Andre Ruas

Andre Ruas has a wealth of experience in robotics and software engineering. From 2019 to present, they have been a Robotics Software Engineer at Neya Systems LLC. In 2018, they were a M.S. Robotics Thesis Project at Service Robotics & Technologies, where they adapted and improved popular SLAM package RTAB-Map to create dense 3D maps of large industrial buildings using multiple LiDAR and RGB-D cameras. Andre also deployed and evaluated SLAM improvements using Clearpath Jackal autonomous robot in simulation (Gazebo) and on actual hardware. In the same year, they were a Robotics Software Engineering Intern at Neya Systems LLC, where they trained, tuned, and evaluated a convolutional neural network for a novel semantic segmentation task on an autonomous platform. In 2017, they were a Senior Design Capstone Project at Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. and a National Science Foundation REU Scholar at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where they used ROS and C++ to improve the performance of an algorithm used for autonomous mobile robots. In 2016, they were a National Science Foundation REU Scholar at the Dynamic Robotics Lab at Oregon State University, where they developed a prototype hydraulic ankle actuation system for the lab's new robot Cassie. In 2015, they were an Undergraduate Student Researcher at the JHU Flow Physics and Computation Lab, where they investigated how to best harvest wind energy with piezoelectric membranes.

Andre Ruas began their educational journey in 2010 when they attended Tampa Preparatory School and graduated in 2014 with a High School degree in a STEM field. Andre then went on to attend The Johns Hopkins University, where they received a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2018. Andre continued their studies at The Johns Hopkins University and obtained a Master of Engineering - MEng in Robotics in 2019. In 2020, they obtained a Remote Pilot with a Small Unmanned Aircraft System rating from the Federal Aviation Administration.