Thomas Huckell

Certified Paddle Canada Sea kayak instructor, taught a range of paddling courses in sea kayaking and paddle boarding to build competence, confidence, and safety on coastal waters. I worked with a team of guides to lead diverse groups of clienteles through Say Nuth Khaw Yum provincial park sharing information on the region’s history and wildlife that inhabit the rich marine environment. Instructed kids camps were I taught the basics of kayaking and paddle boarding with a focus on instilling appreciation of the outdoors, exploration, and environmental stewardship while having fun.

As Robotics Hardware Developer I was responsible for the design and integration of the electrical and mechanical systems of Cruz, an autonomous single person transport to assist individuals with mobility challenges traverse airport terminals. Role and Responsibility: -Managed the hardware team build and deliver 3 Cruz Pods for a trial at YVR Airport. -Designed a steel chassis to integrate the drive system, external shell and sensors. This design was iterated upon and validated using static loading simulations using Finite Element Analysis. -Designed the Pods plastic external shell. After finishing the design I coordinated with overseas manufacturers to achieve desired tolerance, finish and light diffusion. -Designed, sourced and fabricated the electrical power distribution as well as the Communication networks (CAN,Ethernet,USB,I2C). -Fabricated custom components using 3D printers, water jet cutter, CNC, and press brake.

Ingenuity Labs is an interdisciplinary research group with a focus on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Human Machine Interaction to create future intelligent systems and robotic machines that enhance human productivity, safety, performance, and quality of life. My research is focused on the modeling and control of legged robots.

During my Masters of Applied Science degree I was a teaching assistant for the various mechatronics courses offered by the mechanical engineering department. These courses covered theory of RLC circuits, programming microcontrollers, circuit design, motor control, signal measurement, and data analysis. My duties as a teaching assistant included teaching tutorial sessions, running the lab sessions, and marking. The specific courses I taught were: MECH 210: Electronic Circuits and Motors for Mechatronics MECH 217: Measurement for Mechatronics MECH 310: Digital Systems for Mechatronics

Queen’s Mostly Autonomous Sailboat Team (QMAST) is a student design team that designs and builds autonomous sailboats to compete at the International Robotic Sailboat Regatta. As mechanical engineering manager I oversaw a team of 10+ engineers who were responsible for the mechanical systems and construction of the sailboat. Fabricated custom molds to construct hull, keel, and rudder from carbon fiber and fiberglass. Utilized rapid prototyping tools such as 3D printers and laser cutters to create housings and mounts for electrical systems.

EngLinks is the academic support service of the Engineering Society of Queen’s University. I worked as tutor providing one-on-one support for engineering students.

Conducted research in bipedal locomotion and legged robotics. Developed a unified reduced order model for standing balance that utilizes all available balancing strategies. Designed a model predictive controller (MPC) based on the proposed model as balance controller for a simple one legged robot. The controller was validated through push recovery simulations using proposed MPC using unified model and MPC's that utilized existing models.

First Class Honours