Ideally, here's what my obituary would say, many years from now:

"Engineering professor dies while playing trombone concerto in autonomous racecar."

Ok, that's a bit of a dark start to the profile, admittedly, but a rather pithy summary. Read on, won't you?

I just finished my Ph.D at Stanford and and just entered the The Real World (tm) with a job in technical consulting. My research focused on making cars drive themselves like the best drivers in the world. Intrigued? Inquire within for more details! If you're REALLY nice, I might even show you the robotic cars....

As for my job, it's basically like being a Mythbuster, but with more scientific rigor and bigger budgets. But no Adam Savage or Jamie Hyneman, unfortunately.

When I'm not passed out on my couch at 10 PM, absolutely spent from this "Real World Job" rigmarole, I play the trombone. Usually in an orchestra, counting 456 measures of rest until that one big climactic loud part that comes and the end of any self-respecting classical work.

Emulating turkey gobbles (I've got one for every occasion)

I'm a big dude, BUT I can ride 20 miles on my bike and I'm invested in trying to live a healthy, happy, balanced life. I also ran a 5k in December with an amazing cohort of friends supporting me, and I'm planning on running another 5k soon!

I'm pretty outgoing. You can count on me to introduce myself and make an inappropriate joke in fairly short order.

If it happens to be Halloween, there's a decent chance you'll see me in full-body Pooh Bear suit. I think it important to mention this should our first date fall on Halloween. I'm all about full disclosure.

Books: 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Slaughterhouse Five, The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Ender's Game, 100 Years of Solitude (yeah fantastic realism!), anything by Jorge Luis Borges or Ernest Hemingway

Movies: Apollo 13, Lawrence of Arabia, The Godfather Trilogy, several Hitchcock flicks (North by Northwest, Psycho, Vertigo), Brazil.

Shows: Arrested Development, Arrested Development, and Arrested Development. Also, in the unlikely event I'm not watching Arrested Development: Modern Family, Downton Abbey, Top Gear, Archer, Game of Thrones, Family Guy, Breaking Bad, New Girl.

Music: Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Saint-Saens, Mahler, Wagner, Brahms, Dvorak, various ska (Reel Big Fish, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Skatalites), Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Franz Ferdinand, Weezer, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin.

Food: Middle Eastern (i.e. my mom's cooking), hole-in-the-wall Mexican, Indian, Italian, and Sushi.

......the upcoming NEW episodes of Arrested Development. I'm pretty sure I know more about that show than the research for my Ph.D.

See the couch at 10 PM from above.

Kidding.

Out at a concert, or hangin' with some pals, and THEN the university-issued couch.