growing his lego collection. 

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Tommy Billington is an undergraduate student pursuing his bachelor's of science degree in computer science at Virginia Tech, with expected graduation in the spring of 2024. He focuses on sensor fusion and perception algorithms through his work for HEVT.

His hobbies include playing sports and he has a pet dog.

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Lucas Izquierdo is an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech, pursuing his bachelor’s of science in computer engineering, with an expected graduation date in the spring of 2024.

His research for HEVT focuses on hardware architecture and he enjoys playing guitar, working on cars, and hanging out with his friends.

Prajakta Wale is a second-year graduate student pursuing an MS in mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech. Her research on HEVT includes computer vision for autonomous driving and she received her bachelor’s degree from Savitribai Phule Pune University in 2022.

During her undergraduate studies, she worked on robotic simulation and classical control systems.