John Scott Parker Email & Phone Number

Cambridge, Ma

Medford, Ma

I am currently developing a novel system to measure the relative positions of aircraft flying in formation. This system uses cutting-edge terahertz-frequency technology to provide stealth and robustness to jamming in GPS-denied environments. The work has been well received at conferences, and I recently received a Student Paper Award from the Institute of Navigation for one of my papers and the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Research Award from Tufts for excellence in research. As a senior member of the lab, I regularly mentor new students, and I recently served as the organizer and facilitator of our weekly lab group meetings.

After completing an intensive seminar series as part of the prestigious GIFT program, I worked with two teaching mentors to design and deliver multiple interactive lessons and homework assignments to an undergraduate dynamics class. Utilizing techniques based in education research, I engaged students in a design problem that required them to think creatively. A number of students highlighted these lessons and assignments in their end of course evaluations, including “the orbital GPS homework and double armed SCARA trajectory design homework were especially good assignments in my opinion,” and “keep a Teaching Fellow like Scott on hand. He was incredibly helpful.”

Medford, Ma

My co-president and I significantly increased the number of active members during our tenure. We established a number of traditions including the annual Welcome Bash to connect new and current graduate students and a monthly workshop series to inform students about resources and help them with research and job search skills. In addition, we successfully advocated for important changes to the qualifying exam process and office allocation within the department. As a result, the group was named the Tufts University Outstanding Graduate Student Organization in 2015.

Medford, Ma

In addition to the typical TA responsibilities of grading homework and holding office hours, I helped facilitate weekly hands-on labs, setting up apparatus, problem-solving hardware issues, and helping students understand the material. I also prepared a number of video and written tools for students to demonstrate concepts and extensions of the material covered in class.

Brookline, Ma

As a mid-year project, I assigned students the task of investigating the chemical properties of a medication of their choosing and then presenting their findings, both in a slideshow and a website of their design. Most students chose medications with a personal connection, showing them how chemistry affects their everyday lives

Canton, Ma

I tutored and mentored a wide range of students in middle and high school, focusing specifically on study skills and how to approach material that they have difficulty understanding.

Marshfield, Ma

Throughout the year, I gave students multiple opportunities to use their creativity and to apply physics concepts from class to hands-on engineering design problems, including the construction of trebuchets and mousetrap cars. At the end of the year, I then oversaw a number of student-directed projects, including the assembly of a small hovercraft and a Ping-pong ball cannon

Boston, Ma

I placed more than 100 homeless clients into permanent sustainable housing and assisted many more with their housing search – filling out applications, connecting them to services, and acting as a liaison and advocate at meetings with housing agencies. In addition, I coordinated regular meetings with the Boston Housing Authority, the largest local provider of subsidized housing, to advocate both for client rights and systemic change.

Boston, Ma

Under the leadership of my co-program manager and I, SFR was named the most successful student food salvage program in the U.S. for academic year 2005-06 by the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness. We supervised over 100 student volunteers redistributing nearly 300,000 lbs of food annually in the Boston area. This included over a dozen weekly food runs from local restaurants to shelters, weekly volunteering with a local food pantry distributing food baskets and serving dinners, annual turkey distributions for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and a number of one-time events.

Boston, Ma

My co-manager and I planned and coordinated 12 student-run, weeklong community service-based spring break trips to sites across the eastern United States for more than 160 students and staff. Through a concerted effort to increase the visibility of the program and recruit volunteers, we significantly increased interest in service-based spring break trips and set the stage for a near doubling of the program the following year.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd), Mechanical Engineering

Activities and Societies: Co-President of the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student Organization (MEGSO), Member of the School.

Master'S Degree, Mechanical Engineering

Thesis title - Terahertz-Based Relative Positioning of Aircraft Flying in Formation

Bachelor'S Degree, Physics

Activities and Societies: Program Manager for Student Food Rescue, Program Manager for Alternative Spring BreaksMinor in Environmental.

Education record