# Robert Hernandez Robert Hernandez is an American electrical and computer engineer, formerly a heavyweight torpedo systems engineer at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport in [Rhode Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/rhode-island), who received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in the Department of Defense section; the award was announced by President Donald J. Trump on July 2, 2019.[1](https://www.uri.edu/news/2019/08/uri-engineering-alumnus-middletown-resident-earns-presidential-early-career-award/) He is a [University of Rhode Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-rhode-island) (URI) College of Engineering alumnus whose doctoral research on support-vector-machine control of a prosthetic leg produced software-optimization guidelines later applied to NUWC's torpedo systems.[1](https://www.uri.edu/news/2019/08/uri-engineering-alumnus-middletown-resident-earns-presidential-early-career-award/) Disambiguation. This article concerns the NUWC Newport engineer. Some bibliographic records under this name list publications on *Entamoeba histolytica* and pediatric [solithromycin](https://www.edgepedia.org/solithromycin) pharmacokinetics; the engineer's [Google Scholar](https://www.edgepedia.org/google-scholar) profile lists no parasitology, pharmacokinetics, or solithromycin papers, indicating a within-roster name collision.[2](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=RkuGslUAAAAJ&hl=en) URI's announcement belongs to the July 2, 2019, award announcement cycle.[1](https://www.uri.edu/news/2019/08/uri-engineering-alumnus-middletown-resident-earns-presidential-early-career-award/) | Key facts | Detail | |---|---| | Field | Electrical and computer engineering; embedded systems and neural machine interfaces[1](https://www.uri.edu/news/2019/08/uri-engineering-alumnus-middletown-resident-earns-presidential-early-career-award/) • [2](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=RkuGslUAAAAJ&hl=en) | | Employer | Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport, more than 21 years, heavyweight torpedo systems engineer[1](https://www.uri.edu/news/2019/08/uri-engineering-alumnus-middletown-resident-earns-presidential-early-career-award/) | | Education | Master's in electrical engineering (URI, 2010); doctorate advised by Distinguished Engineering Professor Qing Yang (URI, 2014)[1](https://www.uri.edu/news/2019/08/uri-engineering-alumnus-middletown-resident-earns-presidential-early-career-award/) | | Dissertation | "SVM-Based Volitional Artificial Leg Control Via Ubiquitous Small and Low Power Architectures" (2014)[1](https://www.uri.edu/news/2019/08/uri-engineering-alumnus-middletown-resident-earns-presidential-early-career-award/) | | Award | PECASE, Department of Defense section; first NUWC Division Newport employee to win[1](https://www.uri.edu/news/2019/08/uri-engineering-alumnus-middletown-resident-earns-presidential-early-career-award/) | | Retirement | January 2019[1](https://www.uri.edu/news/2019/08/uri-engineering-alumnus-middletown-resident-earns-presidential-early-career-award/) | ## Early life and education Hernandez earned a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Rhode Island in 2010 and his doctorate from the same university in 2014, advised by Distinguished Engineering Professor Qing Yang.[1](https://www.uri.edu/news/2019/08/uri-engineering-alumnus-middletown-resident-earns-presidential-early-career-award/) His 2014 dissertation, "SVM-Based Volitional Artificial Leg Control Via Ubiquitous Small and Low Power Architectures," addressed control of a powered prosthetic leg using support vector machines, a machine-learning method for classifying patterns such as neural signals, running on small, low-power embedded hardware.[1](https://www.uri.edu/news/2019/08/uri-engineering-alumnus-middletown-resident-earns-presidential-early-career-award/) ## Career Hernandez worked at NUWC Division Newport for more than 21 years as a heavyweight torpedo systems engineer before retiring in January 2019.[1](https://www.uri.edu/news/2019/08/uri-engineering-alumnus-middletown-resident-earns-presidential-early-career-award/) He lived in Middletown, Rhode Island, at his retirement, with stated plans to move to Brooklyn, New York.[1](https://www.uri.edu/news/2019/08/uri-engineering-alumnus-middletown-resident-earns-presidential-early-career-award/) ## Research and contributions His documented publications lie in embedded systems and neural machine interfaces, coauthored with Qing Yang and colleagues. His Google Scholar record includes "Design and implementation of a low power mobile CPU based embedded system for artificial leg control" (EMBC 2013, about 13 citations) and "A Reconfigurable Multiclass Support Vector Machine Architecture for Real-Time Embedded Systems Classification" (about 8 citations).[2](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=RkuGslUAAAAJ&hl=en) This work connects directly to his dissertation on volitional control of an artificial leg, in which classification algorithms decide a user's intended movement from measured signals in real time under strict power constraints.[1](https://www.uri.edu/news/2019/08/uri-engineering-alumnus-middletown-resident-earns-presidential-early-career-award/) URI reports that the software-optimization guidelines developed in his dissertation were utilized for NUWC's torpedo systems, the link between his academic research and his laboratory role that underpinned his PECASE nomination.[1](https://www.uri.edu/news/2019/08/uri-engineering-alumnus-middletown-resident-earns-presidential-early-career-award/) ## Honours and recognition The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers is described in URI's release as an early career award for scientists and engineers; Hernandez was nominated by NUWC Division Newport, where he had spent his career, and was the first employee of that division to win it.[1](https://www.uri.edu/news/2019/08/uri-engineering-alumnus-middletown-resident-earns-presidential-early-career-award/) ## References Reference notes: sources are cited by first appearance. 1. "URI engineering alumnus, Middletown resident earns presidential early career award", Rhody Today (University of Rhode Island), August 2019. https://www.uri.edu/news/2019/08/uri-engineering-alumnus-middletown-resident-earns-presidential-early-career-award/ 2. "Robert Hernandez", Google Scholar profile. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=RkuGslUAAAAJ&hl=en --- *Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Human health and medicine › Medicines and therapeutics › Pharmacology and drug action* *Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026* *Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.* License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license