Danny Maas

Background

About Danny Maas

Hi! I'm in the blended Batchelor/Master of Science in Electrical Engineering program at Cal Poly SLO. I love RF and semiconductors, and picked up minors in Physics and Real Property Development along the way. I gained an interest in electronics as a kid, when my favorite Skee-Ball machine broke down at a local arcade. For some reason, I thought I could fix it, so I slid under and started connecting cables that had been unplugged (they looked a lot like RC car battery cables) and to my surprise, it started working again! Fast-forward to late elementary school and I got my first Snap Circuits set, then middle school where I got an Arduino for Christmas. In high school, I joined the Robotics team (FRC team 3647, go Millennium Falcons!) and became head of electrical systems, then later president. It was also in high school that I discovered oscilloscopes. Through various auctions, I got some old analog Tektronix oscilloscopes, most of which didn't work. I couldn't fix most of them, but I learned a ton poring over the schematics. I continued buying old, broken test equipment through college, amassing a sizeable home lab which has been very helpful to my studies. In my third and fourth years, I started taking RF and semiconductor classes, and instantly fell in love. My senior project was the ground-up design/build of an X-band radar, with custom amplifiers, oscillators, mixers, filters, etc. Though the full assembly didn't work, I once again learned a ton. I'm looking forward to many more RF projects in the future!When I'm not doing homework, fixing equipment, designing electronics nor researching, I love hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking, and line dancing. I also love to bake, and will bring cookies to work if you hire me :)