People

Edward Burnell develops GPkit, and is interested in observing engineer’s design processes and mental models to inform software design and motivate new algorithms. In his spare time he hosts potlucks, makes cider, and teaches electronics.

Berk Ozturk is interested in the application of geometric and signomial programming for conceptual design. He seeks to leverage robust SPs in design under uncertainty, and develops GP relaxations to solve mixed integer non-linear problems such as water network design and control. In his free time, he is an avid athlete, and VP of the MIT Cycling Team. He enjoys reading non-fiction, traveling and cooking. He received his B.S. and S.M. in Aerospace Engineering from MIT.

Arthur Brown’s research interests are primarily in clean-sheet design of innovative aircraft concepts, and he is currently working on projects relating to the design and optimization of electric aircraft. In the Computational Aerodynamics Lab at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, Arthur used high-fidelity Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes aerodynamic shape optimization to redesign a series of airliner wings to burn less fuel by flying lower and more slowly. He also worked for a year as an aerodynamicist with Blue Sky Solar Racing, the University of Toronto solar car racing team, and for a summer in the same capacity with U of T’s Human-Powered Vehicle Design Team. In 2015, he became the first ever Canadian student to win the AIAA Aircraft Design Competition, with an entry in the Undergraduate Individual category; he placed second in the same contest in 2016. In his spare time, Arthur is an avid fisherman; he also enjoys long-distance running, basketball, military history, and chess.

Warren Hoburg is an Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, and a member of the Aerospace Computational Design Laboratory, the Center for Computational Engineering, and the Operations Research Center. His research focuses on efficient mathematical methods for designing engineering systems. Professor Hoburg received a BS degree in Aerospace Engineering from MIT, and a PhD in EECS from U.C. Berkeley. He teaches undergraduate courses in Dynamics (16.07) and Flight Vehicle Engineering (16.82). He is a two-time recipient of the AIAA Aeronautics and Astronautics Teaching Award in recognition of outstanding teaching at MIT. From 2013-2014 he worked for Boeing Commercial Airplanes Product Development on software for composite manufacturing processes. From 2010-2013, he was a seasonal member of Yosemite Search and Rescue, and an Operations Leader for the Bay Area Mountain Rescue Unit.

Philippe is a graduate of the Convex Engineering Group, having received his Master’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2016. Although he loves finding global optima, the focus of Philippe’s research was the use of signomial programming for aircraft design optimization. During his time at MIT, he was a recipient of the NASA Aeronautics Fellowship. Philippe currently works as an Optimization Engineer for Hyperloop One, where he is actively and enthusiastically using GPkit, whilst trying (and failing) not to sound too preachy about how awesome geometric programming is. Outside of using powerful optimization techniques, Philippe enjoys rowing, cycling, snowboarding, and petting strangers’ dogs.

Cody Karcher develops methods for utilizing black box analysis tools in the geometric programming framework, bridging the gap between geometric programming and classical multidisciplinary optimization. His background includes work with subsonic transport aircraft, small scale UAVs, and human powered vehicles.

Scott Nill is interested in developing advanced manufacturing as a digital enterprise. Within the CEG, Scott is sponsored by the Boeing Company to create cost models of composite fabrication systems to inform operations, technology development, and conceptual aircraft design.

Michael Burton specializes in geometric programming optimization and systems engineering in the Aerospace Computational Dynamics Laboratory, and is a recipient of both the MIT Presidential and NSF Graduate Research Fellowships.

Martin York’s research focuses on signomial programming for aircraft conceptual design optimization. As a member of the CEG’s D8 team, he is working with Aurora Flight Sciences to perform a sensitivity and scaling analysis of the D8 aircraft concept. Martin is also a cadet in Air Force ROTC and upon completion of his Master’s degree will commission into the Air Force to pursue a career as a pilot.

Ali Saab began his MS in Computations for Design and Optimization at MIT in 2016, and is currently working on Robust Geometric Programming formulations. He received a BE in Mechanical Engineering and a BS in Mathematics from the American University of Beirut (AUB) in 2016. As an undergraduate, he was a member of the Microfluidics lab and worked on designing a surface tension actuated micropump, and used stochastic sampling to design fast algorithms for inverse particle tracking in stochastic flow fields. He was a visiting student in the Aerospace Computational Design Laboratory, and worked with the Uncertainty Quantification Group on implementing a model of the sap exudation in maple trees using MUQ, and inferring the uncertain inputs to that model using MCMC methods.

Priya Pillai completed her MEng degree in Computer Science and Molecular Biology in 2020. She is interested in the potential application of robust GP and SP models to a broader scope of problems and in the design process of creating these models. She enjoys drawing, painting, and reading in her free time. She is currently working in the Sabeti Lab at the Broad as a software engineer.