About Me
Hi, I'm Sam, and I'm from Long Island, New York. I'm studying Mechanical Engineering and have been building things and working with electronics since I was a kid. A lot of what I know comes from teaching myself over the years, and that turned into a real passion for engineering. I enjoy projects where mechanical, electrical, and software all connect, and I spend most of my time designing parts, 3D printing, running simulations, and testing ideas. I'm currently looking for a Summer 2026 internship or research opportunity where I can apply my skills to real engineering work, keep learning, and contribute to projects that help people.
Early Projects & Journey
I started with Maker Magazine kits and small electronics projects and eventually built my own electric go-kart as a kid. I got my first Arduino around nine years old and my first 3D printer at eleven, and I also went to a robotics camp where I built robots. I experimented with small Arduino projects, DIY robot kits, a custom light show that I soldered entirely by hand, and many other hands-on builds throughout the journey. In high school, I built a solar-powered computer. Those early projects developed into more serious engineering work, and today I am the team lead for the Mars Rover Team at the University of New Haven. Growing from simple kits to managing full engineering subsystems has taught me a lot about design, problem solving, leadership, and what really goes into an engineering project.
Mars Rover Team Leader
Leading a multidisciplinary team of 10+ students to design and build a Mars rover for URC 2026. This is where I spend most of my time, coordinating mechanical, electrical, and software engineering teams.
High School Engineering
In high school, my favorite classes were PLTW engineering classes. One of my favorite projects was building a small automated cupcake assembly line using VEX parts and robotic arms. Classes like this helped solidify that engineering was perfect for me, because I've always loved building things and working hands-on.
College & Future Goals
My academic and professional goal is to become an engineer and researcher developing technology that meaningfully improves people's lives. I am motivated by work on complex mechanical systems where design decisions matter beyond whether something simply works. Seeing how small technical choices propagate through an entire system and affect reliability, performance, and failure behavior is what pushes me to keep developing my engineering judgment.
I am a hands-on learner. I learn best by building, testing, and iterating on real systems rather than stopping at theoretical understanding. This approach has shaped my growth through experiences such as leading the Mars Rover Team and working on research-driven design projects. Through these efforts, I've learned to evaluate designs not only by their intended function, but by how they behave under uncertainty and non-ideal conditions. Applying concepts directly has helped me develop a deeper, more disciplined understanding of engineering while keeping me fully engaged in the work.
I've realized that engineering operates in layers of understanding, and that goes for anything in life as well. In engineering, a design can function, but that does not mean it is well understood or perfected. There is always a deeper level to reach, and recognizing that pushes me to keep learning and improving my thinking. There will always be engineers who are more experienced or more knowledgeable, and that awareness motivates me to continually raise my own standard.
Coming from a smaller engineering school, I have learned to actively create opportunities for myself. I seek out mentorship, pursue project-based research, and step into leadership roles that demand both technical depth and accountability. Leading the Mars Rover Team has strengthened my skills in robotics, collaboration, and systems-level thinking. That drive for intellectual growth, paired with a desire to create and innovate, is what fuels my commitment to engineering.