# Clark Davenport > Software Engineer - Planning and Control at Zoox Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/clarkdavenport I build motion planning systems for autonomous robots, but am interested in all things robots. ## Work Experience ### Software Engineer - Planning and Control @ Zoox Jan 2020 – Present ### Robotics Engineer @ Built Robotics Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area I was the project manager for the lower-level motion planning and controls for autonomous excavators. Before assuming that role, I focused heavily on making our GPS software reliable and our robot infrastructure robust. ### Member of the Technical Staff, II @ Draper Jan 2015 – Jan 2019 | Cambridge, MA As Motion Planning Capability Lead across autonomous water programs, worked with all major stakeholders to design a flexible global/local motion planning architecture that met requirements across all programs. Designed, implemented, and tested obstacle avoidance algorithm for deployment on Naval Undersea Warfare Center autonomous underwater vessel. Designed, implemented, and tested flexible software infrastructure to allow multiple methods of elevation control for autonomous undersea vehicles. Developed, validated, and documented algorithm on covariance propagation technique to calculate parachute uncertainty for US Air Force Airdrop delivery of cargo. Led testing efforts for parachute-based hazard avoidance algorithm that resulted in numerous bug fixes and recommended changes leading to a 5x speed increase. Recipient of the 2017 and the 2018 Outstanding Contribution Award. ### Data Scientist and Software Engineer @ Sensor Tower Jan 2015 – Jan 2015 | Cambridge, MA Created algorithm for automatic assignment of descriptive tags for mobile application reviews to enable users to quickly understand reviewer sentiment, faulty behavior, and requests. Expanded mobile application download and revenue prediction by incorporating multiple linear regression model to increase estimate accuracy. ### Analytics Engineer @ KAYAK Jan 2013 – Jan 2015 | Cambridge, MA Implemented a distributed, parallelized crawler capable of crawling 3500 pages/min to facilitate error rate and PageRank analysis of Kayak.com. Wrote internal dashboards using Django to provide both SEO traffic/revenue information and link structure/page structure errors. Utilized Weka to perform KNN-based similarity score generation for pages of both similar and dissimilar types. Implemented advertiser cost-per-click bidding guidance utility by simulating production bidding process to generate revenue from increased advertiser bids. ### Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant for Introduction to Robotics @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jan 2011 – Jan 2013 | Cambridge, MA Implemented human-robot coordination algorithm on 7-DoF robot to assist a worker in wiring a control box in real-time time for demonstration for Boeing executives. Designed and implemented software architecture of multi-limb wearable robot using LabView and Python to coordinate low and high level motion planning, sensing, and vision systems. Designed, fabricated, and programmed a self-balancing robot with LabView to teach students about inertial measurement units, sensor fusion, and full-state feedback. Implemented Python API for communication with Dynamixel Servos to enable students an alternative to LabView to control robotic motion. Analyzed biomechanical effects of a wearable robot on the human body in paper published in the 2012 Dynamic Systems and Control Conference. Received student evaluation score of 6.9/7.0 for efforts as lead teaching assistant of Introduction to Robotics, Fall 2012. ### Data Analyst Intern @ Kayak.com Jan 2010 – Jan 2011 Implemented marketing cost into pricing models of Kayak affiliates using Hive, MySQL, Perl, and Bash to provide more accurate long term profit projections Developed and implemented automated pricing model to allow business team to optimally price click-through rates of posted Google advertisements Established framework to process raw user data and post results graphically on internal website daily to monitor download trends of website features ### Mechanical Engineering Intern @ Barrett Technology, Inc. Jan 2009 – Jan 2009 Designed and rapid prototyped safety covers to eliminate hazardous pinch-points in robot using solid-modeling software and assorted plastics Interpreted assembly drawings to write step-by-step instructions for use in future fabrications Developed quality control procedure to ensure engineering standards compliance of all parts in robotic arm Collected raw cable stress data and wrote accompanying Java code to output Matlab-ready code to provide insight about maximum load capacity and elongation ### Research Assistant @ Massachusetts General Hospital Jan 2008 – Jan 2008 Investigated various medical and computer science journals to learn about modern statistical genomic techniques Independently learned Perl to code various genetic association tests for the examination of SNP and haplotypic effects on phenotypes and genotypes to increase the accuracy of contemporary analysis software packages ### Team Member @ Cambridge Robocup Jan 2007 – Jan 2008 Developed, tested, and debugged transformer/solenoidal circuit for collegiate competition using modeling software and various electrical testing devices Collaborated with other members of electrical engineering subteam as well members from computer science and mechanical engineering subteams Placed second in small-robot division of Robocup national competition ## Education ### Masters of Science in Thesis: Supernumerary Robotic Libs: Biomedical Analysis and Human-Robot Coordination Training Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jan 2011 – Jan 2013 ### Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jan 2007 – Jan 2011 ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/cldavenport --- Source: https://flows.cv/clarkdavenport JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/clarkdavenport/resume.json Last updated: 2026-03-23