Diana Morales
Electricanl Engineering, PhD Student
University of California, Irvine
Email: dlmoral2@uci.edu
Education
University of California, Irvine
Current
Electrical Engineering PhD Student, GEM Fellow, Adviser: Magnus Egerstedt
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
2019-2023
Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics
Bachelor of Electrical Engineering
Experience
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - Data Science Graduate Intern
May - October 2024
Developed a coupled thermal-beamformed electromagnetic model to inform the design of a new advanced manufacturing technology using finite difference methods in MATLAB.
Built a CNN model for binary classification of normal and abnormal heartbeats. Additionally built a separate CNN model for multiclass classification of normal heartbeat and those affected by different arrhythmias and myocardial infarction.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - Science Undergraduate Laboratory Intern
June - August 2023
Developed signal processing algorithms in Python that returned range and Doppler velocity for mmWave radar sensors from Texas Instruments and Infineon. Conducted lab experiments with the sensors to test algorithms' accuracy with stationary and moving reflectors.
Worked on a signal to noise ratio parameter using CA-CFAR and the radar equation. Data was visualized using a range plot and a heatmap.
Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration CAMPARE HERA
June - August 2022
Improved CHART’s (Completely Hackable Amateur Radio Telescope) quality of data collection by using Red Pitaya FPGA capabilities to create a spectrometer as a backend while keeping cost below $350. Resulting in an increased sampling rate from 3.2Msps to 125Msps.
Developed Firmware using Simulink, CASPER, and designed using FFTs and a PFB. Valon 21-cm Downcoverter, Frequency Synthesizer, and Raspberry Pi were used to prepare the analog signal. Data was visualized using a waterfall plot and power plot.
Cal Poly Pomona - Undergraduate Researcher
August 2021 - June 2022
Conducted research through the McNair Scholars program at Cal Poly Pomona on the efficiency of the Simplex Algorithm in regards to Transportation and Assignment Problems.
Utilize MATLABs Optimization toolbox collaboratively with RStudio to analyze potential relationships between efficiency and problem structure.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - Mickey Leland Energy Fellow
June - August 2021
Created a Predator-Prey mathematical model for bacteria and biofuel relevant algae, that optimized parameters using downhill simplex method. Created Matlab script that conducted sensitivity analysis for experimental data that did not fit constraints of mathematical model.
SoCalGas - Digital Acceleration, Intern
June 2019 - June 2020
Lead retirement of an IBM DB2 Database. Ran usage reports of public and private web-intelligence reports that used data from DB2 Tables.
Analyzed data used by users, mapped tables from DB2 to SQL tables, and met with users to recreate reports using SQL tables. Recorded tutorial videos on audits, analyzing data, and SQL basics.
Publications
Efrain Mendez-Flores, Diana Morales and Magnus Egerstedt. "V-Model Based Integration of Mechatronics and Power Electronics for a Solar-Powered Wire-Traversing Robot" IEEE Access, vol. 13, pp. 73261-73284, 2025. Accepted
Stijn Wielandt, Ivo Markovic´, Lonnie Chien, Diana Morales, Ryan Landon Crumley, Baptiste Dafflon, and Reynold Cooper. “Characterizing Snowpack with 60 GHz FMCW Millimeter-Wave Radar Sensors” Asilomar Conference. Accepted.
Megan M. Morris, Jeffrey A. Kimbrel, Helena van Tol, Lydia Baker, Genevieve Parkey, Diana Morales, Teresa Truong, Kristina Rolison, Patrik D'haeseleer, Ali Navid, Peter K. Weber, Rhona K. Stuart and Xavier Mayali. “A nitrogen siphoning ectoparasite targeting a marine diatom represents a new cosmopolitan clade of uncultivated Rickettsiales”. Nature Microbiology. Submitted.
Conference Presentations
Diana Morales, Ethan Rosenberg, Johanna Vanderbrande, Johanna Schwartz, Maxim Shusteff, James Kelly, Joe Tringe, and Saptarshi Mukherjee, "Coupled Electromagnetic-Thermal Beamforming model for Microwave Volumetric Additive Manufacturing". Poster presentation at GEM Conference, San Antonio, TX. September 2024.
Diana Morales, Ivo Markovic, and Stijn Weilandt. "Waves of Vision: mmWave Radar for Near-Surface observations of environmental processes". Oral presentation at Annual CalBridge Conference, Berkeley CA. September 2023.
Diana Morales, Libby Berkhout, and Danny Jacobs. "FPGA Design with the Red Pitaya: Developing a spectrometer for H1 Observations". Poster presentation at American Astronomical Society(AAS). 241st Meeting. January 2023.
Diana Morales, and Jennifer Switkes. "Efficiency of the Simplex Algorithm: Assignment Problem Case". Poster presentation at Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research (SCCUR ) 2021. Virtual Meeting. November 2021.