I was born in Los Angeles in 1985 and grew up in California. I lived most of my younger years in the suburban city of Chino with my parents and older brother.
I went on to study as an undergraduate at The University of California, Irvine, and I spent a summer studying analytic philosophy and the history of art at King’s College in The University of Cambridge. After earning my Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy in 2007, I spent a few years working and deciding on a long-term career path. I eventually developed an interest in becoming a mechanical engineer and decided to begin training by taking classes on fundamental science and advanced math at a community college. Despite my early struggles to understand the material, successfully passing the classes motivated me to continue studying at California State University, Northridge.
I was encouraged by my former graduate advisor, Dr. George Youssef, to pursue research related to control systems and mechanical design. We conducted experiments with human participants to collect biomechanical data that would be used to mathematically model human legs during walking. Based on the experimental results, I completed a thesis and graduated with a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 2013.
I spent a few more years working in industry before deciding to return to engineering research. I was admitted as a doctoral candidate to The University of Tokyo, where I conducted automotive engineering experiments under the guidance Dr. Kimihiko Nakano. I wrote a dissertation on inclusive steering assistance that enabled persons with upper limb disabilities to steer autonomous automobiles using arm muscle signals. Despite the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to the challenges of being a graduate student, my PhD in Mechanical Engineering was conferred in 2020.
The next couple of years were committed to working as a senior researcher in Artificial Intelligence at Corpy & Co., Inc. in Tokyo. In 2022, moved on to found an software development business, Azukipan IT Solutions, in Japan. In the meantime, I have completed two years as postdoctoral researcher at Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea from 2022 to 2024. From 2023 to 2024, I conducted research as a Brain Pool Fellow at Sungkyunkwan University with a focus on developing AI for automated driving.
I am currently developing web and mobile applications as the CEO of Azukipan IT Solutions LLC in the United States with a business division in Japan.