DOME People

Headshot of Paul Brenner, a bald man with blue eyes, wearing a brown blazer and blue checkered shirt, against a gray background.

Paul Brenner

Deputy Director of the Data, AI, and Computing Initiative

Paul Brenner is the Deputy Director of the Data, AI, and Computing Initiative. His research centers on the advancement of computational infrastructure for scientific discovery. Three current areas of work are secure cloud and distributed systems for science, architecture aware scientific algorithms, and computational social science. Brenner is also an affiliated faculty member of the iNDustry Labs, ND Energy, and the Wireless Institute.

Headshot of Evan Brinckman, a young man with light brown hair, blue glasses, and a blue striped shirt smiles gently.

Evan Brinckman

AI Engineer

Prior to joining DOME, Evan was an Associate Research Programmer with the Center for Research Computing. As an intern with the CRC, he participated in several internships for the CRC. Such as the Research Experience for Undergraduates program where he analyzed convolutional neural networks. He also developed machine learning models for the blockchain research team. Brinckman graduated from Indiana University Bloomington in 2021 with a B.S. in computer science specializing in artificial intelligence and a minor in psychology.

Headhsot of Matthew Curran, a man with gray hair and beard, wearing black glasses, a blue shirt, and a gold tie, smiling broadly.

Matthew Curran

Software Engineer

Before joining DOME, Matthew Curran joined Notre Dame in 2021 as a Research Programmer with the Center for Research Computing. He is a graduate of the University of California, Davis with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, and has previous experience as a software engineer specializing in emergency medical systems data collection.

Headhsot of Jared Hendrickson, a bearded man with blue eyes, wearing a blue shirt, black vest, charcoal plaid suit jacket, and floral tie, smiles.

Jared Hendrickson

Project Manager

Jared Hendrickson is a project manager for DOME. He joined the University of Notre Dame as a Product Owner in 2017 for the Center for Research Computing, working for several years in that capacity. After spending some time away from the University, he recently returned again as Product Owner in 2024. Prior to working at Notre Dame, he spent 5 years as a white-glove IT consultant to the VIP Officers and Enrollment Division in the golden dome. As a Product Owner, his dominant responsibility is to represent DOME within the Investigator’s project space, and to represent the project within the development team. This generally includes translating ongoing research requirements into software development tasks, prioritizing and managing the flow of work to the development team, and communicating with various project stakeholders as needed to facilitate project execution and deliver outputs for analysis.

Headshot of Karan Kapoor, a young man with dark hair and beard, wearing a blue and white striped shirt, smiling gently against a gray background.

Karan Kapoor

Data Scientist

Karan Kapoor is a Data Scientist for DOME. He holds a master’s degree in Engineering Management from the Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey, and a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunication from Mumbai University. In his current position, Karan collects and analyzes data for the lab and other institute-sponsored research initiatives, showcasing his commitment to excellence in the dynamic field of data science. Before joining Notre Dame, he spent over two years working as a Software Engineer, specializing in Robotics Process Automation (RPA) for an Indian IT firm. He engaged with various industries, such as banking, manufacturing, and marketing.

Headshot of Michael Kennel, a young man with brown hair and black glasses, wearing a blue plaid shirt, smiles against a plain gray background.

Michael Kennel

Software Engineering Manager

Michael Kennel is a Software Engineering Manager for the DOME. A native to the Northern Indiana area and a graduate of Indiana University South Bend, Kennel is invested in the local community and dedicated to affecting positive change to the region. By developing software to assist in data collection and representation he contributes his years of experience as a front end web developer to collaborate with the data scientists of the Lucy Family Institute. Before joining Notre Dame, Kennel worked as an application developer for the City of South Bend and most recently for South Bend Code School and Code Works.

Headhsot of Dae Kun Kwon, a man with glasses, short dark hair, and light stubble wears a blue, white, and yellow plaid shirt.

Dae Kun Kwon

Software Engineer

Dae Kun Kwon is a Software Engineer for DOME. He originlly joined the Notre Dame in 2014 as a computational scientist, as well as a research assistant professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences. His research interests include web-enabled modeling and simulation of extreme winds and their effects on structures; structural health monitoring based on the Internet of Things; enhancing sustainability and mitigation of structures against natural hazards; the cyber-enabled approach and its workflow for database-enabled design; machine learning approaches on data; and cyber-physical systems fusing computational and experimental models.

Kallie Lies

Project Manager

Kallie Lies is a Project Manager for the DOME.

Headshot of Alli Linhart, a smiling young woman with short curly brown hair and amber glasses, wearing a dark green boat-neck top.

Alli Linhart

Software Engineer

Allison (Alli) Linhart is Software Engineer for the DOME. She earned her bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Portland. Prior to joining Notre Dame, Allison contributed her expertise as a Software Engineer at North Wind Solutions. She is enthusiastic about applying her skills to further the mission of the Institute.

Headshot of Ramadeep SinghMakhija, a man with black patka, beard, and glasses, wearing a light blue patterned shirt, looking forward with a neutral expression.

Ramandeep Makhija

Lead Data Scientist

Ramandeep Makhija is a Lead Data Scientist for the DOME. He holds a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo with specialization in Operations Research and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pune. His responsibilities in the current position are to plan and manage data science and analytics projects in collaboration with a wide range of businesses in manufacturing, healthcare, etc. Before joining Notre Dame’s Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society he worked as a Data Scientist for the non-profit organization Citizens Utility Board in Chicago, IL.

Headshot of Priscila Correa Saboia Moreira, a smiling woman with dark curly hair, light skin, and pearl earrings wears a white top and black cardigan.

Priscila Correa Saboia Moreira

AI Engineer

Priscila Correa Saboia Moreira supports DOME as an AI Engineer. She joined Notre Dame in 2022 as a Data Engineer in the Center for Research Computing. Currently she is responsible for creating, developing, and testing systems to act and make decisions regarding data in the same way a human expert in that field would. Priscila also interacts with project and department leadership to provide status and input on strategic decisions related to Machine Learning, semantic technologies, and Ontologies. Priscila completed her B.S. at the Federal University of Pará (UFPa-Brazil) and her M.S at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp-Brazil), both in Computer Science.

Headshot of Russ Morris, a smiling man with gray hair and glasses, wearing a blue, white, and gray plaid shirt.

Russ Morris

Software Engineer

William ‘Russ’ Morris is a Software Engineer for the DOME. A Mishawaka, Indiana native, Russ graduated from Franklin College (Franklin, IN) with a degree in Computer Science. Before joining Notre Dame, Russ worked locally as a full stack Software Engineer with Xcel Controls, Inc., Memorial Hospital, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., and ICC-NTA Inc. Russ brings his years of extensive software development experience in Industrial and Electrical Engineering, Medical, Finance, and Insurance industries to his role as a software developer in collaboration with the data scientists of the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society. Russ is active in the local community acting as an assistant high school track coach, member of the Knights of Columbus, and an active member of Queen of Peace parish in Mishawaka.

Headshot of Margaret Nichols, a woman with short reddish-blonde hair and glasses smiles. She wears a teal top and black cardigan, with beaded earrings.

Margaret Nichols

Data Scientist

Margaret Nichols is a data scientist with the DOME. She holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Chicago. Prior to joining Notre Dame, she held appointments as a Simons Postdoctoral Fellow at the Fields Institute in Toronto and as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the mathematics department at the University at Buffalo.

Headshot of Samuel Njoroge, a smiling young Black man with short dark hair and a neatly trimmed beard, wearing a red, brown, and gold plaid shirt.

Samuel Njoroge

Senior Software Engineer

Samuel Njoroge supports DOME as a senior software engineer. He joined the University of Notre Dame as an intern for the Center for Research Computing in 2010. In his current role as a Senior Software Engineer, his focus is on full stack development and supporting development stacks and tools. Njoroge holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from Indiana University South Bend, as well as a master's degree from the University of Notre Dame.

Headshot of Lucas Parzianello, a man with short brown hair and dark-framed glasses wears a white shirt and pinstriped dark suit, smiling.

Lucas Parzianello

Software Engineer

Lucas Parzianello supports the DOME as a software engineer. He joined the Universityy of Notre Dame in 2023 as a Research Programmer. He obtained his M.Sc. degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Notre Dame after working with computer vision and machine learning in the field of biometrics. With previous experience in web development, his areas of interest also include software engineering, MLOps, and distributed systems. Lucas holds a B.Sc. in Computer Engineering from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Brazil.

Headshot of David Pettifor, a smiling bald man with a brown beard, wearing a burgundy shirt, black tie, and vest.

David Pettifor

Software Engineering Manager

David Pettifor is a software engineering manager with the DOME. In this role, he focuses on fostering growth among his team members, expanding their skill sets, and using his experience as a senior software developer to mentor and bring solutions to multiple research projects. Pettifor originally joined the CRC in 2011 through an internship and became a full-time staff member shortly thereafter, serving in various programming and management roles. He is a 2011 graduate of Indiana University South Bend, with a bachelor's degree in computer science, and he has taken several computer science and engineering graduate courses at the University of Notre Dame.

Headshot of Kinsey Poland, a person with buzzed light brown hair, gold glasses, and a green cowl neck top looks forward.

Kinsey Poland

Software Engineer

Kinsey Poland joined the University of Notre Dame as an associate research programmer in October 2020 and now supports DOME as a software engineer. She is a contributing member of the Velocity Raptors software development team. Her previous employment was as a web developer in the Office of Online Learning at the University of Georgia where she also graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Astrophysics in May 2020.

Headshot of Caleb Reinking, a smiling man with blonde hair in a blue suit, light blue patterned shirt, and dark blue tie against a gray background.

Caleb Reinking

Associate Director, Deployment, Operations, Modeling and Engineering

Caleb Reinking is the Associate Director for DOME. Caleb graduated from LeTourneau University in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in computer science and a minor in business administration. After finishing his degree, Caleb spent three years in Iowa developing embedded aircraft avionics systems. Before joining DOME, Caleb supported the Center for Research Computing as a research programmer.

Headshot of Sarah Rucker, a blonde woman wearing glasses and a dark green top, smiling at the camera.

Sarah Rucker

Senior Software Engineer

Sarah Rucker supports DOME as a senior software engineer. She joined the University of Notre Dame in 2018 as a research programmer for the Center for Research Computing. She collaborates on software projects that build decentralized blockchain applications and integrated circuit designs. Rucker is a 2013 graduate of the Indiana University South Bend, with a bachelor's degree in informatics. Prior to joining the CRC, she worked as a software engineer at EMU Technology in South Bend.

Headshot of Bradley Sandberg, a man with short brown hair, wearing a light blue collared shirt, smiles pleasantly.

Bradley Sandberg

AI Engineering Manager

Before joining DOME, Brad Sandberg joined the University of Notre Dame in 2019 as a research programmer, focusing on software support, middleware, and interface developments. He creates tools in Python, Java, C, C++, SQL to support scientific applications, databases, and analysis of data. Before joining Notre Dame, Brad served as technology manager and senior developer for ABI Attachments.

Headshot of James Sweet, a man with light skin, hair in a bun, and glasses wears a pinstripe suit, gray shirt, and dark tie, with a neutral expression.

James Sweet

Senior AI Engineer

James Sweet supports DOME as a senior AI engineer. He joined the University of Notre Dame as a computational scientist in 2018, focusing on research involving hardware accelerators, primarily graphics processing units. His current work focuses on a number of areas, including mobile applications, blockchain, containerization, and machine learning. Sweet completed his B.S. in computer games programming at Staffordshire University, UK and his M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Notre Dame.

Headshot of Shaun Whitfield, a man with reddish-brown beard and black glasses, in a grey suit, white shirt, and red/grey striped tie, smiling.

Shaun Whitfield

AI Engineer

Shaun Whitfield started at the University of Notre Dame as an intern with the Center for Research Computing, later joining the team as a full-time developer. Currently he supports DOME as an AI Engineer. He graduated from Indiana University South Bend with a bachelor's degree in computer science. Prior to the DOME, Shaun worked in IT for a non-profit called Church World Service and volunteered as an instructor for the South Bend Code School where he taught introductory web design to kids and teenagers. Shaun grew up in the area and currently resides in Mishawaka with his wife and two daughters. In his spare time, Shaun enjoys games of all kinds and spending time with his family.