I build machines that think before they act.
Imagine this: a truck tire flies toward you while driving on the highway. Do you brake, accelerate, or swerve?
My day job is designing and deploying the brain that anticipates what could happen and plans a safe, smooth trajectory.
Keep reading to see how I got here, and what I like to do when I'm not on the job.
My journey: six cities along one trajectory.
I plan trajectories for a living, so it should come as no surprise that I've planned my own.
The route so far: born & raised in the heart of Texas, drifted steadily northeast to Boston, and washed up south of Stockholm.
Austin 1994–2013
Where I grew up: out in the Texas suburbs, cutting my teeth on the basics of engineering and nurturing a love for jazz improvisation on the trumpet & bass.
Dallas 2013–2017 · 2018–2022
Where I learned the theory of decision-making: a bachelor's in mechanical engineering, then a PhD focused on control theory and reinforcement learning.
Fort Worth 2017–2018
My first real engineering job: analyzing the structural load-handling of high-performance metallic aerospace parts.
Boston 2022–2024
Zoox, and the unglamorous art of autonomy evaluation: turning “yeah, that drive felt fine” into a number you can actually argue about and optimize against.
Södertälje 2024–2025
Scania, on its home turf: I landed in Sweden and hit the ground running making a mining truck drive itself.
Stockholm 2025–present Home
Scania, from Sweden's capital: digging deep into search trees, trajectory optimization, and the tooling that tells you whether a motion planner is genuinely good or just got lucky.
A humble catchy melody, currently in residence.
I'm on a never-ending search for fresh music. My taste never picked a lane - orchestral and jazz in one ear, indie and electronic in the other. Vulfpeck convinced me that the pocket is a moral virtue, and Koan Sound convinced me that a sub-bass can have a personality.
Funk-pop
Folk-soul
Jazz
Classical
On the page.
There's almost always a book open somewhere in my apartment. I usually reach for science fiction and the kind of non-fiction that ruins dinner conversation.
Science fiction
Far futures, first contact, and thinking machines.
Non-fiction
Political history and the long, stubborn struggle for justice and equality.
Closer to the day job
The occasional book that reads suspiciously like my job description: randomness, uncertainty, and machines being handed the decision.
Planning in miniature, for fun.
For me, chilling means scratching the builder's itch - to create an elegant system and watch it run - on the gaming screen, at my own pace. Whether it's laying out cities, sending Kerbals into orbit, untangling subway lines, or chasing a clean racing line through the hills.
Other assorted interests.
Typography
I'm a sucker for good typography: the impact and personality a few well-designed letterforms can impart.
Svenska
I'm slowly learning Swedish, one new word at a time. A little structure and some news in easy Swedish help bridge the gap to everyday life.
History
Getting a grasp on the slow arc of humanity.
Cities, coffee, and the serious business of fika.
A big slice of my life is organized around cafés. Sweden introduced me to fika — coffee and a pastry, observed with the reverence of a daily standup — and I took to it immediately. I'll happily travel for a good cup and bun, and it gives me a great reason to explore new places all over the world. My usual mode is a short flight, following the rail line, and walking with a curious eye, noticing how the streets and architecture fit together.
The map and table below show the places I've visited. Select a place and both views follow.