Rohan K Doshi

Primary Research Focus:

Sustainability, despite its common association with environmental preservation, remains one of the least understood concepts in modern science. Sustainability is defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs.

My project utilizes a simplified model of the earth that integrates human interactions with an ecological framework. Specifically, mass compartments are established for ecological tropic levels, human households, industry, energy sources, and resource pools. The model utilizes a series of differential equations to represent the economic, ecological, and legal forces governing the flow of mass and energy in the system, lending itself to be a valuable tool in the highly inter-disciplinary study of sustainability.

In order to sustain a complex system, the dynamic interactions between all components must be understood; the smallest of changes may result in non-intuitive system-wide reverberations. Earlier, I conducted a sensitivity analysis for parameters in the model representative of various government policy options. Using the Fisher information as a statistical measure of the system's sustainability, I determined which parameters had noticeable impacts.

Currently, the aim of my project is to dynamically control the parameters for the best policy options in order to maximize the sustainability of the model. Optimization techniques, specifically non-linear programming, are then used to dynamically solve for optimized parameter values to control the system over time. The goal is to maximize the lifetime of dying mass compartments when the system in strained under the scenarios of either population explosion or per capita consumption increase. The long term objective of my work is to help develop regulatory policies to maximize the sustainability of our environment so that we can all enjoy a greener future.

My research mentor is Dr. Urmila Diwekar. Additionally, I have been guided by Pahola Thathiana Benavides and Kirti Yenkie.

Research Interests:

Sustainability
Energy and Environment
Non-Linear Programming Optimization

Education:

Northview High School (Expected Graduation May 2014)
Foreign Exchange Student to Shanghai, China -- July 2013 to August 2013
- Received full scholarship from the US State Department for the National Student Language Initiative program
- Studied Chinese language (Mandarin) and culture at East China Normal University
- Organized an environmental cleanup volunteer project at East China Normal University

Publications:

Doshi, Rohan and Doshi, Kaushik. "Stem Cell Breakthroughs and Applications."Schematics 1.1 (2012): 1-8. Web. Click to Read

Work Experience:

Siemens Industry, Roswell, GA -- July 2013 to August 2013

Control Components and Systems Engineering Intern
- Programmed and designed configuration software for Fast Bus (low-voltage power distribution system), which is targeted to increase sales by 100% ($2 million) annually

Leadership:

Regional President, North Metro Atlanta Future Business Leaders of America
President, National Science Honors Society
President, Technology Student Association
Programming Captain, FIRST Robotics
Summer Reading Program Coordinator, Bordentown Library
Nursing Units Veteran Volunteer, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

Awards:

National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist
AP Scholar With Distinction
Nationally Ranked Winner, "Business Calculations" Event for Future Business Leaders of America
1st in State, "Global Business" Event for Future Business Leaders of America
2nd in State, "Webmaster" Event for Technology Student Association
2nd in State, "Essays on Technology" Event for Technology Student Association

Programming Expertise:

MATLAB
Java
Microsoft C++
Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications

Languages:

English - Native Speaker
Hindi - Oral and written proficient
Gujarati - Oral and written proficient
Mandarin Chinese - Oral and written proficient

Rohan Doshi