User:Imjustmatthew/Autobiography
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[edit] Autobiography
This is a subpage containing a little bit about myself.
You may also wish view my main user page
Matthew Roy is a college student attending Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts, United States of America, where he is a member of the Class of 2009. He is in a long-term relationship with Kathleen, his high school sweetheart. Intending to Major in Systems Engineering, Matthew hopes to build tomorrow's technologies not through new fundamentals, but though the integration of systems into efficient, user-friendly designs. Currently he is taking an 18 credit-hour course load and working on a number of projects including the development of a UAV, Olin's Mini Baja Team, and a number of ASME Design Challenges.
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[edit] Early Childhood
Born on February 9, 1987 in Columbia, South Carolina. Matthew is the son of Anne and Daniel. They were married on December 29, 1984. At the time of Matthew's birth Daniel worked as an Electrician, and Anne as a sales clerk at J.C. Penney.
1989 saw the birth of Matthew's younger sister, Elizabeth, on March 1st, and the family's relocation to Charlotte, North Carolina, it was at this time that Anne choose to leave the workplace to become a full time mom. In 1990 the family moved to a new house in Stanley, North Carolina in Gaston County, just outside Charlotte. David, Matthew's next younger brother, was born on March 6, 1991. Matthew would go on to attend Kindergarten through Second Grade at Springfield Elementary School, later moving on to Kaiser Elementary School for the Third and Fourth Grades. In 1993, while Matthew was in the Third Grade, the family was surprised by twin boys, Joshua and Christopher, born on January 12.
Beginning in Fifth Grade, Anne and Daniel decided that Matthew was not being sufficiently challenged in North Carolina public schools, and choose to home school Matthew, Elizabeth, and David. With the twins as toddlers at the time, it was particularly challenging for Anne to manage the school work of three children and the play of two toddlers.
On February 13, 1997 the family moved to Richmond, Virginia, for better schools and a bigger house. The family briefly stayed with the Michalowski family. During this time Matthew attended Swift Creek Middle School. That summer the Roy Family moved into their new house on the South side of Richmond in Chesterfield County.
[edit] Teenage Years
Beginning in Seventh Grade Matthew attended Manchester Middle School as part of the Center-Based Gifted program. Matthew remained at Manchester through the Eighth Grade, and was particularly influenced by a number of people, but in particular by Lamar Brandt, an Earth Science teacher. Beginning in 1999, Matthew joined the Youth Hand bell Choir at Epiphany Catholic Church, starting with the very highest bells, B7 and C8, Matthew proceeded to mote downward as he increased his skill as a musician. He would end his career in the bell choir with his graduation in 2005, culminating with substantial recognition within Epiphany for outstanding performance.
In 2000, Matthew applied to and was accepted by the Chesterfield County Mathematics and Science High School at Clover Hill High School. He attended Clover Hill for four years, taking advanced courses in Mathematics and Computer Science. Beginning in his sophomore year Matthew participated in FIRST Robotics as Control Team Leader. That year, as a rookie, he captured the Leadership in Control award at the VCU Regional for innovations in compartmentalization of the Robot's Control System. He would proceed to become team President, and then leader of team Operations.
In 2005, Matthew participated in the Mars Exploration Student Data (MESDT) Program with NASA and LSU. Analyzing data from the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.
Four teachers at Clover Hill would substantially influence him. Steve Helms, sponsor of Clover Hill's robotics team, provided substantial mentorship in leading teams of students and learning from previous experiences. Cathy Murphy taught Matthew how to fail, and how to truly learn. Judy Roskowski provided guidance in computer programing and in dealing with management. Pete Peterson taught him how to aggressively achieve, and how to study independently.
[edit] College Experience
Now attending Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Matthew is a member of the Class of 2009.
[edit] First Year
During his first year at Olin Matthew roomed with Chester Macklin in West Hall 206, and was heavily involved in the Olin SAE Mini Baja team, and in mentoring the FIRST team sponsored by Olin at Hyde Park. He believes his greatest growth was in learning to manage a full schedule, from classes, to friends, to fun, to sleep.
[edit] Extracurricular Activities
[edit] Olin College Mini Baja
Matthew worked on Olin's Mini Baja (now called SAE Baja) Team as one of the two designers of the drive train. Under the mentoring of lead designer Simon Helmore, he helped to design a drive train based upon a Briggs and Stratton 10 HP engine, a Comet 790 CVT, and a FNR transmission. The drive train was ultimately successful and allowed the team to compete with relative success at the SAE Baja Midwest competition in May 2006. However, the design was not a particularly mature one; it was difficult to maintain and the extensive amount of guarding required to protect the CVT and two chains was troublesome. The chain that connected the jack shaft to the differential on the drive shaft was a continuous challenge and ultimately failed during competition. The chain's tension was not maintained effectively and the tension problem was exacerbated by the vibration mounts the upper part of the engine assembly was mount on.
[edit] ASME Design Challenges
Olin's ASME Chapter sponsors Weekend and 24 hour design challenges, which Matthew took a part in and later helped organize. In his first year he participated in the hovercraft design challenge, building a 1-HP hovercraft with Gui Cavalcanti, which did amazingly well compared to other hovercraft in an informal competition. Later in the year another design challenge, Battleship, drove the construction of various shapes and types of battleships. Notably small patrol-boat like speedsters and a trimaran were built by other teams. Matthew's team built an Aluminium-hulled battleship modeled after the German battleship Bismarck. The model Bismarck did not work as well as hoped, with the team running out of time towards the end of the competition, but it had a really amazing hull and propulsion system, with just over 1-HP of driving power and with lateral thrusters in the bow for steering control. The model Bismarckalso featured turrents powered by windshield wiper fluid pumps, which were incredibly powerful.
[edit] FIRST Mentoring
As part of Olin's community service program Matthew help mentor the FIRST team at the Hyde Park Educational Complex in Boston. This was a really amazing experience for him as the team there was totally different from the team at his high school.
[edit] First Semester Classes
As a freshman at Olin, Matthew took a number of classes freshman year. Particularly, Design Nature, ICB Math/Physics, Modeling and Control: Engineering of Compartment Systems, and History of Technology. First semester of freshman year at Olin is recorded on a Pass/No Record basis. This method of giving freshmen a break-in period is used at several other notable institutions, including MIT.
[edit] Design Nature (DN)
Design Nature, taught by Professors Benjamin Linder, Ozgur Eris, and Jose Oscar Mur-Miranda, is a first-year class at Olin that focuses upon teaching students how to develop a design from a design goal, to concept, to solid model, to CAD model, to prototype. This class begins with an individual Hopper Project that challenges students to develop on their own, for the second half of the semester students work in teams of 4-5 students to create a Walker that can climb up a glass surface. The walker project is particularly challenging in that students are faced with applying design concepts they just learned earlier in the semester to a much more challenging project which is complicated by the need to interact with other students in a team that is essentially self-run with only minimal oversight from the teaching team. The goal of design nature is not to have students achieve an "answer" or develop a working prototype, but rather to give them a design experience involving tremendous challenges and realistic constraints. Freshmen receive four credit hours for this mandatory course taken the during the fall semester. The class teaches skills in concept development, Computer Aided Design (Using Solidworks), Physical Modeling (Using Visual NASTRAN), rapid prototyping, and teamwork.
[edit] Integrated Course Block (Math/Physics) (ICB)
First Semester ICB, taught by professors Mark Somerville, John Geddes, Burt Tilley, and Rebecca Christianson, is a first-year class that teaches traditional calculus and physics from a standpoint of application, while maintaining a level of rigor equal to that of a more traditional course. The first semester of ICB includes what would at other colleges be called Calculus I & II, and Physics:Mechanics, as well as an introduction to first order linear differential equations, as well as numerical solutions to first and second order differential equations. The class maintains a tremendous pace, and includes three major projects, each of which requires that students apply classroom skills to real-world applications which they have never been taught in the classroom. The course places specific focus upon numerical integration using various methods, particularly in the MATLAB software package. Students are also forced to develop professional presentation skill, with particular focus upon presenting their work in a way that allows its methodology to be clear and its merits defensible. Freshmen receive five credits for this mandatory first semester class.
[edit] Modeling and Control: Engineering of Compartment Systems (MC:ECS)
Engineering of Compartment Systems is the first of two semesters of Modeling and Control study required of all freshmen. MC:ECS, taught by Professors Gill Pratt and Brian Storey focuses upon the parallelism of effort and flow in both the physical and electrical worlds, and transfers between them. Feedback in particular is closely studied, in terms of both positive and negative feedback, as well as methods of applying feedback, including Proportional, Integral, and Differential control (culminating in PID control). This class focuses upon tying together traditionally separate ideas in electrical and mechanical systems including their mathematical representations with differential equations. Freshmen receive three credits for this mandatory course.
[edit] History of Technology
History of Technology, taught by Professor Rob Martello, focuses upon the impact of technological systems and paradigms upon history. The class focuses upon a number of case studies including those of Lowell, Massachusetts, and China during the Ming dynasty. The class requires a substantial amount of writing and analysis, as well as extensive reading of primary sources. This four credit class contributes to the Arts Humanities and Social Science (AHS) requirements for graduation.
[edit] Second Semester Classes
During his second semester of his first year at Olin, Matthew took a normal course load of 16 credit-hours. His classes included: Modern Biology, Integrated Course Block 2: Math/Physics, and Modeling and Control: Engineering of Distributed Systems, Linear Algebra, and Probability and Statistics. The second semester at Olin begins "normal" evaluations and grades, often leading to significantly higher stress than was experienced in the first semester.
[edit] Modern Biology
Taught by Joanne C. Pratt, Principles of Modern Biology is a required course for all students at Olin. It focuses upon giving students a well-rounded introduction to cellular microbiology both in lecture and in lab. Students complete a major laboratory project, in Joanne's section the project centers around the expression of Green florescent protein and Luciferase in mammalian COS cells.
[edit] Integrated Course Block 2 (Math/Physics) (ICB2)
ICB 2, taught by Professors Burt Tilley and Rebbecca Christianson, integrated Physics Electromagnetism and Waves and Vector Calculus into a single course that taught the two subjects side by side. ICB 2 placed a greater emphasis upon written deliverables than ICB 1, including an emphasis upon professional typesetting using LaTeX. As a whole the ICB 2 experience lacked much of the project component that ICB 1 featured with such great success, however there is much hope that continual improvement will significantly change the second semester ICB again next year.
[edit] MC:EDS
Modeling and Control: Engineering of Distributed Systems is taught by professors Gill Pratt and Brian Storey and focuses upon the interaction of systems that are spatially distributed. This interaction can take the form of thermal energy, PV waves, and EM waves, and can generally be described using second order differential equations. This course applies the concepts of Effort and Flow from MC:ECS into spatially distributed systems.
[edit] Linear Algebra
Linear Algebra is a more traditional college offered, compressed at Olin into half of a semester and taught by Dean of Faculty Michael Moody. Linear Algebra applies matrices for use in solving problems by general methods that can be expanded for n-dimensions of space.
[edit] Probability and Statistics
Probability and Statistics is another traditional course offering that Olin compresses into half of a semester. Probability and Statistics focuses upon exploring the probabilities of events and the statistics of populations. Probability and Statistics is also taught by Dean of Faculty Michael Moody.
[edit] Second Year
During their second year, Olin students for the first time have complete control over their schedule and are open to pursuing whatever classes interest them. Students often begin to focus upon classes that will lead into their major, though this is not required. Second semester of their second year Olin students declare a major. Matthew chose to room with Matthew Crawford in room 310 in West Hall his sophomore year.
[edit] First Semester Classes
[edit] Distributed Engineering Design
Distributed Engineering Design was a half semester class in the middle of the semester taught by Ozgur Eris, focusing upon design as part of a team of engineers spatially distributed around the globe. The class consisted of three parts, a reading phase examining existing materials and research with regards to distributed design, a project phase involving a distributed team, and a reflections phase involving additional readings and writings about the project. The project phase was the largest, consisting of several weeks of work with students at Stanford University near Palo Alto and Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland. The project developed an improved cup holder for coffee shops that would better suit users of the cup holders.
[edit] Principles of Engineering
- Within Olin, additional information on this project is available on Matthew's Server. This information can be made available outside Olin upon request.
Principles of Engineering, taught by Gill Pratt and Brad Minch, is a class that focuses upon the integration of mechanical, electrical and software systems through introductory lab work involving the PIC microcontroller followed by a project of significant mechanical and electrical sophistication. The project is developed in teams of 3 or more students and is required to produce a deliverable product of significant depth to demonstrate significant understanding of both electrical and mechanical systems, as well as their integration into a larger system. Projects undertaken for this class have often been of substantial depth and are often more ambitious than limited time allows.
Matthew undertook the building of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ("UAV") with a team of five other students: Kevin Bretney, Kevin Shilanick, Kent Munson, Ana Karimi, and Paul Mandel. The UAV was designed to target civilian applications, particularly aerial photography for both real-estate development and agricultural surveys. The UAV project is now being carried over as a research project by Matthew, Kevin Bretney, and Kevin Shilanick with the support of Dave Barrett's robotics lab at Olin.
[edit] Materials Science
[edit] Differential Equations
[edit] End of the World as We Know It
[edit] Wikipedia
Matthew has been the initial author (Godfather, if you will) of a number of articles. In particular he is proud of the article on the New Safe Confinement being built at Chernobyl. He feels he has been motivated to be a part of Wikipedia because, in his words, "I believe it is the most powerful source of information available, not just because of its independence and community ownership, but because it is linked. Its amazing how much more you can learn reading an article on Wikipedia where you can follow links to other articles, than you can in a traditional encyclopedia with flat pages."
[edit] Major Contributions
- New Safe Confinement - Recent Ground-up effort
- AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon - First Ground-up article
[edit] Lesser Contributions
- Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering - Some editing, but this is really Nertzy's Baby.
- Dik-dik - I expanded this article after it was linked in an Olin randomness e-mail.
- Xavier Villaurrutia - An article from the hot wanted list.
- Jeffrey Kluger - An article that I expanded somewhat.
[edit] Current Work
I'm currently mostly working on fighting vandalism with vandal proof and vandal fighter. I'm a fan of the rollback & warn functionality of VP, but the RC feed of vandal fighter seems much more intuitive. Both programs could really use some bug fixes though, vandal proof crashes every 15 minutes or so with a 91 error and a number of its features are broken by the 9 error retrieving warnings. Both programs are great starts though, and vandal proof has a lot of great features and concepts, it just needs to be hashed out a little more, then we'll be eating vandals like Clark's engine eats MOSFETs.
I'm also very excited by the IRCMonitor being worked on by the AWB team, it has a great user interface and a lot of potential, but is still unfinished. It has about the functionality level of vandal fighter right now, and may soon supplement my use of that tool, but it still lacks the built in revert and warn tools of vandal proof. We'll see how development goes, but this tool looks very promising.
[edit] The Future
"The question that I believe should be in everyone's mind is not "what will the future hold?", but rather should be "what will I make of the future?". I have no great hope of being famous, nor do I have any need for everyone to speak my name. It is my hope that I will bring about great changes to this world, not for glory from others, but for peace within my own heart. I wish to know that what I have done has brought about change in this world, that all my work is not in vain." --Matthew 01:16, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
