Meet the Crew

Clayton Workman

Club President

BS Ocean Engineering

Clayton is a Junior pursuing his undergraduate degree in Ocean Engineering. He participated in RoboBoat 2022, 2024, 2025, and SeaPerch 2014, 2015, and 2016. He has advanced his robotics skills by competing in the 2022 RobotX competition, and his main focus for the vehicle is the vision system. His main career-oriented interests are robotics, ocean conservation, and hardware or software systems.

Xavi Vicent Navarro

Club  Vice-President

PhD Candidate in Ocean Engineering

Xavi is a PhD student in Ocean Engineering and Aritifical Intelligence, and he is currently a research assistant for WAM-V projects. He graduated from Lake Superior State University in Robotics Engineering. Xavi is from Cocentaina, Spain and has been playing tennis since he was 8 years old. His best skills are leadership, hardwork, teamwork and programming.  

Thomas Davies

Club Treasurer 

MS Ocean Engineering

Thomas Davies is a graduate student with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, showcasing a proven track record in leadership roles within recreational facilities and the services industry. He possesses strong skills in C++ and SolidWorks, complemented by excellent organizational abilities and a talent for collaboration. Thomas has experience in rapid prototyping, 3D printing, basic electrical circuitry, and product development processes, highlighting his well-rounded expertise in mechanical engineering.

Evan Parra

Club Director of Marketing

MS Artificial Intelligence

Evan Parra is a graduate candidate pursuing a Master’s in Artificial Intelligence at Florida Atlantic University while also working on a Google Machine Learning Engineering certification. He focuses on applying advanced machine learning and computer vision techniques to address real-world challenges, including object detection on the WAM-V in RobotX, medical imaging classification, and text classification using natural language processing (NLP).

Luis F. Vila

BS Ocean Engineering, and minor in Artificial Intelligence

Luis F. Vila is a senior in Ocean Engineering and minoring in Artificial Intelligence. He focuses on software and implementing Reinforcement Learning to Autonomous Vehicles. 

Dr. Manhar Dhanak

FAU Professor - Faculty Advisor

Dr. Manhar Dhanak is a professor in the Ocean and Mechanical Engineering Department at Florida Atlantic University, holding a Ph.D. from Imperial College, University of London. His research interests encompass ocean turbulence, hydrodynamics, and ocean energy. Outside of academia, he enjoys photography and exploring nature.

Dr. Pierre-Philippe Beaujean

FAU Professor - Faculty Advisor

Dr. Pierre-Philippe Beaujean is a professor and chair of the Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering at Florida Atlantic University. His research interests include underwater vehicle technology, multi-vehicle collaboration, and oceanographic engineering. He is dedicated to advancing the understanding of ocean dynamics and enhancing the capabilities of autonomous systems in marine environments.

Caleb Wilson

FAU Electronics Lab Engineer

Caleb Wilson serves as the Electronics Lab Engineer for the Ocean and Mechanical Engineering Department at Florida Atlantic University. He acts as the primary technical advisor for the electrical and software components of Team Owltonomous.

Theresa Wainwright

FAU Engineering Machinist

Theresa Wainwright is the Engineering Machinist at Florida Atlantic University, where she plays a crucial role in supporting the engineering and design projects within the College of Engineering and Computer Science. With expertise in machining and fabrication, she assists students and faculty in transforming innovative ideas into tangible prototypes, enhancing the university's capabilities in research and development.

Ed Henderson

Technical Advisor

Ed had worked at FAU as a senior engineer for 29 years and has helped immensely with the electronics systems for the WAM-V. His expertise is in electronics systems and he dabbles in software development. 

Don Harper

Technical Advisor

Don is the director of technology at the University of Central Florida and has been a mentor for high school students competing in RoboBoat. Don has worked at the center for research in computer vision at UCF and will provide his experience to assist the team.

Dr. Edoardo Sarda

Technical Advisor

Edoardo is an assistant professor of Robotics Engineering at Lake Superior State University. His main interests and areas of expertise are in autonomous vehicles, mobile robotics, human-robot collaboration, automated systems, and modern control. Edoardo has competed in RobotX previous years and is assisting FAU with their software development.

Dr. Travis Moscicki

Technical Advisor

Travis recently finished his Ph.D. here at FAU and has worked with the WAM-V for his dissertation. He now works at NIWC Pacific and loves what he does. His experience with the robotics competitions and the vehicle have inspired him to be in the career he is in. One of his hobbies is mountain biking.