People

We value diligent effort, with a healthy dose of fun. If you have an interest in our work, we will find a place for you to apply your knowledge and background.

Faculty

Dr. Mario Harper founded the DIRECT lab in 2021. He has experience across a swath of domains including Aritifical Intelligence, Robotics, Power Systems, Financial Technologies, and pretty much everything else. Mario usually wears a beret, which the photo above unfortunately fails to capture.

Contact: mario.harper@usu.edu

Staff

Max Ramsdell has graduated from Utah State with a Masters in Computer Science and continues to support our lab in a staff capacity. Max serves as the Project Manager and primary Platform Developer for the lab’s power electronics and electrified transportation efforts.

interests: Digital Twinning, Embedded Devices, and Platform Development

fun fact: Max makes artisan homemade vinegar in his closet.

contact: max.ramsdell@usu.edu

PhD Students

Isaac Peterson is pursuing a PhD in Electrical Engineering. Isaac focuses on simulation development utilizing IsaacSim/IsaacLab to explore reinforcement learning applied to robots in a simulation environment and bridging the sim-to-real gap. In Isaac’s free time he plays super smash.

interests: reinforcement learning and how it can be applied in research applications.

fun fact: Isaac can unicycle

Contact: isaac.peterson@usu.edu

Master’s Students

Nathan Nelson is completing a Master’s in Data Science and works on Neomorphic computer vision and is a post-hoc technical recruiter.

interests: Neomorphic vision processing, high-speed decision making, and catching bullets with robots.

fun fact: Nate is the best cook (self attributed), second-best Smash Bros player (self attributed), and third-worst programmer in the lab (self attributed).

contact: n.w.nelson@usu.edu

Undergraduate Students

Maggie Michelsen is working on a Bachelors in Computer Engineering. Maggies works on compute-limited spacecraft systems and implementing state-of-the-art algorithms and prediction models.

interests: video games, reading, and tinkering with random electronic devices.

fun fact: served in many roles in USU IEEE’s student branch, including president and conference chair.

contact: maggie.michelsen@usu.edu

Nash Bryce is actively willing a Bachelors in Electricial Engineering. Nash works on the activity intelligence team focusing on collecting data for airplane positions and building tools to parse that data into useable context for LLMs.

interests: automation, embedded systems, horticulture, videogames, and camping.

fun fact: Nash has a mini green house and a dozen different plant species.

contact: A02424834@usu.edu

David Templeton is gunning for a Bachelors in Computer Science and operates as a software engineer in the Activity Intelligence group.

interests: computers, games, religion, and procrastinating.

fun fact: David played the tuba in high school.

contact: Templeton.Templeton@usu.edu

Daxton Broadhead is doing everything he can to get a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering. Daxton works under the activity intelligence group doing software development.

interests: running, skiing, gaming, and shrek

fun fact: The background picture on Daxton’s computer is of Big Chungus