The Team Leads

Sebastian Meza

Email: sdm233@cornell.edu

Year: 2024

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Hometown: New York City, NY

Amelia Kovacs

Email: ajk296@cornell.edu

Year: 2024

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Groton, MA

Hardware Sub-Team

The Hardware sub-team designs and manufactures the boat’s electromechanical system. This involves doing CAD and ECAD, running simulations, machining, working with composites, working with power tools, soldering and assembling electrical components, among other technical skills. Members of the hardware team gain a lot of valuable hands-on experience, while also being able to apply concepts learned in class to their work during the design process.

 
Subteam Lead

Slava Koblov

Email: sk3328@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

Subteam Lead

Ben Melcher

Email: brm99@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Hometown: Ithaca, NY

Manufacturing Lead

Hunter Capner

Email: hvc6@cornell.edu

Year: 2024

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Hometown: Mount Ephraim, NJ

Audrey Sackey

Email: aas332@cornell.edu

Year: 2024

Major: ECE

Hometown: Greensboro, NC

Benjamin Malekan

Email: bm529@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: Mechanical Engineering 

Hometown: Long Island, NY

Zi Liang

Email: zl348@cornell.edu

Year: 2024

Major: ECE

Hometown: New York, NY

Grace Tang

Email: gjt29@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: Electrical Engineering

Hometown: Gaithersburg, MD

Henry Geller

Email: hng8@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: ECE

Hometown: Baltimore, MD

Michelle Yu

Email: mjy34@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: Mechanical Engineering 

Hometown: Boston, MA

Will Natcharian

Email: wrn25@cornell.edu

Year: 2026

Major: Mechanical Engineering 

Hometown: Avon, CT

Rajarshi Das

Email: rd496@cornell.edu

Year: 2026

Major: Mechanical Engineering/ECE

Westbury, NY

Alison Mangano

Email: atm72@cornell.edu

Year: 2024

Major: Chemistry

Hometown: San Jose, CA

Sahara Shahab

Email: sbs293@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Brooklyn, NY

Software Sub-Team

The Software team is responsible for researching, developing, and testing all computer programs which enable the boat to operate autonomously. This includes building computer vision systems, implementing AI-driven navigation and control algorithms, designing microcontroller software, integrating different processes through ROS, and developing simulation frameworks for testing. Members on Software are primarily CS and ECE majors with interdisciplinary interests, a passion for innovation, and dedication to see their projects through. Applicants for this sub-team don’t need to have experience with robotics, but ideally can effectively demonstrate their interests and passion to learn about new technologies through research and hands-on experience.

 
Subteam Lead

Taha Jafry

Email: taj43@cornell.edu

Year: 2024

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Houston, TX

Subteam Lead

Kevin Cui

Email: kc734@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Philadelphia, PA

Village Elder

Eric Zhang

Email: ewz4@cornell.edu

Year: 2023

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: College Station, TX

William Chiang

Email: wc475@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Miami, FL

David Schultz

Email: dms489@cornell.edu

Year: 2024

 Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Ossining, NY

Giorgi Berndt

Email: gb449@cornell.edu

Year: 2024

Major: Computer Science, Economics

Hometown: Alexandria, VA

Henry Gao

Email: ag836@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Albany, NY

Rachael Close

Email: rlc355@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Albany, NY

Joanna Lin

Email: jl2748@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Bronx, NY

Jeffrey Xiang

Email: jjx5@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Hometown: Sharon, MA

Jeremy Zarge

Email: jz642@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Boston, MA

Carter Zhu

Email: yz553@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

Daniel Wong

Email: djw329@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: New Hyde Park, NY

Samuel Park

Email: sp994@cornell.edu

Year: 2026

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Melville, NY

Grace Kim

Email: gsk68@cornell.edu

Year: 2026

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Princeton, NJ

Josue Ortiz

Email: jdo57@cornell.edu

Year: 2026

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Long Island, NJ

Joanna Andrews

Email: jd242@cornell.edu

Year: 2026

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Albany, NY

Ireanne Cao

Email: ixc3@cornell.edu

Year: 2026

Major: Biomedical Engineering / CS

Hometown: West Windsor, NJ

Arthi Vijayakumar

Email: av439@cornell.edu

Year: 2026

Major: CS

Hometown: Sharon, MA

Kaitlyn Hom

Email: khh54@cornell.edu

Year: 2026

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: San Ramon, CA

Anishka Raina

Email: ar933@cornell.edu

Year: 2026

Major: ECE

Hometown: Cupertino, CA

Aileen Huang

Email: aeh245@cornell.edu

Year: 2026

Major: CS

Hometown: Long Island, NY

Tommy Larson

Email: tll68@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: CS

Hometown: East Troy, WI

Business/ Outreach Sub-Team

The Business sub-team organizes the team’s funding for supplies, apparel, software licensing, and works with Outreach as the team’s public facing arm. The Outreach sub-team organizes events with local schools and organizations to link our team with the Ithaca community, as well as to inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists. We work with students from third grade to high school and work with local organizations like the Ithaca Sciencenter. Applicants for this sub-team can be in any major, but must have a strong willingness to learn. Beyond that, we look for a dependable team player, someone the entire team can rely on to get the job done.

 
Subteam Lead

Joanna Lin

Email: jl2748@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Bronx, NY

Giorgi Berndt

Email: gb449@cornell.edu

Year: 2024

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Alexandria, VA

Saujas Modi

Email: sbm224@cornell.edu

Year: 2026

Major: ORIE

Hometown: Queens, NY

Matthews Cornejo

Email: mgc234@cornell.edu

Year: 2025

Major: Hotel Administration/Real Estate

Hometown: Lima, Peru

Eric Zhang

Email: ewz4@cornell.edu

Year: 2023

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: College Station, TX

Contact Us!

If you have any questions, feel free to email us or message us on Instagram.