Education

MS in Electrical Engineering,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA
Overall GPA: 4.00/4.00
May 2022
BS in Computer Engineering,
Major in Chip Scale Integration,
Minor in Mathematics,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA
Overall GPA: 3.88/4.00
In-Major GPA: 3.92/4.00
In-Minor GPA: 4.00/4.00
May 2020

Experience

Thesis Project: Low Power Machine Learning Based Activity Monitor for Livestock
  • Led a total of seven students in developing an ultra-low power IoT end node to monitor health and behaviors of livestock through measuring vital signs and activity.
  • Designed the system with a low power MCU, accelerometer, GPS, thermometer, and heart rate sensor. The system takes measurements from its various sensors, transmits them using the LoRaWAN protocol, and stores them in an AWS database.
  • Used edge intelligence to classify cattle behavior in situ and reduced power consumption of our WSN by 50-fold.
Aug. 2020 - Present
Graduate Research Assistant
June 2021 - Present
Graduate Teaching Assistant
  • ECE 1004: Introduction to ECE Concepts
    • Assisting with teaching and evaluating a class of 300 undergraduate students.
  • ECE 3544: Digital Design 1
    • Assisted with teaching and evaluating a class of 75 undergraduate students.
    • Held office hours through Discord to provide remote support to students.
    • Developed Python scripts to automate testing and validation of student Verilog projects.
Aug. 2020 - May 2021
Research Assistant in Multifunctional Integrated Circuit and Systems Group (MICS) at Virginia Tech
  • Power Management Circuit
    • Designed a power management circuit (PMC) that harvested ambient electromagnetic energy generated by railroad power lines with an ultra-wide range of 10A-70A.
    • Maximized harvested power by finding the maximum power point (MPPT) of the PMC through the perturb and observe algorithm(P&O) using pic18lf24k40 MCU.
  • Display for Pressure Sensitive Fiber
    • Designed a display to show high pressure areas of an 8x8 mesh of pressure-sensitive carbon-black loaded fibers.
    • Used an Arduino Mega microcontroller to detect locations of pressure points and a TFT LCD to display them.
  • Amplifier for Piezoelectric Sensor
    • Completed a collaborative project between MICS and the Center for Intelligent and Smart Sensors, KAIST University, Daejeon, South Korea.
    • Successfully developed a low cost, single supply, and high input impedance amplifier for a piezoelectric sensor to measure noise pollution in apartment buildings.
May 2019 - May 2020

Scientific Contribution

Publications
  1. Damle AP, Ha S., Zhao Z., dos Reis B., White R., Ha D. Reducing the Power Consumption of WSNs through Edge Intelligence. (manuscript submitted to ISCAS 2022)
  2. Zhao Z, Damle AP, Ha D, Ha S. Cattle Behavioral Classification Using Halter Mounted Accelerometer (manuscript in preparation)

Classes

Circuit Design and Analysis Embedded Systems and Programming Digital Design Machine Learning Theory

Skills

Programing Programs Languages
Fluent in: Knowledge of:

Honors

Graduate Teaching Assistantship(GTA) and Tuition Scholarship
A scholarship that provides full tuition and a stipend to graduate students with excellent academic record and potential for performing graduate research.
Aug. 2020 - Present
George R. Powley Award
A merit based award for outstanding students enrolled in Electrical Engineering
Aug. 2018
Benjamin F. Bock Scholarship
A merit and need based scholarship for students enrolled in the College of Engineering. Typically, four students are selected to receive this scholarship every year.
Aug. 2018
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society
The Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society is the oldest and most selective all-discipline honor society, where they offer membership to the top 7.5% of the class.
Aug. 2018 - Present
Tau Beta Pi Honor Society
The Tau Beta Pi Honor Society recognizes exceptional engineering students in the top 12.5% of their class.
Dec. 2017 - Present
Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society
Eta Kappa Nu is the honor society of IEEE and recognizes excellence in the IEEE designated fields of interest. It offers membership to students in the top 25% of their class.
Dec. 2017 - Present
Mr. & Mrs. Gilbert L. Faison EE Scholarship
Mr. & Mrs. Gilbert L. Faison EE Scholarship is a scholarship for computer and electrical engineering students and is awarded based on academic achievement, personal character, leadership qualities, and community service.
Jul. 2017
Dean’s List with Distinction
Inclusion on the “Dean’s List with Distinction” requires a GPA of at least 3.75
Fall 2017 - Spring 2020
Bernard Silverman Scholarship
Earned the Bernard Silverman Scholarship through maintaining a 4.0 GPA and topping the STEP program
Aug. 2016
Eagle Scout Rank, Boy Scouts of America
Oct. 2015
National Honor Society
Oct. 2015

Service

Power Hour Tutor, HKN Honor Society
Tutored Virginia Tech students in ECE classes
2017 - Present
Friends of the James River Park, Richmond, VA
Provided various services to maintain the James River Park ecosystem
2009 - 2015
Project leader, Friends of Bryan Park
Organized and led the construction of an outdoor classroom in Bryan Park. Designed benches, organized materials and volunteers, raised funds, and managed construction of benches.
2015

Activities

Galileo Engineering Learning Community for Men
Sep. 2016 - May 2017
Student Transition Engineering Program (STEP)
Took part in the summer STEP program offered by Virginia Tech.
Jun. 2016 - Aug. 2016
Boy Scouts of America
Served as the scribe, patrol leader, and assistant senior patrol leader.
2007 - 2016
Order of the arrow, BSA USA
Member of the Order of the Arrow, the "Honor Society" of the Boy Scouts of America.
2012 - 2016
Robotics Team
Member of FIRST team 422. Received a Regional Chairman's Award and Entrepreneurship Award in 2014.
2013 - 2015