I was born in Varna, Bulgaria. In my late childhood i moved to New York City with my parents. I went to Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan and then to Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. After graduating, I moved to Los Angeles to work at JPL.

Cornell University:
Master of Engineering 2008
Bachelor of Science 2007
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Numenta - summer 2007
software engineer: machine learning algorithms

NYU Media Lab - summer 2005
research assistant: computer graphics

computer vision, machine learning, artificial intelligence, signal processing

I work on developing and implementing Hazard Detection algorithms, processing lidar data, and field testing for the Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Project and for Mars 2018. I also work on human/pose recognition using stereo data for robot human awareness. Additionally, I do lunar terrain characterization for future missions to the Moon.

• NASA Group Achievement Award for field-testing on the ALHAT Project
• JPL Mariner Award for outstanding contributions to Mobility and Robotics Systems Section
• IEEE Aerospace Conference 2010 Best Paper Award