Born in Mannheim, Germany, I spent most of my life living abroad, and 
graduated with my german high school diploma in 1980 in Caracas, Venezuela. 
The Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering was earned in 1984 from 
Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. A Master's degree in 
Mechanical Engineering followed in 1986 and was awarded at the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology. I proceeded to enroll in the MIT/Woods Hole 
Oceanographic Institution's Joint Ph.D. program in Mechanical and 
Oceanographic Engineering, and earned my doctorate in 1990. During my research 
phases I was involved in the Deep Submergence Lab at WHOI, and took part in 
both cruises ending with the discovery and exploration of the luxury liner 
TITANIC and the german battleship BISMARCK. The focus of my research work 
was the JASON Jr. and JASON system which are deep diving underwater robots 
used in searches of the TITANIC, BISMARCK, and roman shipwrecks in the 
Mediterranean, with imagery and controls being relayed via satellite to 
several museum sites across the U.S. - a showbiz implementation of 
telepresence.

I am currently employed as a Systems Scientist at the Field Robotics Center 
within the Robotics Institute, and work on several robotics projects.