New England FIRST delivers student robotics programs in
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island & Vermont
Special Edition • March 2021
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Meet Our New England Innovation Day Panelists
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Register today for our FREE and REMOTE panel discussion on EventBrite.
This is open to anyone who would like to hear from five amazing innovators
who are changing the world of work.
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Moderator
Manisha Rajagahtta
Hologic
Manisha is an alumna of FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Team 1100 where she had a game changing experience and found a passion for helping people in the medical device industry. She attended Drexel University for Biomedical Engineering, specifically concentrating in Biomechanics and Human Performance, which allowed her to bridge the gap between her love for sports and wellness with science and technology. Now, she is pursuing this passion as a Systems Engineer at Hologic, working on Skeletal Health products. Outside of work, you can find Manisha exploring the outdoors, playing a variety of sports, and sharing her passion for STEM Education through FIRST Lego League, FRC and FIRST Global as a mentor, event volunteer and MC.
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Panelist
McKenzie Brunnelle
PTC
McKenzie is an alumna of FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Team 2648 in Oakland, ME. She attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) to study biomedical engineering. After college, she joined PTC as an Application Engineer and now works on the education team. She also volunteers with FIRST as a referee, scorekeeper, or FIRST Technical Advisor Assistant (FTAA) at New England FRC events. McKenzie co-led a session on Chairman’s Award submissions during the 2020 New England University Day.
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Panelist
Dean Schifilliti
BAE Systems
Dean is a FIRST alumni where he was initially introduced to engineering in high school. He attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), where he earned a degree in robotics engineering. While working at the startup Riptide Autonomous Solutions, Dean worked on an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV). After the startup was acquired by BAE Systems, Dean became a member of the BAE’s Engineering Leadership Development Program where he continues his work in the underwater domain. He also serves as the BAE/FIRST Coordinator.
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Panelist
Erik Ahlin
iRobot
Erik Ahlin is a Senior Test Engineer with iRobot, where he focuses on building and testing innovative home robots for use by consumers to vacuum and mop their homes. He has a diverse engineering background designing complex electronics systems with extensive experience working with commercial, medical, aerospace and defense companies. Throughout his career, Erik has worked in many roles from product design engineering to managing small teams of engineers. He has a master’s degree in computer science from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Erik has lengthy history of volunteering with FIRST since 2009 including as a district committee member, judge and judge advisor.
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Panelist
Akshay Rajhans
MathWorks
Dr. Rajhans is a Principal Research Scientist and founding member of the Advanced Research & Technology Office at MathWorks where his work focuses on collaborative research with academia, industry, and government research labs. Previously, at Cummins, Dr. Rajhans worked on development and application engineering of electronic control systems for diesel-engine applications in power plants, coal mines, construction sites, automotive test tracks, retrofitted tanks, railways, and coast guard ships. As an intern at Bosch Research and Technology Center, he developed a model-based approach to non-intrusive load monitoring and received his first U.S. patent along with internship mentors. Dr. Rajhans has a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, where he collaborated with researchers and engineers at Toyota, and an M.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, where he spent several years working at the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing, and Perception (GRASP) Lab.
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New England Strategic Partners |
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