Born Inventor & Innovator

TWO patents granted with others pending

I have a knack for coding or building anything and everything that improves the quality of life for people

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Photo taken by Scott Soifer using DJI Mavic Mini (May 27, 2020)

Feature 1

Inventor

&

Student at Columbia University, School of Engineering and Applied Science. Class of 2022.

Featured Projects

Soft Skills

Hard Skills

Mill
Lathe
Drill Press
Welding
Brazing
3D Printing
Laser Cutting
Soldering

Featured Projects

github.com/scottsoif/

Spongebot,

Bipedal Robot

Python | Solidworks | Simulation

  • Sketched robot design and created CAD model.
    • Added details to Solidworks Asssembly including motor joints, screws, washers, electronics.
    • Routed wires to ensure proper fit and plug clearance.
  • 3D printed all non-electrical components.
  • Programmed all robot code in Python.
    • Robot computer is Raspberry and programs are controlled via ssh connection.

Github repo

Video Demo 1

Video Demo 2

This Website,

scoll through and enjoy

HTML | CSS | Bootsrap

Github repo

CrowdIt

is an iPhone app created for COVID-19

Swift | MySQL | PHP

  • See how crowded a business is in real-time by tapping on a map marker or entering a store name using the search feature.
    • To properly socially distance it's best to know when a store is least busy during times of the Coronavirus pandemic. This is why CrowdIt is handy.
  • Runs in background and sends location data and the devices 'identifierForVendor' to MySQL database.
  • Utilizes Google Places API and Maps SDK for ios.

Github repo

TAME-AD Joint Cohort Explorer

is a tool for Alzheimer researchers

Python | Django | neo4j

  • The platform contains over 50,000 data records from multiple Alzheimer Disease studies.
    • These studies include EFIGA, WHICAP, PhenoGenetic (REDCap).
    • More studies are in the process of being added to our database.
  • An interactive Dash Plotly Pivottable allows researchers to examine these studies in depth.
    • Features include bar charts, scatter plots, pie charts, tables, aggregations and much more.
  • Graphs allow researchers to study family patterns in Alzheimers.
  • Protected Health Information (PHI) is accessable to authenticated users with a login.

Released to public early fall 2020

LinkedIn Remix

Python | PostgresSQL

  • This is a mock LinkedIn website I created with a friend.
  • LinkedIn Remix contains many of LinkedIn's actual features with mock data:
    • See a persons's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree connections.
    • Browse school alumni.
    • Explore and apply to job postings.
    • View posts (and comments on those posts) made by a user.
    • Find average company salaries.
    • View the volunteers of a specific organization.

Github repo

Demo video coming soon.

Patents & Publications

Soifer, Scott Andrew. Vehicular Heatstroke Prevention Device. US Patent No.: 9,796,371 B2.
Granted on October 24, 2017.

View Patent

Soifer, Scott Andrew. Method For Vehicular Heatstroke Prevention. US Patent No.: 10,556,581 B2.
Granted on Feburary 11, 2020.

View Patent

The above two patents are for my Vehicular Heatstroke Prevention System

(VHPS)

Tragically, there have been over 906 reported U.S. child vehicular heatstroke deaths since 1998. My invention can stop these deaths.

  • My invention, the VHPS, can detect the presense of a child:
    • If the temperature rises to a preset threshold, the VHPS starts the vehicle's engine and air conditioning unit preventing any heatstroke to the child.
    • An Android app I wrote automatically contacts emergency personnel, providing GPS coordinates, directions and real-time information.
  • I have won international and national awards and traveled the globe for this invention.
    • 1st Place in Embedded Systems, Long Island Science and Engineering Fair (LISEF)
    • Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), Embedded Systems, 4th Place, Grand Awards
    • Finalist, Valeo Innovation Challenge 2018, Digitial Mobility Category, Paris, France
    More Awards:
    Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) – Scholar (Semifinalist)
    Thomas Edison Award for Innovation at The National Gallery for America’s Young Inventors Hall of Fame, part the National Museum of Education (nmoe.org)
    The Yale Science & Engineering Association, Inc. - Most Outstanding Exhibit in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, or Chemistry at LISEF
    International Scientific Online Project Olympiad (ISOPO), Energy & Design, Silver Award
    Millenial STEM Award, LISEF
    Semifinalist, Conrad Spirit of Innovation Challenge at NASA Kennedy Space Center
    Semifinalist, Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS, Long Island Region)
    Long Island Science Congress - Honorable Mention Award
    Vehicular Heatstroke Prevention System: The Heat-Free Car (First-Generation Prototype)
    Semifinalist, Conrad Spirit of Innovation Challenge at NASA Kennedy Space Center
    2nd Place in Environmental Engineering, South Asian American Women's Alliance, Long Island
    U.S. Metric Association Award (Sponsor), Long Island Science and Engineering Fair (LISEF)
    Top 10 of 390, Molloy Science Competition, Rockville Center, NY
    Long Island Science Congress – Highest Honors Award
    Long Island Science Congress – Special Award, Angelina and Matthew Lombardo Award
    Proclamations & Citations:
    Honorary Citation, Regeneron Science Talent Search Scholar, Nassau County Legislature, February 22, 2018
    Honorary Proclamation, New York State Senate, February 2, 2018
    New York State Assembly Certificate of Merit, January 19, 2018
    Honorary Citation, 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, Nassau County Legislature, January 10, 2018
    Honorary Citation, Nassau County Legislature, August 7, 2017
    News Articles
    Newsday “Way to Go!: Scott Soifer, of Lawrence” January 28, 2018 (Newsprint edition)
    Newsday “Way to Go!: Scott Soifer, of Lawrence” January 26, 2018
    Great Neck Record, “North Shore Regeneron Scholar’s Invention Saves Lives” January 21, 2018
    Long Island, Nassau Herald “Youthful tinkerer lives to create and Invent” September 14, 2017 (Newsprint edition)
    InnovateLI “You Know The Mother Of Invention. Here’s The Son” March 20, 2016
    Newsday "Long Islanders behind Miracle Mop, Segway and more inventions" - November 2016
    SBPress “Tales of a Tenth Grader” March 23, 2016
    The Osprey “A Fifteen Year-Old Schoolboy Invents Heatstroke Device to Prevent Death in Hot Cars”

Vasios N, Gross AJ, Soifer S, Overvelde JTB, Bertoldi K. Harnessing Viscous Flow to Simplify the Actuation of Fluidic Soft Robots.
Soft Robotics. 2019. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

View Publication

This publication is for research I performed at Harvard Univeristy.

  • Soft robots have a variety of innovative use applications:
    • Surgery
    • Rescure operations on uneven terrain
    • Rehabilitation
    • Biomimicry
  • A fluidic control system allows fluidic control of soft robots
  • Soft robots use multiple inputs to perform intricate actions, such as flexible gripping or manipulating another object. We developed a more efficient design utilizing one individual input to perform multiple intricate movements. Fewer robotic parts can provide the same complex information to the robot while minimizing weight and creating a simpler user interface.

Video Demo 1

Video Demo 2

Experience

github.com/scottsoif/

Merck,

Kenilworth, NJ

May 2021 – August 2021

  • Machine Learning Intern
  • Designed high performance synthetic data generator using Bayesian Networks
  • Developed processing functions for data manipulation
  • Produced MLOPS pipeline in AWS to deploy Bayesian Network model on the cloud
  • Communicated with executives to create custom data science solutions for primary market data

Columbia Build Lab (CBL),

New York, NY

June 2020 – March 2021

  • Lead Backend Developer
  • Developed the backend platform for a social media app
    • Created a REST API using Django (deployed on Heroku)
    • Implemented user profile database, newsfeed, and some secret features...
    • Security: implemented the authentication system using JSON Web Tokens, secured user data with presigned URLs
    • Deployed MySQL database on AWS RDS also utilizing Django object-relation mapping

Columbia University,

New York, NY

February 2020 – August 2020

  • Full Stack Developer, Center for Computational Learning Systems
  • Research Advisor: Dr. Albert Boulanger, Senior Staff Associate
  • Web platform for anlyzing analyzing Alzheimer's disease patient data

Scroll up to learn more

Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS),

New York, NY

Summer 2019

  • Device Development Intern, Department of Biomechanics
  • Advisor: Joe Lipman, Director of Device Development
  • Design of implants and femoral extractor for Total Knee Arthroplasty
  • Developed a data engineering platform to improve lab workflow
    • Identified and streamlined lab management processes using python to determine a schedule for equipment use

Github repo

Bel-Air Electric,

Hewlett, NY

Summer 2018

  • Summer Intern, Electrical Engineering & Construction
  • Designed and updated company website in HTML and JavaScript
  • Onsite electrical advisor
  • Estimated project costs for bid takeoffs using PlanSwift and Excel:
    • JFK Airport Runway Lighting
    • Laguardia Airport Runway Lighting
    • One World Trade Center Communications Tower and Radios
    • New York State bridge electrical and lighting

Harvard University,

John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Summer 2017

  • Summer Research Intern, Department of Solid Mechanics
  • Research Advisor: Dr. Katia Bertoldi, Professor
  • Designing soft robotics to perform complex outputs from a single input

Scroll up to learn more

Tufts University,

CEEO (Center for Engineering and Outreach).

Medford, Massachusetts

Summer 2017

  • Summer Research Intern, Department of Mechanical Engineering
  • Research Advisor: Dr. Chris Rogers, Professor & Chair
  • Created an autonomous grasper with object detection for the Baxter robot

Video Demo 1

Video Demo 2

Answers to common questions about me

Frequently Asked Questions

When are your office hours?

Great question! Tuesdays at 5:30 PM

When you were a child, what did you do with gadgets (i.e. remote control cars) when you received them?

I would take them apart and ensure I understood how they worked and then reassemble them.

Why did you often miss class in middle and high school?

Multiple teachers would pull me out of class to fix their computers and AV equipment.

Do you ever hit roadblocks?

Failure is not an option!!

How old were you when you got your first patent?

17 years old.

What was your first tool and what did you do with it?

I got my first phillips head screwdriver when I was three years old and I took the kitcken cabinet off the hinges that day ... then I reinstalled the doors.

Other than inventing, what are some of your favorite pastime activities?

Long distance road cycling, skiing, off-roading, hanging out with friends.

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