My first motivation to understand Multi-Disciplinary Optimization came from the frustration of ineffective team work. I hated being in inefficient groups where work was spread unevenly and team members didn't have any idea what any of the other team members were doing. I wanted (and still want) to figure out the best way for teams to work effectively together on big, involved projects. Then, when I was selected as a member of the Boeing AerosPACE program, I learned that there is a whole discipline of systems engineering which focuses on making sure all the parts of a system work together correctly. Usually it's in the context of aerospace, but it can be applied to anything, including group dynamics. My main research focus right now is with the BESD lab UAV group. I'm excited to be able to develop a tool to help policy makers move forward with informed decisions about policies dealing with UAV airspace.
