Looking at the length of this page, I feel it necessary to advise whoever sees this that you should not feel obligated to read all or any of this. A while back, following the advice of a friend, I decided to write a longer biography for myself then would be appropriate to put in the short statement on my homepage. Though writing about yourself in the third person feels weird—at least to me—this bio has been quite useful whenever I'm trying to remember all of this stuff. I decided to edit this bio and put it up on my website mostly because that feels like an appropriate place for something like this, even if its length risks making me look a bit vain; additionally, I figured that if someone actually wanted to take the time to read through all of this, that's honestly pretty flattering.
Joseph Vincent D’Amico IV and his twin sister were born in Jefferson, LA to Jay and Lyn D’Amico. Both of his parents were engineers, and their shared interest in math and science was passed on to him. He has always been interested in science and learning, even as a child. He attended St. Martin’s Episcopal School in Metairie, LA from pre-kindergarten until he graduated high school as valedictorian. During his time there, he became even more interested in science and learning, which led him to become a member of the quiz bowl team, captain of Science Olympiad, and president of the math club. He also enjoys swimming and was captain of the swim team.
By the time he graduated high school, Joseph had already decided that he wanted to be an engineer, but for a while, he was unsure of what kind of engineer he wanted to become. He eventually chose to study electrical engineering because he was interested in computers, but he felt that he did not know as much about them as he would like. After moving to Houston, TX to attend Rice University, he found himself genuinely enjoying (most of) his engineering assignments. As his whimsical fascination with computers evolved into a deeper appreciation of electrical engineering, his choice of a career path was reaffirmed. Now that he had some semblance of a plan for the future, he sought out activities related to his newfound passion, which led him to join the Rice robotics club, the solar house club, the student chapter of IEEE, and the research group of his advisor, Dr. Joe Cavallaro.
As he got closer to graduation, Joseph felt confidently that he had learned enough to do well in industry, but he did not feel that he was finished learning; he felt that if he went into industry directly after graduation, it would be more difficult to find time to learn things that were not directly related to his job. During an internship at Baker Hughes, although he enjoyed it, this feeling became stronger, so he decided to pursue a graduate degree. He left Rice with a BS in electrical engineering with a focus in computer engineering and a minor in business. He then enrolled in a PhD program at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN as a Russell G. Hamilton Scholar. There, he was a member of the radiation effects and reliability group under his advisor, Dr. Jeff Kauppila. At Vanderbilt, he was vice-chair of the student chapter of the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society and vice-president of the Vanderbilt University amateur-radio club.
Joseph’s research primarily involved characterizing the effects of radiation on modern microelectronics and designing built-in self-test capabilities for radiation test circuits; he received an NDIA fellowship award for his work in this area. Research such as this is vital for the reliability of circuits used in space and defense applications, where high levels of radiation can often be a concern. He left Vanderbilt after earning his MS and PhD in electrical engineering, but he decided to remain in a lab environment where he can continue to do research; this decision came after a summer internship at Sandia National Laboratories, which he enjoyed so much that he accepted a full-time position there after defending his PhD. Joseph wishes to continue researching radiation effects because he believes that space exploration and national security are of paramount importance, and he finds fulfillment in doing work that supports these objectives.
On the rare days when he is not doing research, he enjoys reading, playing video games, hobby electronics, hiking, and swimming. In addition to those, he is interested in amateur radio and has a technician operating license, which he hopes to use more now that he is done with grad school and has more free time. He also has a completely healthy obsession with lemons and lemonade, which you might have guessed from looking at this website’s favicon.