Robotics and Poetry

Lincoln Dover may be skilled in robotics, but he also enjoys creative writing and poetry. As a student at New York Tech, he hopes to gain experience working in solar power or another area of the renewable energy field, which is why he chose to major in mechanical engineering.

Part of a team of student employees in the Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation Center (ETIC) building prototypes based on existing NASA patents, Dover is the mechanical designer for a robotic therapy vest (ultimately, will be more like a jacket) for patients with neurological impairments. (Read more about New York Tech’s contract with NASA.)

Working on the NASA project under the leadership of ETIC Director Michael Nizich, Ph.D., is not Lincoln’s first foray into robotics. He built the robotic arm for E.R.R.S.E.L.A., the ETIC Research Robot for Student Engagement and Learning Activities. “I am very proud of the first prototype I made [for E.R.R.S.E.L.A.], as it was the first robotics project I’d ever done,” he said.

Dover says his career goal is entrepreneurship, and he’s certainly off to a good start. New York Tech is “giving me practical experience in the ETIC lab and also preparing me for the future through my dynamic and engaging classes,” he shared. His dream job is to have his own business manufacturing green energy technology.

While adjusting to some higher-level courses has been challenging, Dover also says he pushes himself to not get too comfortable with the level he’s reached in order to continue growing. His hard work is rewarded by “being able to apply some fundamental principles I learn in the classroom to my daily life.” Good grades are a nice result, as well.

Dover, who is originally from Trinidad and Tobago, says New York Tech offers a very welcoming environment. “It complements my academic life wonderfully,” he says. His advice to incoming students: “Pursue what you are passionate about, even if you have to do so outside of the classroom.”