Hi there! I'm...
Daniel Stabile
A Passionate
I'm a software developer at MIT Lincoln Laboratory working on AI/ML. My projects span agentic mission planning for unmanned vehicles, anomaly detection in cybersecurity, and computer vision for maritime surveillance.
ABOUT ME
Software developer and researcher
Born in Ecuador raised in New York
I grew up in the Finger Lakes region and ended up staying for college, earning my BS and MS in Computer Science from Cornell. I'm a Christian and one day hope to become a missionary. In the meantime, I love building things, exploring the world, and serving others. Click the link below to learn more about what I've worked on!
My Skills
What I know
CODING
TOOLS
DESIGN
LATEST WORKS
My projects and research
CS 6751 - Robot Manipulation Final Project
Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing
August 2021 - December 2021
This was another project done with MIT Lincoln Laboratory and other Cornell students. The goal was to train a model that would take in SAR satellite data, identify vessels, and categorize them as IUU or not. IUU fishing is a problem often associated with drug/human trafficking and other illegal activities not to mention it can wreck ecosystems and often is done in waters of developing nations who don't have the resources to combat it. This project was for the xView3 challenge and while our team did not perform well, it was a huge learning lesson for me. If nothing else it, taught me a lot about working in cross-institutional teams and I like to think that the experience will be very helpful in my future career.Anomalous Flight Detection
June 2021 - August 2021
This summer I interned at MIT Lincoln Laboratories and worked on a project focused detecting anomalous flight activities using machine learning. I can't comment much on this project for security reasons, but my core contribution was developing a pipeline generate synthetic data which could be used for training. The problem with detecting anomalous flight activities is that they're anomalous... and hence rare. Using synthetic data helps create example data for models to train on!Professional Website
August 2020 - December 2020
In the fall of 2020, I took ENGRC 3025 Creating and Communicating Your Digital Professionalism taught by Dr. Allison Hutchison and Dr. Rick Evans. For the final project, I created a professional website using HTML, CSS, and the bootstrap framework. The website is built upon a template but was significantly altered to fit my rhetorical situation. The most notable changes from the template are the projects and travel sections. I wanted to keep the site to one page so for the projects section I created modals with more information for each project listed. More challenging and time consuming was the addition of a world vector map listing all the countries I have visited. I used the jQuery module JQVmap which provided all the core functionality but was difficult to fit and get at the correct scale. This website will always be a work in progress, so keep checking in to stay updated!Brain Cancer Neural Net
August 2020 - December 2020
In the fall of 2020, I took ECE 5970 Machine Learning with Biomedical Data taught by Mert Sabuncu. For our final project my team implemented a convolutional neural network for segmenting low-grade glioma in brain MRIs. I was the team leader, delegating work and overseeing the overall design of our implementation in PyTorch. We ended up using a standard UNet and focused on different preprocessing and data augmentation techniques to improve accuracy. I also experimented with skull stripping to try and improve our model’s performance which had mixed results. For this project we used Google Colab to train our model using their free GPUs.To view our Google Colab notebook check the link below on the left. A link to our final report for the project is also included.
Maculogix AdaptDX Pro
June 2020 - August 2020
In the summer of 2020, I worked as an intern at Maculogix, a biomedical startup. The company specializes in building equipment to detect age-related macular degeneration. The product I worked with was the AdaptDx Pro, a portable VR headset-looking device that could detect AMD within 15 minutes. When I arrived at the company there was a production bottleneck with the final calibration of the device, a process that took about 2 hours and 15 minutes. I was tasked with cutting down the time for a 40-minute section of this calibration process, a task that had to be repeated for each side of the device totaling 80 minutes. I was given instructions to implement a modified binary search that at best, would have cut down the time in half. However, after running a series of experiments, collecting data, and analyzing it, I realized that by using a modified interpolation search, that I could not only decrease the time by more than half but also increase the accuracy. In the end, I was able to cut the section down to 10 minutes for a total reduction of 80 minutes to only 20. After realizing how significant of a change had been made, my boss tasked me with cutting down the time for the entire calibration pipeline. Using computer vision algorithms and a FLIR camera, I was able to automate several steps in the calibration process that were originally performed manually, such as alignment of internal cameras and lights. In the end I was able to reduce the time for a complete calibration from 2 hour 15 minutes to only 35 minutes. This eliminated the production bottleneck and allowed the company to cut costs by not having to hire as many calibration techs as they had planned on.While the calibration software was my main contribution, there were a couple other things I worked on during my internship. I wrote a 40-page ISO 9000 compliant verification and validation document for my calibration software. I also discovered during my experiments with the device, that some of the sensors used for calibration were incapable of measuring light at the microlux level as accurately as my algorithms needed. After bringing this up with my boss, I was placed in charge of collecting data specifically for our sensors and sharing this with company we purchased them from.
Vital Mask
August 2020 - December 2020
In the spring of 2020, several members of Cornell Biomedical Device broke off to create a startup, Vita Innovations. Our product, VitalMask, is a smart mask that measures patient vitals and is designed for ED waiting rooms. The idea was born during the beginning of the Covid-19 as a response to ED overcrowding. I worked on the website (see link below) and the desktop application which was written in Python using Kivy. The application allows for users to monitor multiple masks simultaneously through Bluetooth connections. The application allows for custom thresholds to be given to each mask’s vitals that sound an alert when they are exceeded.The startup was part of several accelerators and won 15k in seed funding after winning the Business Today’s 2020 Impact Challenge. VitalMask eventually became Vita Innovations.
BruxFree
August 2020 - December 2020
BruxFree is a bruxism monitoring system that alerts users when they are having an episode. The idea is the user can wear an external device with sensors that detect when the muscles of the jaw are clenching excessively. I pitched this idea in the fall of 2019 to my engineering team (Cornell Biomedical Device) and we worked on it in the Spring of 2020 for the Engineering Innovation competition, for which we placed as finalist. When we started building device, our product development team split into hardware and software. I led the latter in the creation of an android app that could be hooked up to our device and collect data and send notifications to users. You can find more information about the device on the engineering team’s website linked below.Multiphoton Image Processing Pipeline
August 2020 - December 2020
My main project for the Schaffer-Nishimura lab was the development of a MATLAB pipeline for pre-processing multiphoton acquisitions. Named the Multiphoton Image Processing Stream (MIPS as an homage to the processor architecture), this project was a yearlong endeavor and resulted in a program that serves as a standard for the lab. Members of the lab use the program to perform basic operations such as channel splitting, normalization, and comb correction among more. There were also more advanced features, such as unmixing and the use of custom TIFF tags to document operations performed on acquisitions. The code performs much faster than MATLABs standard operations as reading and writing images is performed through the ScanImage library.oCaml Database Management System
August 2019 - December 2019
In the fall of 2019, I took CS 3110 Data Structures and Functional Program taught by Michael Clarkson (one of the best professors at Cornell). As our final project, my team decided to implement a database management system in oCaml using SQL as our standard. We implemented multiple SQL queries such as INSERT, DELETE, SELECT, WHERE, LIKE, ORDER BY and SELECT IN. We also added some of our own custom queries to create and delete databases. As my contribution to the project, I was in charge of the REPL code, the display of tables in terminal, and helped with implementation of some of the queries. Our professor was impressed enough that he emailed our team inviting us to demo the project to him personally.Below on the left is a link to the original project charter.
RISCV
February 2019 - May 2019
In the spring of 2019, I took CS 3410 Computer Systems Organization and Programming taught by Hakim Weatherspoon. As part of a 3-month long project, we built a mini RISCV processor using Logisim. Our design was heavily based upon the Computer Organization and Design RISC-V Edition.Below is an image showing the entire schematic for our processor. Due to the scale of this project, many of the final components (such as the ALUs) are abstractions of what we built earlier in the semester. A pdf detailing the entire breakdown of the project is attached in the bottom left.
Futbol Formation Analysis
June 2018 - August 2018
In the summer of 2018, I returned to university after two gap years abroad. To readjust to the rigor of Cornell, I participated in the Engineer Summer Math Institute (ESMI) where I was introduced to student research. For my team’s research project, we were interested in analyzing different soccer formations used in the FIFA World Cup occurring at the time. In Python, we wrote a soccer simulator that incorporated player movement, passing, and shooting. The simulator allowed for the user to input different team formations and evaluate their performance with metrics such as scoring and possession. At the end of the summer, we had the opportunity to present our research at a symposium at Cornell.Below is the poster we made for the symposium. You can download the pdf in the bottom left.
Instructables Projects
2017 - 2018
I’ve always been interested in Instructables competitions and how there is the opportunity to not only build something cool but share with others how you did it. As of today, I’m a 7-time Instructables winner (1 grand, 3 first, and 3 second) and my tutorials have over half a million views. Most of my winning submissions have been for leatherwork, something I got into while travelling through Ecuador in 2017.I remember there was a time when I felt like it was impossible to win an Instructables competition. Now that I have a couple under my belt, I think I’ve realized the importance of perceived quality and presentation. Most Instructables that are featured or win, are also the ones that are presented or look the best. High quality images and a nice thumbnail are of the highest importance when trying to gain votes. Even if what you’re making isn’t that special or innovative, if you can present it in a way that is appealing then there’s a good chance you’ll be in the running for a competition. Another thing that helped my submissions was the time I spent making companion YouTube tutorials. These helped engage the audience on a different modality and provide more concrete visual aids.
Volunteer Experience
How I share my time
Ithaca Free Clinic
2020 - 2021
I’ve been volunteering at the Ithaca Free Clinic since the beginning of 2020. The IFC has been the door into the medical world for me and has shown me what it might be like to be a physician. As a volunteer I have several responsibilities including administrative tasks and working reception. An ongoing project for me has been helping the clinic transition to electronic health records using Athena, their EHR system.Working at this clinic has been very informative, as I’ve had the opportunity to observe how physicians interact with their patients and interact personally with the patients myself. A lot of the patients who come to the free clinic have no other options for health care, so I’m often interacting with them at a vulnerable moment in their lives. It’s been a blessing to volunteer here and has helped show me that I can pursue a career in the medical field.
Cayuga Medical
March 2020 - May 2020
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Cornell University closed in person classes and moved everything online. While most students had to go home, I stayed in Ithaca to fulfill my duties as an RA for the residents who couldn’t return to their homes. During this time, there was a severe shortage of PPE and the local hospital, Cayuga Medical Center, put on an initiative to produce homemade masks. Once a week, I would go to a gymnasium on Cornell’s campus where dozens of sewing machines had been set up. Using what my grandmother taught me in Ecuador, I helped sew surgical-grade masks to be used not only in Cayuga but other nearby hospitals short of PPE.In total we were able to construct over 90,000 masks to help sustain PPE levels for front-line workers. My contribution was miniscule, but when everyone works together, a little bit from each adds up!
Cornell Cru
2019 - 2020
Upon returning to Cornell in 2018, I re-joined Cru Cornell, a Christian fellowship. During this year, I became part of the volunteer leadership team where we organized, publicized, and attended events. We were heavily involved in Second Winds Cottages, a local organization that housed the homeless while helping them get back on their feet. We also volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army, and Loaves and Fishes (a local soup kitchen). As my contribution to the team, I was in charge of designing flyers, driving people to locations, and helping publicize our events with our Christian community.Youth With A Mission
2016 - 2017
In 2016, I decided to leave Cornell after my freshman year to participate in Youth with a Mission (YWAM), a Christian organization with campuses all over the world. I went to the original campus in Lausanne, Switzerland where I participated in a discipleship training school (DTS). During this 3-month period we learned about the nature and character of God and how we could share our faith with others. Afterwards, we were sent to an undisclosed place in the middle east where 11 peers and I lived for several months, volunteering with local Christian ministries and evangelizing every day. Afterwards, I decided to stay with YWAM Lausanne for another 3 months where I participated in a Biblical Core Course (BBC) during which we read and studied the entire Bible.Overall, the experience with YWAM was very transformative for me. It helped solidify my faith and in a lot of ways grow up into an adult. The chance to live experience a different culture in such a deep and intimate way gave me a new perspective on my own upbringing and sparked a love for travelling to learn more about the world. Volunteering every day for such long hours was definitely challenging but extremely rewarding and I know that whatever I do in my life, I want it to be for good. Something where I will be helping those around me.
Recommendations
What others have said
Daniel is a standout talent whose expertise is in such high demand within MIT LL's Division 4 that I am constantly vying for more of his time. Having had Daniel report directly to me across multiple projects, I have watched him emerge as a preeminent expert in agentic capabilities, consistently bridging complex autonomous research with mission-critical applications. His contributions to our FAA-sponsored programs have been vital, specifically in developing the technical frameworks necessary to safely enable new entrants into the National Airspace System. Beyond his technical rigor, Daniel is exceptionally collaborative and proactive in explaining what is feasible or not, ensuring our objectives are always grounded in reality. I give him my highest recommendation.
I was a PI on one of Daniel's programs at MIT Lincoln Lab. Daniel is an excellent software developer who took initiative and went above and beyond to create an excellent prototype. When I had to leave for a month to teach a class, Daniel took over the software development efforts on the program and did a fantastic job. I would highly recommend him as a competent and reliable SWE.
In Spring 2023, Daniel was a graduate student TA for Cornell's Intro to Computing with Python, a class with ~550 students. He was one of the most popular TAs (for which he received an award) with dozens of students unanimously rating him "Excellent" for his approachability, flexibility, and technical skills. He was praised for maintaining a welcoming and inclusive environment, learning students' names, and asking thought-provoking questions. Daniel was also tasked with streamlining one of the most cumbersome and inefficient tasks associated with exam grading. With his diligence and attention to detail, the entire workflow was transformed. His fellow TAs incredulously raved "This was the smoothest session ever!" He single-handedly saved our course staff dozens of TA-hours of work. As the instructor of the course, I appreciated knowing that Daniel had my back and could be relied on for any responsibility: student-facing, completely behind-the-scenes, and everything in between.
We appreciate the hard work Daniel put in to develop a software tool for synthetic data generation. Daniel's code is clean, well documented, and robust. He works independently and communicates well with the team and is a valuable member to our group. We look forward to working with Daniel again in the future.
Daniel is an established and effective leader within the South Campus community at Cornell University. The plethora of programming experiences he has implemented, have been successful, relevant, and engaging. Daniel's communication and advocacy have been vital in validating his leadership capabilities as a valuable member of our team. It is without a doubt, he will continue in meeting and exceeding your teams and/or organization's needs and expectations.
Dan contributed a tremendous amount to our team during his time with us. Insatiable curiosities drove him on a continual path of learning and self-improvement. He always strove towards pushing the boundaries of our services and diversifying skills that he could share with our community members. Joining our team during the formative years of our makerspace, his insight and legacy can still be seen today. Dan's initiative, dedication, and cheerful personality will serve as invaluable parts of any future team he joins!
We were very fortunate to have Daniel as an Intern during the summer of 2020. He started making significant contributions to our Manufacturing code base almost immediately. I was quite impressed with his work ethic and knowledge of advanced techniques in image processing and computer science. Excellent grasp of complex measurement systems and the software used to control them. This is someone you will want on your team.
Travel
An avid adventurer
I love to travel the world
I like exploring and learning about new countries and cultures. My favorite place so far has been Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. One day, I hope to visit every country on the globe!
Get in touch
I'd love to hear from you