Patrick Collins

Background

About Patrick Collins

I am a second-year Masters Student in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Maryland-College Park. My research is conducted under Dr. Derek Paley in the Collective Dynamics and Control Laboratory, and my degree emphasis is in the realm of Dynamics, Control, and Autonomy. I am seeking a full-time position beginning in the Summer of 2025. Learning by doing is an ethos I live by. While at the University of Maryland I've had the pleasure of conducting cutting-edge research in the realm of autonomous wildfire response. This work is being conducted for the UMD Crossfire Team, which is competing in the XPRIZE Autonomous Wildfire Response Challenge. My work has leveraged quadrotor drones, computer vision, machine learning, state estimation, and other technologies and techniques to detect, localize, and suppress insipient wildfires. Much of it was conducted from the ground up as I was one of the first researchers on the Crossfire Team. My classwork at the University of Maryland has also been an important component of my education. I've had coursework on Linear Systems and Controls, Nonlinear Control Techniques, Network Control Theory, State Estimation, Reinforcement Learning, Spacecraft Robotics, and Drone Operations. Coupled with a traditional Aerospace undergraduate education at the University of Minnesota that included a focus on Astrodynamics and Spacecraft Control, I've had experience with a wide-breadth of topics in the Aerospace realm. Prior to graduate school, I was employed at Honeywell Aerospace as a Software Engineer. My work focused specifically on algorithm development and implementing state estimation techniques in software for Inertial Measurement Units and Inertial Navigation Systems. Other tasks included developing, conducting, and refining test plans for various IMU and INS products, interfacing with customers, and attending to a plethora of engineering tasks related to spinning up new products. I've had other successes throughout my educational and professional careers. I graduated Summa Cum Laude with Honors from the University of Minnesota. In 2020-21, I was the Team Lead of the UMN Rocket Team which designed, built, and flew a 12-ft. tall, 120+ lb. sounding rocket equipped with a student-built solid motor, custom avionics system, and payload. Our submission placed first overall in the 2021 Spaceport America Cup. I've recently spun up personal projects on my GitHub as well. I am driven by an innate sense of curiosity and determination, and I desire to find a career where these qualities can flourish.