Sei's Insight

Just another engineer's weblog

   Feb 17

Resume

SUMMARY

  • Technical specialty: heat transfer, thermal/fluid dynamics, automatic control system, and precision metrology.
  • Strong analytical, design, math, and hands-on experimental skills.

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D. in Aeronautics & Astronautics, June 2009, STANFORD UNIVERSITY, Stanford, CA- Created a systematic approach to solve the LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna)’s stringent thermal problem.

    - Experimentally demonstrated 10 µK/√Hz spectral thermal stability at 10 mHz for the LISA Modular Gravitational Reference Sensor (MGRS) by applying a model predictive control (MPC) algorithm.

    - Developed a temperature sensor that satisfies the LISA’s thermal requirement: 10 µK/√Hz for 0.1 mHz to 1 Hz.

    - Advisors: Prof. Daniel B. DeBra and Prof. Steve Rock

    - Thesis: Microkelvin Thermal Control System for the LISA Mission and Beyond

    - Ph.D. Minor in Mechanical Engineering (depth in Heat Transfer)

  • Master of Science in Aeronautics & Astronautics, December 2003, STANFORD UNIVERSITY, Stanford, CA
  • Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, March 2002, WASEDA UNIVERSITY, Tokyo, Japan

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Research Assistant, LISA project, Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Stanford University (January 2006 – March 2009)

  • Optimized the design of a glass-bead thermistors circuit and measured their spectral noise in the frequency range of interest to LISA, which meets the requirement.
  • Constructed two thermal ground test facilities for MGRS technology development. Coded control programs and data acquisition system using Python, MySQL and Javascript.
  • Experimentally demonstrated 10 µK/√Hz spectral thermal stability at 10 mHz by applying a model predictive control (MPC) algorithm.
  • Analytically derived thermal requirement for the MGRS architecture.
  • Conducted numerical thermal modeling and analysis of the optical cavity using COMSOL and MATLAB. Produced strong results for the NASA AMES-Stanford joint research proposal requiring nanokelvin (1 in a billion) thermal stability and uniformity.
  • Developed and led ultraviolet LED spectral and power stability tests for the LISA charge management system (CMS).

Research Assistant, ST-7 project, Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Stanford University (January 2004 – December 2005)

  • Created and analyzed 3-D mechanical and thermal models of the proof-mass capacitive positioning sensor using MATLAB, COMSOL and SolidWorks.
  • Analyzed the dynamics of the proof-mass capacitive positioning sensor and simulated with MATLAB.
  • Developed VHDL codes for a FPGA chip that controls ST-7 electronic systems.

PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS

2009

  • Sei Higuchi, Ke-Xun Sun, Daniel B. DeBra, Saps Buchman, Robert L Byer, “Design of a highly stable and uniform thermal test facility for MGRS development”, 2009 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 154

2008

  • Sei Higuchi, Daniel E. Clark, Brian Lantz, Daniel B. DeBra, “Thermistor Bridge Performance in the 10-4 to 1 Hz Range And Its Applications in Gravitational Wave Detection Projects”, presented at American Society of Precision Engineering 2008 Annual Meeting, October 19-24, 2008, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
  • Sei Higuchi, Daniel B. DeBra, Ke-Xun Sun, Saps Buchman, Robert L. Byer, “New Design of Thermal Test Facility”, presented at the 7th LISA symposium in Balserona, Spain

2007

  • Sei Higuchi, Daniel B. DeBra, Steve Rock, “Sub-microkelvin Precision Thermal Control System Using Model Predictive Algorithm for Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) Ground Verification Facility”, accepted for presentation at American Society of Precision Engineering (ASPE) 2007 Annual Meeting, October 15-20, 2007, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
  • Ke-Xun Sun, Nick Leindecker, Sei Higuchi, Ashot Markosyan, Roger Route, Saps Buchman, Robert L. Byer, “Development of UV LED based AC Charge Management Systems for Gravitational Wave Detectors”, submitted to 7th Edoardo Almadi Conference on Gravitational Waves, July 8-14, 2007.
  • A. Pettes, R. Melamud, S. Higuchi, K. Goodson, “Impact of Contact Resistances on Dimensional Scaling of Thermoelectric Energy Conversion Devices”, presented at International Conference of Thermoelectrics (ICT2007), June 3-7, 2007, Jeju Island, South Korea

2006

  • Sei Higuchi and Daniel B. DeBra, “High-stability Temperature Control for LISA”, presented at American Society of Precision Engineering 2006 Annual Meeting, October 15-20, 2006, Monterey, CA, U.S.A.
  • Ke-Xun Sun, Graham Allen, Saps Buchman, Robert L. Byer, John W. Conklin, Dan B. DeBra, Dale Gill, Allex Goh, Sei Higuchi, Patrick Lu, Norna A. Robertson, and Aaron J. Swank, “Progress in Developing the Modular Gravitational Reference Sensor”, AIP Conference Proceedings vol. 873, pp.515-521 [PDF]
  • Sei Higuchi and Daniel B. DeBra, “Active Thermal Control Experiments for LISA Ground Verification Testing”, presented at 6th International LISA Symposium, June 19-23, 2006, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, ML, U.S.A., AIP Conference Proceedings vol. 873, pp.194-188 [PDF]
  • Ke-Xun Sun, Sei Higuchi, Robert L. Byer, et al, “Spectral and Power Stability Tests of Deep UV LEDs for AC Charge Management”, presented at 6th International LISA Symposium, June 19-23, 2006, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, ML, U.S.A., AIP Conference Proceedings vol. 873, pp.220-224 [PDF]
  • Ke-Xun Sun, Sei Higuchi, Robert L. Byer, et al, “Test Mass Charging Mitigation Using LED UV Light”, LIGO Science Collaboration for Presentation at LSC March Meeting 2006

2005

  • Sei Higuchi, David S. Lauben, Daniel B. DeBra, et al. “High-stability temperature control for ST-7/LISA Pathfinder gravitational reference sensor ground verification testing”, Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 32:117-124, 2006 [PDF]
  • G Allen, W Bencze, R Byer, A Dang, D Lauben, S Dorlybounxou, J Hanson, S Higuchi, L Ho, G Huffman, F Sabur, K Sun, R Tavernetti, L Rolih, R VanPatten, J Wallace and S Williams, “Calibration and testing of the ST7 capacitive sensor using an optical interferometer with fiber optic input and output”, Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 32:117-124, 2006 [PDF]

ACTIVITIES

Website Developer, Autism Project PTA, San Jose, CA (July 2009 – present)

  • Lead the developer team of four to create a website to enhance

Volunteer & Website Developer, Wings Learning Center, Burlingame, CA (March 2009 – present)

  • Organized the first charity golf tournament at Stanford University Golf Course to support autism education.
  • Develop the new school website to enhance communications.
  • Designated for Honorary Committee of the sixth annual auction dinner celebration.

Mentor, Office of Science Outreach, Stanford University (Summers 2006 – 2008)

Event Stuff, Japanese Technology Professionals Association, Los Altos, CA (December 2003 – December 2008)

  • - Successfully planned and conducted the annual Silicon Valley tours from 2005 – 2008. Hosted more than 100 participants. Led tours to high-tech companies including Apple Computer, and Google Inc.
  • - Learned effective communication skills and leadership skills.

Volunteer tutor for autistic child, San Jose, CA (May 2006 – present)

  • Teach and encourage elementary level math and use of telescope. Assist to develop child’s social skills and motivate the use of verbal communication.
  • Translated official documents including individualized educational program (IEP) and progress assessments for his parents, which helped the child’s school placement.

COMPUTER SKILLS

  • Programming Languages:     Python, C/C++, shell script (bash)
  • Engineering:         MATLAB, COMSOL (FEMLAB), Mathematica, SolidWorks, VHDL, Spice
  • General:         Linux (RHCE), FreeBSD, Max OS, Windows, Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator,
  • Internet Development:     PHP, HTML, CSS, Javascript, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Apache

CERTIFICATIONS

INTERESTS

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