About Me

Hey, I'm Daniel Zhan. Here's a quick summary about me:

  • Johns Hopkins '24: Graduate Certificate in Robotics and Autonomous Systems.
  • Cornell '23: B.S. Computer Science + Engineering Physics.
  • Currently a software engineer at Lockheed Martin.
  • Spending free time playing badminton, weightlifting, and dabbling in software projects.

    • Some stuff I've used or done before:
    Python C++ Java Fortran SQL Git Unix Research Robotics Software Development Computational Modelling Circuit Design and Analysis Machine Learning

    I'm always open to hearing about new challenges and projects! You can reach me at dzhan6 (at) jh (dot) edu.

    This site was last updated 1/13/25.

    Education

    The Johns Hopkins University

    Graduate Certificate, Robotics and Autonomous Systems '24

    Notable coursework: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Reinforcement Learning, Robotics, Algorithms, Game Theory
    Societies: Terradynamics Lab, Badminton Club Team

    Cornell University

    B.S. Computer Science & Engineering Physics '23

    Notable coursework: Machine Learning, Robot Learning, Algorithms, Operating Systems, Computer System Organization, Analytical Mechanics, Electrodynamics, Electronic Circuits, Data Analytics (TA), Mechanics and Heat (TA), Electromagnetism (TA), Waves and Quantum Physics (TA)
    Societies: Badminton Club Team, Cornell Mars Rover, Fuchs Group, Plasma Physics Lab

    Experience


    • Software Engineer @ Lockheed Martin

      Aug 2023 onwards | Moorestown, NJ

      I'm developing new functionality and improvements for the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. For example, I developed server-side functionality to select a default radar search doctrine (which streamlines radar search startup time), created a MATLAB modular testing framework to facilitate testing between different silo-ed companies (which significantly increased the speed at which discrepancies in simulation results were identified), and proactively identified and resolved more than 20 other software defects in the backend calculator space.


    • Software Engineer @ Cornell Mars Rover

      Sept 2020 - Jun 2023 | Ithaca, New York

      The Cornell Mars Rover team builds a rover to compete at the University Rover Competition, where it is judged on its ability to perform tasks comparable to a real life Mars Rover. I primarily worked on the software control components of the robotic arm, which was tasked with various dexterous operations such as picking up rocks or typing on keyboards. I devised a new control scheme based on Inverse Kinematics to drastically speed up completion of basic tasks and make more difficult tasks tractable by mapping the movement of the joystick to the position and orientation of the end effector directly. I also upgraded a lot of the controls software package from ROS 1 to 2 and re-implemented a Forward Kinematics based control scheme.


    • Undergrad Research Assistant @ Seyler Group

      Sept 2022 - May 2023 | Ithaca, NY

      I developed upon 2D and 3D simulations modelling the magnetohydrodynamic flow of ablating plasma. I used Fortran 90 to simulate magnetic fields ablating solid aluminum and manipulating the resulting plasma into a coherent jet. I utilized explicit concurrent programming in the simulation over 32 space cells (over 32 computing cores) with interacting boundaries to reduce simulation runtime from 1 week to 5 hours.


    • Undergrad Research Assistant @ Fuchs Group

      Sept 2021 - May 2023 | Ithaca, NY

      I developed a computational quantum dynamics model of the NV center in Python using the QuTiP library, focusing on quantifying the rate of photoluminescent (PL) transitions. I found that driving the NV center with a resonant magnetic field reduces the PL output of relevant transitions by ~20%. This implies the NV center could be useful as a quantum magnetic field sensor, i.e. we could put the NV center anywhere and simply "look" at it (collect photon output with our eyeballs or other measurement device) to determine if a resonant magnetic field exists there.


    • Physics Lab Technician Intern @ Honeywell

      Jun 2021 - Aug 2021 | Broomfield, Colorado

      I developed a Surface Ion Trap Chip tester to automate testing of Honeywell Quantum's surface electrode traps. This program is written in Python and interfaces with NI measurement chasse to measure said traps' electrical characteristics. It includes a live hardware calibration, capacitance and resistance tests, a histogram plotter to visualize data, and a GUI for less software-savvy users. It reduces testing time by over 90%, personnel needed to test the trap by 100% (wow!), and scales linearly with trap size - which will be important when Honeywell Quantum makes larger and more sophisticated ion traps.


    • Robotic Process Automation Intern @ Merck

      Jun 2020 - Dec 2020 | Kenilworth, New Jersey

      I implemented automation processes using Robotic Process Automation tools and concepts to accelerate the processing of competitor medication documentation by >2000% using Python and the Selenium and Pandas libraries. I also contributed basic scripting work to automate other tedious business tasks and workflows.

    Projects





    • Flappy Bird AI

      I developed an AI learner for Flappy Bird using reinforcement learning in Python with the PyGame library. After several hours of training, the learner achieved a score of over 10,000, a score that is impossible to achieve for the average human.



    • Aphelion Defense

      I served as team lead for a team of ten to develop a mobile video game. The game involves networked multiplayer real-time strategy where multiple players compete against each other to conquer a dynamic solar system. Try the beta version on any iOS device here.



    • County Political Predictor

      I developed a machine learning model to predict the political leaning of every United States county based on demographics information such as median income, age, and education level. The model achieved >85% accuracy as compared to the 2016 presidential election.



    • Quantum Algorithms

      I implemented several quantum algorithms in Python, using IBM's Qiskit to visualize, transpile, and simulate runs on local hardware. Notable among those implemented are Grover's and Shor's algorithms, both of which solve non-trivial problems at a reduced time complexity as compared to the best classical solutions.



    • General Fusion Research Project

      I worked with a partner to provide a technical analysis of General Fusion's thermonuclear fusion reactor design. Some reactor design decisions we focused on were the liquid metal wall and acoustic compression pistons. See the paper here and the presentation here.



    • RISC-V Processor

      I worked with a partner to implement a full five-stage pipelined RISC-V processor in Logisim. It includes a read-only program memory, a register file, an ALU, and RAM. One interesting feature implemented was an LCD screen, enabling the simulated processor to run the game Pong.



    • Michelson Interferometer Project

      I utilized a Michelson Interferometer apparatus to measure the relative distance between two mirrors and quantify the wavelength splitting of the mercury yellow doublet using optical interference phenomena.



    • Mechanical Resonator Project

      I analyzed the oscillation properties of a piezoelectric quartz resonator using circuit-based methods, and fit resulting data to the Butterworth-Van Dyke equivalent circuit.



    • Cornell Badminton Club Site

      I created a homepage for the Cornell Badminton Club and Team, developed in HTML/CSS and Javascript. It displays team members and provides club-wide announcements, including free play times. Check it out here.