Eli Ferrara

About Me

I'm a Senior in the Science, Math, and Computer Science program at Poolesville High School, and I'm passionate about electronics engineering and building from scratch. I engineer solutions through custom PCB development, 3D printing, and innovative design. I thrive in combining electrical design, engineering principles, and software development to bring my novel engineering solutions to life.

Academic Background

Education

My educational journey and achievements

Science, Math, and Computer Science Program

2022 - Present

Poolesville High School

Senior in a specialized STEM program focusing on advanced mathematics, computer science, and scientific research methodologies.

Mentored underclassmen, providing assistance and guidance
Rewrote part of the school's engineering curriculum to include the custom-designed Falcon Flight Embedded Flight Controller
Advanced placement courses in BC Calculus, Physics C Mechanics + E&M, and Java

Professional Journey

Experience

Projects and roles that shaped my engineering journey

Reinforcement Learning & Analog IC Design Internship

2025 - Present

Dr. Timothy Edwards

I am currently designing a reinforcement learning model to lay out analog circuits on silicon.

Successfully integrated actual analog IC netlists from industry-standard Sky130 PDK circuits
Developed a transferable RL model that can operate across different grid sizes without retraining
Contributed to the .spice file format with component size overrides for RL training
Implemented novel reward functions for analog IC layout including symmetry, common-centroid matching, and area optimization
Developed a Multi-Modal Observation Architecture to provide the RL agent with rich contextual information for intelligent placement

Technologies: Analog Design, Reinforcement Learning, Sky130 PDK, Multi Agent Systems, Python, Analog Layout Automation

Personal Projects

2020 - Present

Personal Projects & Exploration

Developed multiple hardware and software projects focusing on embedded systems, PCB design, and innovative engineering solutions.

Designed and built a 5-DOF robotic arm using an exotic gearbox design and a custom PCB for stepper motor control
Developed a distributed computing cluster from a dozen recycled ARM SBCs with custom power delivery and cooling
Created a thermal camera with real-time thermal-optical fusion from a Raspberry Pi and a thermopile array
Converted an old 3D printer into a modern CNC machine with both milling and laser cutting capabilities
Designed a custom embedded flight controller board for my high school's rocketry team, featuring MEMS sensor integration and servo parachute release

Technologies: EDA/CAD, Embedded Systems, Circuit Analysis, Signal Processing, Robotics, 3D Manufacturing, Python

School Sponsored Projects

2022 - Present

Poolesville High School

Designed and built a wide breadth of projects for my school's engineering curriculum.

Designed the Falcon Flight Embedded Flight Controller + blimp-utils library for my school's engineering curriculum
Created hardware and software for a model exoplanet rover + optical satellite and presented at the 2025 XR Symposium at John Hopkins University
Developed an electric prosthetic arm utilizing myoelectric sensors for intuitive control
Through community outreach, collaborated with OASIS Farms to design an assistive technology to assist in their hydroponics operations

Technologies: EDA/CAD, API/Library Design, Human-Machine Interfacing, Project Leadership