Sam is a Software Systems Engineer, Data Scientist, and Project Manager at JPL where he serves on a number of projects ranging from investigating the biodiversity of the US West Coast, to developing AR/VR capabilities to help engineers visualize spacecraft collaboratively, to organizing workshops and conferences to bring data scientists and physical scientists together, to building university partnerships on cutting-edge robotics platforms.Sam is a partner and the chief engineer of Vocal Power-House Systems LLC. He has led development of the Vocal Power-House System since its origin beginning on a starbucks napkin to its now fully functioning and manufactured state. Vocal Power-House Systems LLC now holds three patents of Sam's work. Sam holds his master’s degree in Computer Science from Michigan State University where he specialized in data analytics and its applications in pattern recognition and computer vision. Throughout college he had completed five technical internships where he acquired 4 years of web development experience and one in augmented reality. While at university he had developed a multitude of projects at hackathons ranging from virtual reality to embedded systems. Sam has been involved in multiple start-ups where his titles have ranged from intern, to lead developer, to chief information officer, to chief engineer, and to partner. At university Sam served as a graduate teaching assistant in web development, in computing concepts and competencies, and as an engineering peer leader. Sam conducted research under Oleg Komogortsev developing a tertiary eye movement classification algorithm and the first virtual reality eye tracking biometric authentication system. In his free time, Sam is a political organizer focusing on climate, environment, education, and labor. Sam serves as the State Outreach Director of the California Democratic Party's Environmental Caucus, an elected delegate of the California Democratic Party, the Co-Chair of PASADENA 100, the VP of Legislation and Policy at the Democrats of Pasadena Foothills, as an At-Large Board Member of Pasadena Young Democrats, and as a workplace organizer.
Listed skills include Python, C++, Programming, Team Leadership, and 20 others.