Javier Novales

Electrical and Computer Engineering
Physics

Mailing Address
Carnegie Mellon University
SMC 4956
Pittsburgh PA, 15213

Tel: (786)282-5103
Email: jnovales@ece.cmu.edu
Resume

Research

-Duffing Oscillator (Fall 2008)

This project involved research into a nonlinear oscillating system in which an inverted pendulum is driven by a pair of electromagnets. My focus in the project was to implement a system for acquiring the angular position and angular velocity of the end of the pendulum. I used strain gauges on the beam and a Wheatstone bridge to acquire a signal proportional to the angular position of the end of the beam. A data acqusition device collected the signal and processed it into a .dat file for MATLAB.

Course Projects

-Dynamic Memory Manager (malloc)

This project involved implementing a dynamic memory manager in C. We were graded on our allocator's throughput and utilization. The data structure I used was a segregated free list that coalesced adjacent free blocks.

-Chess AI

This was the final project for a data structures and algorithms course. It involved implementing chess algorithms and then optimizing those algorithms to beat other chess bots. The assignment allowed students and professor's bots to play each other and thus making the project highly competitive.

-Basic Processor Organization

This project involved understanding the underlying structure of a Verilog written basic processor. The processor was run on a simulator to benchmark its performance. The task was to add a new instruction, and that involved describing new hardware, adding new microinstructions, and manipulating the finite sate machine.

Teaching

-Physics I TAA

I was a Teaching assistant's assistant for a physics I course at Carnegie Mellon University. My duties were to attend two recitations a week in which students were allowed to raise questions and work out problems from that week's lecture, and also to hold office hours for 2 hours twice a week. The course covered classical mechanics, thermodynamics, and quantum mechanics at a basic level.