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Jedediyah Williams

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).

I earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where I worked with Prof. Jeff Trinkle in the CS Robotics Lab.

In 2016-2017 I was a finalist in the NASA Space Robotics Challenge (Team Whalers).

From 2013 through 2014 I worked with Lockheed Martin on the DARPA Robotics Challenge.

I was awarded a National Science Foundation GK-12 Fellowship in 2011, and worked with Prof. Ron Eglash and Prof. Mukkai Krishnamoorthy on the Triple Helix project.
In summer 2012, I was a visiting scholar at the Autonomous Intelligent Systems Lab, University Freiburg, where I worked on stochastic characterization and modeling of traction on granular terrain for mobile robots.
Research Interests:
   Multibody dynamics and simulation
   Collision detection and contact determination
   Robotic manipulation and grasping
   Transit analysis and discovery techniques of extrasolar planets
   Effective use of technologies in the classroom

EDUCATION
  • Ph.D. Computer Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2014.
  • B.S. Computer Systems Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2006.

RESEARCH
• NASA SRC - NASA Space Robotics Challenge (SRC), Fall 2016 - Spring 2017
• Research Assistant - Lockheed Martin, DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC), Spring 2013 - Summer 2014
• Research Assistant - DARPA Maximum Mobility and Manipulation (M3), Fall 2012 - Spring 2013.
• Visiting Scholar - Autonomous Intelligent Systems Lab, University Freiburg, Germany, Summer 2012.
• GK-12 Fellow - Awarded National Science Foundation GK-12 fellowship, Summer 2011 - Spring 2012.
• Researcher - Maria Mitchell Observatory, Spring 2008 - Spring 2010.

Projects
DARPA Robotics
Challenge		 RPI-MATLAB-Simulator NASA / WPI Sample Return
Challenge		 Simulation data standard
Stochastic characterization
of traction on granular terrain		 Observations and modeling
of extra-solar planets


TEACHING
• Mathematics Teacher - Nantucket High School, Fall 2014 - Present
• Mathematics Department Head - Nantucket High School, Fall 2014 - Present
• Computer Science Teacher - Nantucket High School, Fall 2014 - Present
• NSF GK-12 Graduate Fellow - Albany Public Schools, Spring 2011 - Spring 2012
• Graduate Teaching Assistant - CSCI-1100 - Computer Science I, with Prof. Martin Hardwick - Spring 2011.
• Graduate Teaching Assistant - CSCI-1010 - Introduction to Computer Programming, with Andrew Schoch - Fall 2010.
• Physics Teacher - Nantucket High School, Fall 2006 - Spring 2010.
• Science Department Head - Nantucket High School, Fall 2008 - Spring 2010.


PUBLICATIONS:
2016
J. Williams, Y. Lu, and J.C. Trinkle. A Geometrically Accurate Contact Model for Polytopes in Multirigid-Bod Simulation. Journal of Computational and Nonlinear Dynamics 12 (2), 2016.
2015
D.M. Flickinger, J. Williams, and J.C. Trinkle. Performance of a Method for Formulating Geometrically Exact Complementarity Constraints in Multibody Dynamic Simulation. Journal of Computational and Nonlinear Dynamics 10 (1), 2015.
2014
J. Williams. A contact model for geometrically accurate treatment of polytopes in simulation. Ph.D. thesis. Department of Computer Science, RPI, 2014.

J. Williams, Y. Lu, and J.C. Trinkle. A complementarity based contact model for geometrically accurate treatment of polytopes in simulation. ASME International Design & Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers & Information in Engineering (IDETC/CIE) 2014.

Y. Lu, J. Williams, C. Lacoursiere, and J.C. Trinkle. A framework for problem standardization and algorithm comparison in multibody dynamics. ASME International Design & Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers & Information in Engineering (IDETC/CIE) 2014.

J.Williams, Y.Lu, J.C. Trinkle. A complementarity based contact model for accurate treatment of polytopes in simulation. Invited talk at BIRS workshop on Computational Contact Mechanics: Advances and Frontiers in Modeling Contact, February 20, 2014.

Y.Lu, J.Williams, J.C. Trinkle. A framework for problem standardization and algorithm comparison in multibody dynamics. Invited talk at BIRS workshop on Computational Contact Mechanics: Advances and Frontiers in Modeling Contact, February 20, 2014.
2013
J. Williams, Y. Lu, S. Niebe, M. Andersen, K. Erleben, J.C. Trinkle. RPI-MATLAB-Simulator: A tool for efficient research and practical teaching in multibody dynamics. Workshop on Virtual Reality Interaction and Physical Simulation (VRIPHYS), 2013.

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

D.M. Flickinger, J. Williams and J.C. Trinkle. Evaluating the performance of constraint formulations for multibody dynamics simulation. ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (IDETC/CIEC), 2013.

D.M. Flickinger, J. Williams and J.C. Trinkle. What's wrong with collision detection in multibody dynamics simulation? IEEE Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2013.
2012
J. Williams, B. Frank, W. Burgard, J.C. Trinkle. Stochastic characterization of traction on granular terrain. Technical Report 12-06, Department of Computer Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. December, 2012.
2011
M. Bedell, A. Villaume, L. Weiss, D. Sliski, V. Strelnitski, G. Walker, J. Williams, A. Henden, and T. Krajci. Monitoring Hα emission and continuum of UXORs: RR Tauri. The Astronomical Journal 142 (5), 2011.


PRESENTATIONS and REPORTS:
2016
J. Williams. Robotics and Education. Science Speaker Series, Maria Mitchell Association. Nantucket, MA. September 7, 2016
2014
J. Williams, Jun Dong, D.M. Flickinger, J.C. Trinkle. Team TROOPER in the Darpa Robotics Challenge (DRC). Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute CS poster session. April 4, 2014

J. Williams, J.C. Trinkle. A stable and geometrically accurate contact model. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute CS poster session. April 4, 2014

Y. Lu, J. Williams, J.C. Trinkle. Using different simulation algorithms to predict physical experiments. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute CS poster session. April 4, 2014
2013
Y. Lu, J. Williams, J.C. Trinkle. Standard interface for solver comparison in multibody dynamics. 9th annual New England Manipulation Symposium (NEMS) hosted by Harvard. May, 2013

J. Williams, Y. Lu, J.C. Trinkle. Improving multibody dynamics. RPI Copmuter Science poster session. March, 2013.

D.M. Flickinger, J. Williams, J.C. Trinkle. Evaluating the Performance of Constraint Formulations for Multibody Dynamics Simulation. ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences (IDETC), 9th International Conference on Multibody Systems, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Control (MSNDC), Portland, Oregon, 2013.

D.M. Flickinger, J. Williams, J.C. Trinkle. Simulation Accuracy and Computational Performance of a Rotating Slender Rod Impacting a Bed of Rocks. 4th Canadian Conference on Nonlinear Solid Mechanics (CanCNSM), Montreal, Canada, 2013.

D.M. Flickinger, J. Williams, J.C. Trinkle. What's Wrong with Collision Detection in Multibody Dynamics Simulation? IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Karlsruhe, Germany, 2013.
2012
Stochastic characterization of traction on granular terrain. DARPA Maximum Mobility and Manipulation (M3) annual PI meeting, Philadelphia, PA, July, 2012.

Y. Lu, J. Williams, D.M. Flickinger, J.C. Trinkle. High performance multibody dynamic simulation for robot traction characterization. 8th annual New England Manipulation Symposium (NEMS) hosted by iRobot. May, 2012
2011
A. Villaume, M. Bedell, V. Strelnitski, G. Walker, J. Williams, A. Henden, T. Krajci. Monitoring Hα emission and Continuum in RR Tauri with Narrowband Filters. American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #340.27; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
2010
S. Marshall, J. Williams, T. Mazeh, G. Walker, V. Strelnitski. Using Sys-Rem as an alternative photometry technique. 215th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), Washington D.C. January, 2010. A talk was also given in Oct 2009 by Vladimir Strelnitski Ph.D. at B.V. Kukarkin Centenary Conference, Zvenigorod, Russia.
2009
J. Williams, M. Davidson, G. Walker, V. Strelnitski. Improving the precision of differential photometry on a determined target using SysRem. 213th meeting of (AAS) Long Beach, CA. January, 2009.
2008
J. Williams, G. Walker, V. Strelnitski. Observations of exoplanets at Maria Mitchell Observatory. 97th meeting of the American Association of Variable Star observers (AAVSO), Nantucket, MA, October, 2008.



HONORS
  • Finalist in the NASA Space Robotics Challenge (Captain, Team Whalers).
  • Awarded the 2014 McKinney Contest 1st prize for graduate poetry.
  • Honored for "valuable contribution to the Nantucket Public Schools" by the Nantucket School Committee (2010).
  • Honored for "valuable contribution to the Nantucket Public Schools" by the Nantucket School Committee (2009).
  • Distinguished as "Microcontroller Master" in Computer Systems at Umass (2005). This playful title was given annually for best (most efficient) PIC implementation of a challenge algorithm.