About

Calvin Stahoviak Scratch the cat

I'm a computer scientist and roboticist based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I recently completed my M.S. in Computer Science at the University of New Mexico, where my thesis on dynamic admittance parameterization for multi-robot transport was awarded distinction.

My research spans autonomous robotics, machine learning, and computer vision. I have several years of research experience as a graudate assistant researcher and a research scientist at Sandia National Laboratories. This work has been published in conferences.

Outside the lab, I studied abroad in Akita, Japan, and continue studying Japanese (JLPT ~N3). I volunteer as a judge chair for regional STEM science fair competitions. I love art and basketball and design. This is my cat Scratch, she is 3 years old.

My Links

Quick Info

Location
Albuquerque, NM
Education
M.S. Computer Science
University
University of New Mexico
Focus
Robotics, ML, Computer Vision
Clearance
Active DOE L
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Technical Skills

Languages

C++ CUDA C Python Bash MATLAB Java Haskell HTML/CSS XML

Robotics

ROS Isaac Sim/Lab Gazebo SLAM Admittance/Impedance Control Occupancy Mapping Motion Planning

Machine Learning

PyTorch TensorFlow YOLO scikit-learn MLFlow Optuna Reinforcement Learning

Computer Vision

OpenCV Point Cloud Processing OpenGL

Hardware

RGBD Sensors AprilTag Mobile Robot Platforms Robotic Manipulators Low-Level Sensor I/O

Developer Tools

Git Conda Linux VS Code Simulink SLURM Firebase Flutter

Experience

R&D Graduate Intern

June 2024 — Present
Sandia National Laboratories Albuquerque, NM
  • Built an AprilTag and PID-based outdoor testbed for benchmarking gesture recognition on mobile robots across multiple platforms.
  • Trained a physics-informed deep neural network for rapidly estimating mechanical constraints of objects for autonomous robotic manipulation.
  • Developed end-to-end multi-behavior policy for quadrotor control using deep reinforcement learning.
  • Built a computer vision pipeline for tracking small objects across multiple simultaneous video feeds.

Graduate Research Assistant

Aug. 2023 — Dec. 2025
University of New Mexico (with Prof. Melanie Moses) Albuquerque, NM
  • Researched autonomous cooperative transport using mobile robots with fixed manipulator arms, developing hybrid admittance-impedance control and optimal coordinated planning.
  • Full-stack robot development: mechanical prototyping, manipulator integration, SLAM-based localization, and pose-estimation pipelines.
  • Managed a team of undergraduate researchers — defining roadmaps, allocating tasks, and presenting weekly progress updates.

R&D Undergraduate Intern

Apr. 2019 — Aug. 2022
Sandia National Laboratories Albuquerque, NM
  • Implemented low-level motor controllers for skid-steer mobile robots using MATLAB, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and ROS.
  • Developed a real-time RGBD-based detection, segmentation, and localization ROS package using custom YOLO models, OpenCV, and CUDA acceleration.

Education

M.S. Computer Science

Aug. 2023 — Dec. 2025
University of New Mexico — GPA 3.83 Albuquerque, NM
  • Thesis (awarded distinction): Dynamic Admittance Parameterization for Non-Prehensile Multi-Robot Transport with Optimal Coordinated Planning
  • Coursework: Machine Learning, Advanced ML, Deep Reinforcement Learning, Controls, Parallel Processing, High Performance Computing

B.S. Computer Science

Aug. 2018 — May 2022
University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM
  • Core coursework in Data Structures & Algorithms, Design of Large Programs, Computer Logic Design, and Data Organization.
  • Studied abroad at Akita International University, Akita, Japan (Fall 2022).

Awards & Volunteering

2025

Thesis Distinction

M.S. thesis awarded distinction by UNM Department of Computer Science.

2025

Lobo Hackathon — 4th Place

AI-powered web app for consolidating and summarizing government legislature.

2025, 2026

Science Fair Judge Chair

Central NM STEM Research Challenge — organized judging panels for regional student research.

2025

UNM CS Ambassador

UNM School of Engineering Open House — represented the Computer Science department.