Project Team

Meet the development team behind the REACH Capstone project.

Taylor Davis

Taylor Davis

tjd352@nau.edu

Role: Team Lead / Coder / Architect

Taylor Davis is a senior at Northern Arizona University pursuing dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Computer Science and Information Systems Management, maintaining a 4.0 GPA. He has strong technical experience in Python, Java, C, SQL, and full-stack web development, with projects spanning reinforcement learning, algorithm design, and web applications. In the REACH Capstone project, Taylor serves as Team Leader, coordinating development efforts and ensuring technical direction while also contributing to research and implementation. His interests include artificial intelligence, algorithms, and human-centered technology, with a focus on building adaptive systems that improve quality of life.

Responsibilities: Team Lead / Coder / Architect

  • Meeting Leadership & Coordination: Create and distribute structured meeting agendas, send timely reminders, and facilitate productive discussions to ensure meetings remain focused and efficient.
  • External Communications: Serve as the primary point of contact with clients, customers, the faculty mentor, and the course coordinator. Ensure clear, professional, and consistent communication to align expectations and provide updates.
  • Leadership & Oversight: Provide strategic direction for the project, resolve team conflicts, and maintain accountability for deadlines, quality, and deliverables.
  • Technical Contribution: Actively contribute to coding and architectural decisions, balancing leadership with hands-on involvement.

Victor Rodriguez

Victor Rodriguez

vr527@nau.edu

Role: Coder / Recorder / Architect

Victor Rodriguez is a Computer Science post-baccalaureate student at Northern Arizona University with a strong background in both technology and leadership. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, he has extensive experience leading teams and solving complex problems in high-pressure environments. In the REACH capstone project, Victor serves as a Coder, Recorder, and Architect, where he manages task tracking, documents meetings, and contributes to both backend and frontend development. His interests include systems programming, artificial intelligence, and human-centered technology, with a particular focus on building adaptive systems that improve quality of life.

Responsibilities:

  • Task Management & Tracking: Own the task tracker, ensuring all project milestones, mentor deliverables, and internal tasks are up-to-date, prioritized, and assigned. Provide visibility into project progress for both the team and mentor.
  • Documentation & Record Keeping: Capture and distribute comprehensive meeting minutes that detail decisions, discussions, action items, and follow-ups. Ensure the team has clear records to maintain accountability.
  • Core Coding Contributions: Lead implementation efforts across both backend and frontend modules. Collaborate closely with peers to integrate features, troubleshoot issues, and ensure maintainable, production-ready code.
  • Architectural Oversight & Guidance: Support overall system design and review code for compliance with architectural standards. Provide technical guidance on best practices, design patterns, scalability considerations, and system integration strategies.
  • Knowledge Sharing: Act as a resource for teammates by documenting workflows, explaining architectural choices, and ensuring continuity of knowledge across the team.

Clayton Ramsey

Clayton Ramsey

car723@nau.edu

Role: Coder / Architect

Clayton Ramsey is an undergraduate Computer Science student at Northern Arizona University. Clayton has a background in web development, multiple programming languages, and GitHub. He is currently just a student but he has been through multiple high-intensity projects and various programming creations. In the scope of the REACH capstone project, Clayton serves as a Coder and Architect, being in charge of whatever needs assistance with GitHub or with other coding assignments for the capstone. His interests include programming, artificial intelligence, and building things from the ground up.

Responsibilities:

  • Development Support: Contribute to implementation across assigned modules, ensuring adherence to coding standards and project requirements.
  • Collaboration & Peer Support: Assist teammates with GitHub workflows, debugging, and troubleshooting code. Provide one-on-one support where needed to maintain development efficiency.
  • Architectural Input: Participate in design discussions and contribute to architectural decisions to ensure a scalable, maintainable solution.
  • Quality Assurance: Support code reviews and testing efforts, helping ensure high-quality deliverables.

Lucas Larson

Lucas Larson

lwl33@nau.edu

Role: Coder / Version Control Manager / Architect

Lucas Larson is an undergraduate Computer Science student at Northern Arizona University. Lucas has a background in full-stack development and project management. He works as a research assistant for various research labs on NAU campus and serves as Vice President of the ACM Student Chapter at NAU. In the scope of this project, Lucas will work as version control manager, developer, and engineer. He is interested in embedded systems, system design, and devops. Lucas is anticipating this project will advance embedded machine learning in wearable robotics and make mechatronics more accessible.

Responsibilities:

  • Version Control Management: Oversee all GitHub operations, including repository setup, branching strategy, pull request reviews, and merge approvals. Ensure the team follows best practices in version control and maintains a clean commit history.
  • Process Enforcement: Establish guidelines for issue tracking, feature branches, and release tagging to maintain development discipline.
  • Coding & Architectural Work: Contribute to system design and coding efforts, ensuring architectural consistency and maintainability across modules.
  • Mentorship on Tools: Provide team training or troubleshooting support related to GitHub and CI/CD workflows.

Team Overview

Team REACH works collaboratively through a structured approach to project management and communication. The team meets weekly with their mentor every Thursday from 4:30–5:30 PM and attends bi-weekly sponsor meetings every other Tuesday from 2:00–3:30 PM. In addition, weekly capstone lectures take place on Fridays from 12:45–3:15 PM. Impromptu meetings may also be scheduled with at least 24-hour notice if urgent issues arise.

Communication and coordination are facilitated through a shared task tracker, GitHub issues, and a version-controlled repository. Team members provide quick status updates at the start of meetings, review ongoing tasks, and discuss blockers before assigning new action items. Meeting agendas and reminders are prepared in advance by the team lead, and comprehensive minutes are recorded and distributed within 24 hours to ensure alignment and accountability.

Decisions are made by consensus whenever possible, or by a ¾ majority vote if consensus cannot be reached. In cases of persistent disagreement, issues are escalated to the faculty mentor for resolution.

The team emphasizes professional, respectful communication, maintaining accountability, and adhering to established document and coding standards (Google Docs, Microsoft Word/PowerPoint, Draw.io, Lucidchart, GitHub branching conventions).

Project Sponsor Information

Sponsor: Dr. Zach Lerner, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, NAU

Contact: [Sponsor contact information]

Website: https://biomech.nau.edu

Sponsor: Prof. Carlo R. da Cunha, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering, NAU

Contact: [Sponsor contact information]

Website: https://ac.nau.edu/~cc3682