Hi! I am currently a mathematics and computer science instructor at Nantucket High School. I was previously the Science Department Head (2008-2010) and Mathematics Department Head (2014-2017).

In 2017 I was a finalist in the NASA Space Robotics Challenge (Team Whalers).

In 2013-2014 I worked with Lockheed Martin on the DARPA Robotics Challenge (Team TROOPER).

In 2011 I was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate STEM Fellowship in K-12 education and worked with Prof. Ron Eglash and Prof. Mukkai Krishnamoorthy on the Triple Helix project.

Education

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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

• Ph.D. Computer Science, 2014
  • Thesis: A contact model for geometrically accurate treatment of polytopes in simulation (PDF)
  • Advisor: Jeff Trinkle, Ph.D.

Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA

• M.Ed. Curriculum and Teaching, 2018
  • Capstone: An investigation of the conceptual-procedural gap in mathematics
  • Director: Catherine Leahy Brine

University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

• B.S. Computer Systems Engineering, 2006
  • Senior design project: Embedded wireless sensor networks for smart homes

Projects

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Teaching

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Nantucket High School, Nantucket, MA

• Mathematics & Computer Science Instructor Aug. 2014 – present
  • Courses: AP Calculus AB, AP Computer Science Principles, Computer Science 1, Honors Pre Calculus, Digital Electronics, Java Programming, Advanced Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra 1, Algebra 2
  • Project Adviser:
    • An autonomous rover for assisting in search and rescue operations
    • Digital electronics and computer programming
    • A genetic algorithm for trajectory optimizaion of autonomous robots
    • Implementations and improvments to facial recognition in Python
  • My AP Calculus AB students broke school records for high scores in 2017 and 2018.
• Mathematics Department Head Aug. 2014 – June 2017
• Science Department Head Aug. 2008 – June 2010
• Physics & Astronomy Instructor Aug. 2006 – June 2010
  • Courses: Physics, Honors Physics, Astronomy, Global Science, Essentials of Physical Science, Computer Science 1, Algebra 1
  • Project Adviser:
    • Observations of exoplanet transits at the Maria Mitchell Observatory
    • Microprogramming for robotic control
    • Game programming in Java

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

• NSF Graduate STEM Fellow in K-12 Education Aug. 2011 – July 2012
  • Created Culturally Situated Design Tools for the Triple Helix Project
  • Prof.s Ron Eglash and Mukkai Krishnamoorthy
• Teaching Assistant Spring, 2011
  • CSCI 1100 – Computer Science I
  • Prof. Martin Hardwick
• Teaching Assistant Fall, 2010
  • CSCI 1010 – Introduction to Computer Programming
  • Andrew Schoch

Research

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NASA Space Robotics Challenge Oct. 2016 – June 2017

• Captain, Team Whalers

DARPA Robotics Challenge June 2013 – Aug. 2014

• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Member of Team TROOPER
• Supervisor: Jeff Trinkle, Ph.D.

NASA Sample Return Robot Challenge Dec. 2013 – June 2014

• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Member of RPI Rock Raiders

DARPA M3 Research Assistant Aug. 2012 – June 2013

• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Supervisor: Jeff Trinkle, Ph.D.

Visiting Scholar Summer 2012

• University of Freiburg, Germany
• Autonomous Intelligent Systems Lab
• Supervisor: Jeff Trinkle, Ph.D.

Research Assistant May 2008 – June 2010

• Maria Mitchell Observatory
• Observations and analysis of transitting extra solar planets
• Advisors: Vladimir Strelnitski, Ph.D. and Gary Walker

Publications

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Journal Publications

1.

J. Williams, Y. Lu, and J. C. Trinkle. A geometrically exact contact model for polytopes in multirigid-body simulation. J. Comput. Nonlinear Dynam., 12(2), 2016. doi:10.1115/1.4034390

2.

D. M. Flickinger, J. Williams, and J. C. Trinkle. Performance of a method for formulating geometrically exact complementarity constraints in multibody dynamic simulation. J. Comput. Nonlinear Dynam., 10(1), 2014. doi:10.1115/1.4027314

3.

M. Bedell, A. Villaume, L. Weiss, D. Sliski1, V. Strelnitski, G. Walker, J. Williams, A. Henden, and T. Krajci. Monitoring Hα emission and continuum of UXORs: RR Tauri. The Astronomical J., 142(5), November 2011. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/142/5/164

Conference Papers

1.

J. Williams, Y. Lu, and J. C. Trinkle. A complementarity based contact model for geometrically accurate treatment of polytopes in simulation. In 10th International Conference on Multibody Systems, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Control, volume 6, Buffalo, NY, 2014. ASME. doi:10.1115/DETC2014-35231

2.

Y. Lu, J. Williams, J. C. Trinkle, and C. Lacoursire. A framework for problem standardization and algorithm comparison in multibody system. In 10th International Conference on Multibody Systems, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Control, volume 6, Buffalo, NY, 2014. ASME. doi:10.1115/DETC2014-35041

3.

Y. Lu, J. Williams, C. Lacoursire, and J. C. Trinkle. Standard interface for data analysis of solvers in multibody dynamics. In 4th Canadian Conference on Nonlinear Solid Mechanics (CanCNSM), Montreal, QC, Canada, 2013

4.

J. Williams, Y. Lu, S. Niebe, M. Andersen, K. Erleben, and J. C. Trinkle. RPI-MATLAB-Simulator: A Tool for Efficient Research and Practical Teaching in Multibody Dynamics. In J. Bender, J. Dequidt, C. Duriez, and G. Zachmann, editors, Workshop on Virtual Reality Interaction and Physical Simulation. The Eurographics Association, 2013. doi:10.2312/PE.vriphys.vriphys13.071-080

5.

D. M. Flickinger, J. Williams, and J. C. Trinkle. Evaluating the performance of constraint formulations for multibody dynamics simulation. In 9th International Conference on Multibody Systems, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Control, volume 7A, Portland, OR, 2013. ASME. doi:10.1115/DETC2014-35231

6.

D. M. Flickinger, J. Williams, and J. C. Trinkle. What’s wrong with collision detection in multibody dynamics simulation? In Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Karlsruhe, Germany, October 2013. doi:10.1109/ICRA.2013.6630689

Reports

1.

J. Williams, Y. Lu, and J. Trinkle. RPI-MATLAB-Simulator User Guide. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, November 2013

2.

J. Williams, B. Frank, W. Burgard, and J. C. Trinkle. Stochastic characterization of traction on granular terrain. Technical Report 12-06, Department of Computer Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, December 2012

Invited Talks & Presentations

1.

J. Williams. Robotics and education. Science Speaker Series, Maria Mitchell Association, September 2016

2.

J. Williams, Y. Lu, and J. C. Trinkle. A complementarity based contact model for physically accurate treatment of polytopes in simulation. BIRS Workshop on Computational Contact Mechanics: Advances and Frontiers in Modeling Contact, February 2014. URL http://www.birs.ca/events/2014/5-day-workshops/14w5147/videos/

3.

Y. Lu, J. Williams, and J. C. Trinkle. A framework for problem standardization and algorithm comparison in multibody dynamics. BIRS Workshop on Computational Contact Mechanics: Advances and Frontiers in Modeling Contact, February 2014. URL http://www.birs.ca/events/2014/5-day-workshops/14w5147/videos/

4.

J. Williams and J. C. Trinkle. Determining contact and contact response between moving geometries in simulation. In 10th annual New England Manipulation Symposium (NEMS), Columbia University, New York, NY, May 2013

5.

J. Williams, J. Dong, D. M. Flickinger, and J. C. Trinkle. Team TROOPER in the DARPA Robotics Challenge(DRC). Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute CS Poster Session, April 2014

6.

J. Williams and J. C. Trinkle. A stable and geometrically accurate contact model. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute CS Poster Session, April 2014

7.

Y. Lu, J. Williams, and J. C. Trinkle. Team TROOPER in the DARPA Robotics Challenge(DRC). Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute CS Poster Session, April 2014

8.

Y. Lu, J. Williams, C. Lacoursiere, and J. C. Trinkle. Standard interface for solver comparison in multibody dynamics. In 9th annual New England Manipulation Symposium (NEMS), Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, May 2013

9.

J. Williams, Y. Lu, and J. C. Trinkle. Improving multibody dynamics. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute CS Poster Session, March 2013

10.

D. M. Flickinger, J. Williams, and J. C. Trinkle. Evaluating the performance of constraint formulations for multibody dynamics simulation. Portland, Oregon, 2013. ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences (IDETC), 9th International Conference on Multibody Systems, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Control (MSNDC)

11.

D. M. Flickinger, J. Williams, and J. C. Trinkle. Simulation accuracy and computational performance of a rotating slender rod impacting a bed of rocks. Montreal, QB, Canada, 2013. 4th Canadian Conference on Nonlinear Solid Mechanics (CanCNSM)

12.

J. Williams and J. C. Trinkle. Stochastic characterization of traction on granular terrain. DARPA Maximum Mobility and Manipulation (M3) annual PI meeting, July 2012

13.

S. Marshall, J. Williams, T. Mazeh, G. Walker, and V. Strelnitski. Using SysRem as an Alternative Photometry Technique. In C. Sterken, N. Samus, and L. Szabados, editors, Variable Stars, the Galactic halo and Galaxy Formation, February 2010. URL http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010vsgh.conf..221M

14.

J. Williams, M. Davidson, V. Strelnitski, and G. Walker. Improving the Precision of Differential Photometry on a Determined Target Using SysRem. In American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #213, volume 41 of Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, page 193, Jan. 2009. URL http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009AAS...21340214W

15.

J. Williams, G. Walker, and V. Strelnitski. Observations of exoplanets at Maria Mitchell Observatory. 97th meeting of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), October 2008

Honors

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NASA Space Robotics Challenge Finalist 2017
Captain, Team Whalers

DARPA Robotics Challenge Finalist 2014
Member of Lockheed Martin’s Team TROOPER

McKinney Contest Winner 2014
First Prize for Graduate Poetry

NSF GK-12 Teaching Fellowship 2011
Awarded through RPI’s Triple Helix Project, directed by Prof. Ron Eglash

Valuable contribution to Nantucket Public Schools 2010
Awarded by Nantucket School Committee

Valuable contribution to Nantucket Public Schools 2009
Awarded by Nantucket School Committee