Stephen Brawner, a Computer Science PhD student at Brown University working with Chad Jenkins is currently researching areas related to robotics, electromechanical engineering design and a broad host of other interests. His current direction is to design tools to make the process of designing robot hardware and software faster and more iterative.

His own robot design experience comes from his time working at eSolar, Inc. to design a patent-pending heliostat cleaning system that would allow two operators to clean 12,000 mirrors nightly. The system utilized several cleaning vehicles that could individually and autonomously clean 210 mirrors before an operator would need to refill and reposition the vehicles. This allowed eSolar's demonstration plant to maintain the cleaning of a mirror to 95% of its full reflectivity.

His education at Harvey Mudd College prepared him for responsibilities in a great variety of industries and flexibility among diverse positions. Though he received a degree in general engineering, he concentrated in electronics. He studied electronics and digital design, microprocessor and FPGA programming as well as VLSI design. In this last course he participated in a project to design a full MIPS processor by leading a team to design the on-chip memory unit. Another significant portion of his studies consisted of controls engineering, which he finds useful in a broad array of projects.

With an eager appetite toward cutting edge projects and problems requiring creative solutions, Stephen is currently studying toward a Ph.D in Computer Science at Brown University with a specialization in Robotics. He is eagerly seeking internships or consulting positions to bring more industry relevancy to his research directions.