Welcome to My Personal Website
I'm a Deeply Committed Student at Cornell University Studying Mechanical Engineering With an Emphasis on Robotics and Physics
I'm a Deeply Committed Student at Cornell University Studying Mechanical Engineering With an Emphasis on Robotics and Physics
Hello! My name is Jonathan Distler. I'm a consummate professional with a passion for robotics, nuclear energy, and engineering. I aim to translate engineering principles to solve emerging issues and challenges
With expertise in simulations, modeling, and prototyping, I seek to broaden my skillset through new challenges and partnerships with enthusiastic individuals.
Cornell University, Expected Graduation: May, 2027
Current GPA: 3.78
Student at Cornell University specializing in the implementation of physics, modeling, and robotics. Experiences in cybersecurity, public-policy, robotics, and nuclear energy.
Awards and Scholarships:
• Cornell Woods Excellence Award
• Switch the Pitch Hackathon: AI Technical Solution Award Winner (2023)
• Engineering International Summer Research Grant (2025)
• Tatum Family Student Career Award (2025)
• Jiang Fellows Cohort (2026)
Volunteering:
• 2025 Northeast Robotics Colloquim (NERC) Volunteer
• 2024 Virginia Science Olympiad (VASO) Division C Material Science Test-Writer
• 2024, 2025, 2026 Cornell University Move-In Volunteer
• 2026 Future Civilizations Conference Volunteer
Campus Involvement:
• Nuclear is Clean Energy (NiCE) - Member
• Cornell Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Club - Member
• Cornell Robotics Graduate Student Organization - Vice President
Blacksburg High School, August, 2019 - May, 2023
Cumulative GPA: 4.63/4.0
Student-Athlete at Blacksburg High School. Was a 2-year member of the varsity basketball and soccer team, serving as the captain of the varsity basketball team during my senior year. Member of the Science Olympiad and Science MACC (Mountain Academic Competition Conference) clubs. Co-Founder of the Computer Science and Student-Research Clubs. Co-President of the Spanish National Honor Society.
Awards and Scholarships:
• AP Capstone Diploma (2023)
• AP Scholar with Distinction (2022, 2023)
• AP Scholar (2021)
• Montgomery County Virginia Top 5% of Junior Class Award (2022)
• Doug Day Senior Award (2022)
• Blacksburg Basketball Coach's Choice Award (2023)
• Blacksburg Basketball Defensive Player of the Year (2023)
• Blue Ridge Highlands Regional Science Fair: First Place in the Animal Sciences Category (2023)
• River Ridge District Soccer Champions (2022, 2023)
• Super MACC Champions (2021, 2022, 2023)
• MACC Eastern-Division Champions (2021, 2022)
Notable Classes:
•AP Spanish Language and Culture
•AP United States Government and Politics
•AP Calculus BC
•AP Computer Science A
•AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism
•AP Physics C: Mechanics
•AP Research
•AP Calculus AB
•AP English Language and Composition
•AP English Literature
•AP Environmental Science
•AP Psychology
•AP Seminar
•AP United States History
•AP Biology
•AP Computer Science Principles
•AP European History
Valar Atomics – Torrance, CA | May 2026 – Aug 2026
• Led the technical strategy and engineering development for autonomous robotic fleets for utility-scale solar construction and maintenance
• Directed the architecture and development roadmap for Sunnybotics’ OS V1, integrating a ROS-2 based multi-robot orchestration, telemetry integration, and data-driven learning loops to improve fleet performance
• Supported company expansion, building on 800+ completed solar projects, 3 GW of solar serviced, and over 4 million panels maintained, with a target of $4 million in annual revenue by 2027
• Provided competitive analysis of 20+ robotics and energy companies, evaluating technical capabilities, business models, financial benchmarks, and market positioning
• Contributed to the Winter 2026 Y-Combinator application, providing technical strategy, competitive research, and financial modeling to support fundraising and growth
Valar Atomics – Torrance, CA | May 2026 – Aug 2026
• Contributed to the successful deployment of the world's first operational microreactor, part of a strategic partnership powering NVIDIA's Blackwell AI infrastructure
• Designed, detailed, and released 4 production components (via Solidworks PDM) installed on the Ward 250 reactor during criticality; developed Python tools and spreadsheets to model reactor heat transfer losses
• Led mechanical design and structural validation of an ASME Sec. VIII Div. I Pressure Vessel
• Created both a locally hosted website and an embedded decision-tree LSTM architecture to showcase neutronics of the Ward 250 during power ascension and deduce critical streams of data for predicting criticality
• Completed Radiation Worker I & II training, authorizing entry into controlled radiological areas and higher annual dose limits
Cornell Human-Robot Collaboration and Companionship Lab – Ithaca, NY | Oct 2025 – Present
• Collaborating in Dr. Hoffman’s advanced robotics research team, studying human–robot interactions, designing novel tests for communication modes, failure recovery, and cooperative task strategies
• Designed a custom task-domain definition and implemented A* search with a Fast-Forward heuristic, generating optimized common-sense task sequences in 0.11 seconds
• Developed ROS 2 and Python packages for the Hello-Robot Stretch RE1, enabling autonomous navigation using SLAM, LiDAR-based mapping, and Intel RealSense sensing
ETH Zurich Soft Robotics Lab (SRL) – Zurich, Switzerland | May 2025 – Aug 2025
• Collaborated in Dr. Katzschman’s lab to develop a novel actuation mechanism and autonomous control for a soft robotic fish tail utilizing a Scotch yoke assembly and a novel radio-frequency methodology under $80.
• Developed a one-to-one MuJoCo simulation with Nelder-Mead optimization, validating results within 10% of experimental measurements
• Designed and implemented a motor and IMU control class to track fish orientation using Euler angles, integrating a Dynamixel motor and Adafruit IMU with sensor fusion and data wrapping techniques.
• Implemented computer vision with remote filming to measure tail curvature, comparing results with thrust and motor data to optimize tail design and motor actuation rate
Cornell Aerospace Adversary Lab – Ithaca, NY | Jan 2024 – Present
• Collaborating in Dr. Falco’s interdisciplinary aerospace and cybersecurity research team, studying autonomous drone swarms, and cyberwarfare resilience
• Utilizing Linux, ROS 2, Gazebo, C++, and Python to develop and test obstacle avoidance strategies for an autonomous 6-degree-of-freedom drone
• Developed an indoor GPS with a Python and ROS 2 serial communication system to enable accurate indoor drone control with mapping precision up to 2 cm
• Co-authored a systems paper on autonomous drone navigation, submitted for conference publication (The MAGPIE: Satellite Autonomy for Uncooperative Environments)
Cornell Hyperloop Project Team – Ithaca, NY | Sept 2024 – Present
• Contributed to the structures subteam in designing a magnetic levitation system for high-speed hyperloop propulsion.
• Modeled heat transfer from battery packs to the hyperloop train, calculating the heat exchange rate for a 240W battery system.
• Machined aluminum and steel components to enhance structural integrity, informed by Ansys FEA stress-strain analysis.
• Designed a cost-effective ($200) 3D-printed and laser-cut battery pack enclosure using SolidWorks, protecting $2,000+ in electronics while ensuring accessibility and stability.
Virginia Tech Department of Mechanical Engineering – Blacksburg, VA | Jun 2024 – Aug 2024
• Developed an H-Bot control system using MATLAB and serial communication to synchronize ultrasound imaging of octopus movements for enhanced scan accuracy.
• Engineered a soft robotic muscle prototype with controlled expansion and contraction, performing material property analysis as part of a research team
I optimized a soft robotic fish tail at ETH Zurich’s Soft Robotics Lab, combining computer vision, MuJoCo simulation, and experimental validation.
I contributed to Cornell Hyperloop’s battery enclosure, wiring, electronics mounts, and carbon-fiber aeroshell, along with control systems and structural testing.
I modeled a cooking task in PDDL and built an execution algorithm for Cornell’s Stretch RE1 robot as part of the Human-Robot Collaboration and Companionship Lab.
I built an interactive cellular automaton with custom rules, generation tracking, Conway’s Game of Life, and a team mode where colonies compete.
I worked with a team in MAE 2250 to research a product opportunity, refine the design through multiple iterations, and build a working prototype.
I recreated a real-world object at full scale in Fusion 360 for my MAE 2250 mechanical design project.
I refined a torque wrench’s dimensions and materials to meet a high safety factor, then compared hand calculations with ANSYS results for my MAE 3270 project.
I dissected a weed trimmer, analyzed its fluid mechanics, and created a short explanatory video for my MAE 3230 final project.
I designed an LQR controller to stabilize a ball on a ramp, applying control theory and system dynamics.
I derived a heat-transfer problem and explained the key ideas behind the solution for my MAE 3240 project.
I designed an autonomous robot with my team for the MAE 3780 ASML competition, where teams race to collect as many blocks as possible in one minute.
CLASS 2604
"The stories of Greek Mythology have ignited the imaginations of writers and artists from antiquity to the present day, from the tragedy of Achilles to the adventures of Percy Jackson. This course surveys the most influential stories of Gods and Heroes in Greek myths, focusing on their place in ancient Greek and Roman literature, society and religion, but also tracing their course in intellectual and art history through the Renaissance to the present day."
HIST 2881
"In 1919, journalist John Reed published Ten Days That Shook the World about the 1917 Russian Revolution. Some events are so transformative, Reed argued, they change the course of history. This class examines then technologies that ?shook? the world over the past half millennium. Or did they? Can technology drive history? How should we think about the relationship between technology and culture, society, politics and the environment? This course challenges many popular understandings of technology and technological change, introducing students to major concepts in the history and social studies of technology, including technological determinism, systems, infrastructure, skill, technopolitics, envirotechs, users, and maintenance repair. Technologies addressed will vary, but may include the slave ship, factory, climate control, atmoic bomb, and plastic."
MAE 4272
"Laboratory exercises in fluid mechanics and the thermal sciences. Measurements of flame temperature, pressure, heat transfer, viscosity, lift and drag, fluid-flow rate, effects of turbulence, airfoil stall, flow visualization, and spark ignition engine performance. Instrumentation, techniques and analysis, and interpretation of results."
MAE 4300
"This course aims to give students a broad grasp of the roles and responsibilities of engineers in contributing to societal well-being by integrating perspectives from sociocultural and humanistic studies with science and technology. The course will explore how the process of applying engineering principles can impact society, including environmental sustainability, diversity and equity, and ethics."
MAE 4110
"This course focuses on giving students experience with deploying controllers on a complex real-world (legged) robot, and how to debug a complex system that relies not only on software but the hardware details. While the details/knowledge covered are centered around legged robots, the skills are relevant to any robot platform. You will learn how to model and control (largely with learning-based tools) a dynamically unstable system, and transfer the results from simulation to hardware. The course will include hands-on exercises building simple robots to develop physical intuition, and simple model-based analyses to make a strong connection between physics and the hardware design of the robot, and control or the software design. The core of the course is a team-project using reinforcement learning (RL) to control a legged robot."
Math 3040
"A useful course for students who wish to improve their skills in mathematical proof and exposition, or who intend to study more advanced topics in mathematics. The methodology of proof provides a central tool for confirming the validity of mathematical assertions, functioning much as the experimental method does in the physical sciences. We will study various methods of mathematical proof, starting with basic techniques in propositional and predicate calculus and in set theory and combinatorics, then moving to applications and illustrations of these via topics in one or more of the three main pillars of mathematics: algebra, analysis, and geometry. Because cogent communication of mathematical ideas is important in the presentation of proofs, the course emphasizes clear, concise exposition."
MAE 4291
"This project will be primarily design focused through the development and physical implementation of thermal-management components designed to extend a drone’s survivability under directed-energy laser exposure. First, I will develop a heat-transfer framework to model localized heating and heat loss from laser irradiation at critical points on the drone. I will then design a rotational control strategy that allows the drone to rotate about its z-axis to minimize laser exposure to critical infrastructure. Using the resulting thermal model, I will design and optimize novel heat-transfer components, such as pin-fin arrays and heat sinks, to improve heat dissipation. The final design will be physically fabricated and experimentally tested to evaluate its ability to reduce thermal loading and prolong drone operating life under direct laser exposure. Additionally, I will create a pipeline between simulation and physical implementation of complex multi-agent drone behavior through an autonomous drone testbed. The work will be primarily design focused through the development and physical implementation of a comprehensive benchmark and testing system for evaluating the autonomous capabilities of the MAGPIE drone. First, I will verify the drone’s existing autonomous capabilities and establish baseline performance metrics. I will then transition the current GPS-based testing system to an alternative motion-capture-based testbed, integrate cameras with a self-developed computer-vision pipeline for evaluating drone position and behavior, and develop a physical test environment for systematically evaluating autonomous drone performance. The benchmark will combine quantitative metrics from the computer-vision system with measurements from the physical test setup, enabling direct comparison between experimental performance and Gazebo simulation results. The design work will be demonstrated through the implementation of a complete physical testing environment and a repeatable benchmark for evaluating autonomous and/or multi-agent drone capabilities. "
Beyond my academic and professional pursuits, I'm also an avid reader. I've found reading helps keep me engaged and helps maintain a well-rounded perspective on life.
I'm an avid reader! Whenever I get the opportunity I try to read, even if that means it's first thing in the morning. Here are all the books I've read:
My research contributions span multiple domains including robotics, ecology, and cybersecurity. Here are some of my key publications and ongoing research projects.
Contributors: Cameron Mehlman, Jonathan Distler, et al.
Institution: Cornell University Aerospace Adversary Lab
Description: A comprehensive systems paper on autonomous drone navigation and obstacle avoidance strategies for uncooperative environments. This research presents novel approaches to 6-degree-of-freedom drone control and indoor GPS systems with 2cm mapping precision.
Authors:Jonathan Distler, et. al.
Institution: Cornell University
Description: A comprehensive interdisciplinary paper that presents a novel conceptual framework for the use of autonomous drone navigation and obstacle avoidance to deliver nutritious foods to at-risk rural communities.
Category: Animal Sciences
Year: 2023
Institution: Blacksburg High School
Description: Conducted original research in deer conservation, demonstrating scientific methodology and innovative approaches to biological research questions. The project showcased observational differences among white-tailed deer populations in public and private land to discern whether or not public and private hunting regulations affected deer's behavior.
Awards: Blue Ridge Highlands Regional Science Fair: First Place in the Animal Sciences Division
Authors: Dr. Robert Katzschman, Dr. Ronan Hinchet, Matthew Fernandez, Jonathan Distler
Institution: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich)
Lab: Dr. Robert Katzschman's Soft Robotics Lab
Description: Developing a novel actuation mechanism for soft robotic fish tail utilizing Scotch yoke assembly. The research includes computer vision analysis, MuJoCo simulation with Nelder-Mead optimization, and experimental validation within 10% accuracy.