Nick, who grew up in Essex Junction, Vermont completed his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science in the spring of 2012. While at UVM, Nick started research on evolutionary robotics under the supervision of Prof. Josh Bongard. After graduation, Nick was accepted into a PhD program at Cornell University.

There, Nick is pursuing research into autonomous machines and is funded by NASA: Nick is helping to develop prototype robot probes that may explore the surface of the outer moons of the solar system. Recently, Nick gave a TEDx presentation at Cornell entitled “Automated Creativity: Designing Robots Through Artificial Evolution”. His most recent paper contains results generated through the use of the VACC, and is entitled “Evolving soft robots in tight spaces”.