Education
PhD . Aerospace Engineering, TAMU, 1995. Some New Methods for Optimal Control of Constrained Dynamical Systems.
Advised by J.L. Junkins,
who was advised by S. Herrick (recognized as the founder of the field of astrodynamics),
who was advised by A.O. Leuschner (see photo),
who was advised by E.S. Holden (see photo),
who studied astronomy under William Chauvenet (founder of the U.S. Naval Academy).
Also, my Erdos Number is 4: Charles Kam-Tai Chui or Steven George Krantz < Goong Chen < John L. Junkins < John E. Hurtado
MS . Aerospace Engineering, TAMU, 1991. Experiments on Vibration Suppression of a Flexible Planar Grid.
Advised by J.L. Junkins.
I once told a friend my obsession.
“Mine too!” he said in confession.
Years later we did,
on a flexible grid:
perform vibration suppression!
— jeh —
BS . Aerospace Engineering, SDSU, 1988.
National Laboratory Experience
Summer 2013 . Navigation, Guidance, and Control. Member of the Engineering Sciences Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque NM.
Summer 2011 . Water Power Technologies. Member of the Engineering Sciences Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque NM.
1997-2000 Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM: Intelligent Systems, Sensors, and Controls. Senior Member of Technical Staff (1997-1999) Principal Member of Technical Staff (1999-2000).
. Distributed control algorithms for micro-robots (less than 1 cu. in.) and underwater vehicles. Dynamic modeling and parameter identification for a U.S. tire company. Dynamics and controls for an autonomous hovercraft study. Dynamics and controls Navy cranes research. Real-time, optimal guidance strategies for autonomous robotic vehicles. Autonomous navigation methods using distributed robotic systems. Control algorithms for re-configurable hopping land mines.
1995-1997 Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM: Experimental Structural Dynamics. Senior Member of Technical Staff.
. Structural dynamics testing and analysis of armored tractors and trailers, reentry vehicles, wind turbines, and specially designed nonlinear coils for the Laser Interferometer Gravity-Wave Observatory project. Structural dynamics tests on buildings subject to explosive blasts (featured on Discovery Channel and Learning Channel). Damage detection studies of wind turbines using a laser Doppler velocimeter. Constrained foam crush experiments for lay-down weapons model validation studies. System identification and levitation control of a grinding machine with magnetic bearings.
Patents and Awards
1. Patent US 6,408,226 B1, Jun. 18, 2002, “Cooperative System and Method Using Mobile Robots for Testing a Cooperative Search Controller,” R.H. Byrne, J.J. Harrington, S.E. Eskridge, J.E. Hurtado.
2. Patent US 6,577,906 B1, Jun. 10, 2003, “Distributed Optimization System and Method,” J.E. Hurtado, C.R. Dohrmann, and R.D. Robinett III.
3. Patent US 6,687,571, Feb. 3, 2004, “Cooperating Mobile Robots,” R.H. Byrne, J.J. Harrington, S.E. Eskridge, J.E. Hurtado.