People

Artur Wolek is an Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science Department at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Wolek received the B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2010 and 2015. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Maryland (2018-2020), a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Acoustics Division at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (2015-2018), and an Adjunct Lecturer in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at Catholic University (2017-2018). Wolek has authored more than 35 peer-reviewed publications. His research interests are in the area of adaptive sampling with mobile sensor networks, optimal robot motion planning and control, and marine and aerial robotics. Wolek’s research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Wolek is a member of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Collin received the B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University (NCSU) in 2019 and the M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from UNC Charlotte in 2023. He has experience in data analytics and machine learning through undergraduate research at NCSU, several internships (Syntelli Solutions, NASA Langley), and through an industry position as a Full Stack Software Developer at Pratt and Miller Engineering. In the ARSL, Collin is working on automated data collection with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) considering sensing performance and constraints.

Nicholas received the B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from UNC Charlotte in 2020 and the M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from UNC Charlotte in 2023. He has previous experience working with American Airlines as a A320 Fleet Engineer and with US Army Special Operations Command Unmanned Aerial Systems. For his senior design project, Nicholas helped develop a model of a flexure system from first principles using Lagrangian mechanics. In the ARSL, Nicholas is working on designing algorithms to enable wind field estimation and wind-aware path planning and control for autonomous quadrotors operating in urban environments.

Alex received the B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Mathematics from UNC Charlotte in 2023. As a senior, he worked on a NAVAIR-sponsored senior capstone project to redesign a landing sensor for the WQ-8C Fire Scout autonomous air vehicle. In the ARSL, Alex is working towards evaluating the capabilities of a sonar-equipped unmanned marine craft to efficiently survey bathymetry in inland water bodies that impact transportation infrastructure.

Dillon Freer

Cedric is a junior B.S. in Mechanical Engineering student at UNC Charlotte. He is a current member of the 49er Rocketry and Projectile Society and the AIAA UNC Charlotte Chapter, as well as the president of the Residential Living Council on campus. In the ARSL, Cedric is working on integrating a network of low-cost anemometers mounted throughout a quadrotor UAV airframe to predict wind velocity in the presence of wind-body and rotor interactions using machine learning algorithms.

Dillon is a junior B.S. in Mechanical Engineering student at UNC Charlotte minoring in Mathematics and Geology. He is a the Secretary for the AIAA UNC Charlotte Student Chapter, GNC Lead for the NASA L’SPACE virtual acadey program, and recently completed a manufacturing internship at Flowserve. In the ARSL, Dillon is working on instrumenting an unmanned surface vessel with a water quality sensor capable of measuring algae, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and conductivity/temperature for environmental monitoring applications.

Matt is a junior B.S. in Mechanical Engineering student at UNC Charlotte minoring in Mathematics and Computer Science. He recently completed an internship with Crosstown Heating and Cooling working on HVAC systems and previously participated in the STEM TANK competition to design an autonomous, contactless food distribution system using Arduino sensors and 3D printed components. In the ARSL, Matt is working with the Jackal unmanned ground vehicle to develop a high-speed obstacle avoidance system using multi-modal sensors.

Kyle is a junior B.S. in Mechanical Engineering student at UNC Charlotte, an Albert Engineering Leadership Scholar, and a member of the University Honors Program. He is the current president of the AIAA UNC Charlotte Student Chapter and founder of the Design-Build-Fly team on campus. He is also an Eagle Scout with extensive leadership and service experience.  In the ARSL, Kyle is working on developing an indoor wind-field mapping and avoidance algorithm using a Crazyflie swarm testbed and assisting with outdoor flight experiments.