Sudipto Sur

Home:Web-resume

NOTE: This is the WWW version of my resume. It is neither guaranteed to be updated regularly nor complete. Please send me email for my official resume.

Email: sur@alumni.caltech.edu

WWW: www.alumni.caltech.edu/˜sur

Last updated: August 23, 2001

Work history

Manager, Controls: May 2000 to July 2001, OMM Inc.;

• Technical Work: Design and implementation of real-time feedback control architecture for MEMS scanner based, large port count, optical switch; development and implementation of algorithms for optical power optimization in real-time; simulation of MEMS-based optical system, development and implementation of scalable, parallelizable tuning algorithms for large MEMS-based switches.

Prototyped on dSPACE and productized on PowerPC based multi-processor, high-availability (99.999% availability) embedded computational system under VxWorks. Specified and executed computational architecture (hardware/software) for the product.

• Managerial Responsibilities: Management of group performing end to end real-time feedback control design and implementation for MEMS scanner based large optical switch. Group per-formed dynamic modeling of MEMS devices, control system design, embedded system software/hardware architecture design, real-time software implementation, network based OEM interface design and implementation and hardware/software integration and testing. Setup of configuration management and tracking system (Clearcase/ClearQuest).

Senior Member of Technical Staff: September 1997 to May 2000, Computer Motion Inc. (CMI), Robotic microsurgery group;

• Lead engineer managing control, system integration and software for robotic microsurgery platform: a multirobot force reflecting system with a proprietary DSP based computational architecture. Responsible for all control and software issues from OS design to user interface and for setting up system specifications in collaboration with engineering, marketing, clinical procedure development and production personnel. Designed and implemented real-time operating system and over-all software architecture. Performed modeling, analysis and control design for the system. Also responsible for testing and validation of software to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) specifications.

• Engineering Manager for “Telesurgery Project” to exhibit feasibility of telesurgery by performing remote surgery on human patient between the United States and France. Responsible for overall technical planning and implementation. Responsibilities included coordination of technical team, system specification and implementation, collaboration with telecom and data security providers and collaboration with clinicians to develop clinical protocol and hazard analysis for overall system.

Technical implementation required real-time control of networked robotic system with time-delay issues and “human-in-loop”. A CompactPCI, x86 based computational system with VxWorks (RTOS) and ATM based network communication was used for implementation.

• Management of technical collaborations between CMI and other companies.

Some other projects:

• Network based force feedback: stability issues for force-reflecting teleoperation with varying communication time delay between master and slave.

• Surgeon interface for teleoperated robotic surgery: optimal degrees of controlled motion, “natural” motion mapping strategies, force-reflection requirements..

• Robotic beating heart coronary bypass graft: image stabilization by motion synchronization, sensing and pacing, mechanical stabilization methods. (Presented final update at Medicine Meets Virtual Reality: 7 (January 1999); Yale-NASA CSC/MITA and DARPA PI Meeting).

Education

Postdoctoral scholar: February 1997 to August 1997, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Jet Propulsion Center, California Institute of Technology. Worked on active control of combustion instabilities.

Ph. D. in Mechanical Engineering: January 1997, California Institute of Technology.

Dissertation title: Robotic Manipulation with Flexible Link Fingers.

M. S. in Mechanical Engineering: June 1992, California Institute of Technology.

B. Tech in Mechanical Engineering: July 1991, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

Thesis title: Pool Boiling Heat Transfer from a Simulated Electronic Chip to a Dielectric Fluid (R-113).

Computer and software related skills

Programming Languages: Proficient in C, C++, Perl, HTML, and assembly language (x86, TMS320) programming. Familiar with FORTRAN, Tcl/Tk, Prolog and BASIC.

Real-time Operating Systems: Experience with VxWorks-Tornado (application programming, networking and device drivers); designed and implemented real-time operating system for a TMS320C3x based system.

Operating Systems: UNIX (Solaris, Linux, IRIX), DOS, Windows-NT/2000.

Configuration Management/Defect Tracking: Set up, administered and used ClearCase/ClearQuest system with UCM. User of PVCS.

Real-time Programming: Extensive experience in DOS, VxWorks and DSP (TMS320C3x) based real-time implementations in robotics, telecommunication systems, combustion devices and other systems. Experience spans system analysis for control, hardware specification and interfacing, OS and application software architecture design, programming, testing to FDA requirements and overall system integration.

Network Programming: Worked on network data communication system over ATM for real-time control applications for a medical robotics project.

Computational Hardware: Extensive experience with specification and integration of embedded/non-embedded computational architectures for applications in telecommunications, robotics and automation based on IBM-PC, dSPACE/MATLAB prototyping systems, x86/PPC CompactPCI systems and DSP systems.

Computer Administration: Experience in administration of computer network consisting of SUN, SGI and IBM PC compatible computers running UNIX (SunOS4, Solaris, IRIX, Linux) and DOS. Also experienced in administration of Windows NT/2000 workstation.

Research Software Development: Part of development team on Sparrow–DOS based software for real-time control (in C), SIMLIB–simple simulation library (in C and FORTRAN), SphinX–sparrow interface to UNIX and SIMLIB (in C and X-Windows), RobotLinks–symbolic package for robot kinematics and dynamics (in Mathematica).

Technical Software: Proficient in MATLAB, dSPACE/ControlDesk, Mathematica, TeX/LateX, AUTO94 (software for nonlinear systems analysis) and other UNIX and DOS/Windows based software.

Productivity Software: Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, Microsoft Project, Visio and other Windows/UNIX based productivity tools.

Publications and reports

F. Lai, R. D. Howe, P. A. Millman and S. Sur, Frame mapping and dexterity for task performance in robotic endoscopic surgery. In Proc. Symposium on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems, ASME, IMECE99/DSCD, 1999.

S. Sur, Time-delay embedding of combustion data. In Proc. Caltech Combustion Workshop, Nov. 1997.

S. Sur and R. M. Murray, Simultaneous force-position control for grasping using flexible link manipulators. In Proc. American Control Conference, 1997.

S. Sur and R. M. Murray, An experimental comparison of tradeoffs in using compliant manipulators for robotic grasping tasks. In Proc. International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 1997.

S. Sur, A small-scale reconfigurable multi-robot workbench for experiments in robotic force control, grasping and human-robot interfaces. CDS 96-016. Control and Dynamical Systems, California Institute of Technology, September 1996.

S. Sur, R. L. Behnken and R. M. Murray, Grasping with flexible link fingers: an initial study. In Proc. IFAC Symposium on Robot Control, 1994.

Invited talk(s)

Collecting technology for the OR: from robotics to jet engines. University of California, Los Angeles, March 2000.

Patent(s)

US5971976: Motion minimization and compensation system for use in surgical procedures.

Academic research areas

Combustion Instabilities: Nonlinear analysis, modeling and control, experimental work with Rijke tube and dump combustor. (Postdoctoral research and previous work during graduate research.)

Robotics: Analysis, modeling and control of compliant robots, hybrid force/position control, design, fabrication and control of multi-robot grasping setup, development of framework for performance measurement. (Doctoral research.)

Real-time control: Design, implementation issues, software and hardware. (Graduate research.)

Teaching experience

Guest lecturer: February 1997, Graduate class in nonlinear control, Control and Dynamical Systems, Caltech.

Teaching assistant: September 1994 to May 1995, September 1995 to May 1996, Curriculum development for undergraduate laboratories in control, Mechanical Engineering, Caltech.

Teaching assistant: September 1992 to May 1993, Undergraduate courses in kinematics and robotics, graduate/advanced graduate courses in robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Caltech.

Teaching assistant: September 1991 to May 1992, Undergraduate courses in fluid mechanics, Mechanical Engineering, Caltech.

Awards

Caltech $10K Business Plan Competition: 1998, one of team of three awarded the $10K prize for the best business plan. Participated as a Caltech alumnus.

Caltech Institute Fellowship: 1993-94, awarded by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, California Institute of Technology.

Schrader, Duncan, Skovill Scholarship: 1988 to 1991, awarded for academic excellence in Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

Other accomplishments

Management Training: Leadership for Managers and Supervisors, OMM, 2001. (Leadership training program by Peter Barron Stark and Associates.).

Organizational Support: Workshop on Dynamics and Control of Combustion Instabilities in Propulsion and Power Systems, Caltech, 1997. (Coordination, information exchange, setup and maintenance of WWW resources.)

Editor, Technique: 1994-95 and 1995-96 editions, Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Scholar Guide, California Institute of Technology.Industrial internships

Engineering Intern in Mechanical Design: May to July 1990, Uhde India Ltd., Bombay, India. (Design automation)

Engineering Intern in Electronic Maintenance: May to June 1989, Kirloskar Cummins Ltd., Pune, India (AutoCAD drafting library, PLC programming).

Engineering Intern in Fabrication: May to July 1988, Thermax India Ltd., Pune, India. (Manufacturing, industrial engineering analysis)

Personal

Interests include backcountry hiking and camping, mountain biking, squash, literature, cooking. Married.

Last updated: August 23, 2001