Distinctive Excellence Award at the Circuit Cellar - Microchip 2007 16-bit Embedded Control Design Contest - 2007
Designed a CAN Control led Servo with Optional Contactless Magnetic Rotary Encoder using a 16-bit dsPIC digital signal controller.

Mexican National Science and Technology Council (CONACyT) Tuition and Support Fellowship - 2007 - 2009
Awarded by the Mexican Government to a selected group of Mexican nationals to pursue graduate studies in foreign institutions.

University of California Chancellor Fellowship - 2006
Awarded by UCSC to the top 3% applicants for one year.

Naval Postgraduate School Academic Distinction - 2004
Awarded to the top 5% students who present outstanding research as part of their thesis.

Mexican Navy's Foreign Graduate Studies Tuition and Support Scholarship - 2001 - 2004
Awarded by the Mexican Navy to the top 3 of each class to pursue a Master's Degree in a foreign engineering school.

Mexican Naval Academy's Academic Distinction - 1996
Awarded by the Mexican Naval Academy to the first of each class.

Aerial Photography Using a Nokia N95 - Fall 2007
Development of a solution that provides high quality continuous (photo-mosaic) view from an aerial platform while the airplane is still in �?ight to Airplane RC hobbyists or pro jects with
small budgets, using a Nokia N95 wireless phone, a personal computer and open source or free software.

CAN Servo - Summer 2007
Digital Signal Controller implementation of a servo (position) controller able to receive com-
mands via a Controller Area Network (CAN) and drive a DC motor with up to 5 amperes of
sustained load (6 peak) for UCSC's Nautilus Autonomous Sailboat.

Microscope Automation - Winter 2004 - Summer 2005
Complete automation of a microscope, a hardware-software interface, and a Database front- end, to support the Mexican Navy Hospital's need to file digital pictures of pathological cases, specifically those related to cervical cancer.

Rotational Speed Control - Fall 2005 -Summer 2006
Design and implementation of the rotational speed control unit and signal decoding of the main sensor's output for a fiber optic gyro being developed by Mexico's "Centro de Investigaciones en Optica" (Optics Research Center) for the Mexican Navy.

Aboard several Mexican Navy Vessels

"Refereed Publications"

1.- X. Yun , M. Lizarraga, E. Bachmann, R. McGhee . "An improved quaternion-based Kalman filter for real-time tracking of rigid body orientation". In Proceedings of the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2003. (IROS 2003).

2.- I. Kaminer, O. Yakimenko, V. Dobrokhodov, M. Lizarraga, A. Pascoal. "Cooperative Control of Small UAVs for Naval Applications". In Proceedings of the 43rd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control 2004.

3.- V. Dobrokhodov and M. Lizarraga. "Developing Serial Communication Interfaces for Rapid Prototyping of Navigation and Control Tasks". In AIAA Modeling and Simulation Technologies Conference and Exhibit 2005.

4.- M. Lizarraga, V. Dobrokhodov, I. Kaminer. "Implementaci�?³n de un Sistema de control para Recuperaci�?³n Aut�?³noma de un Vehiculo A�?©reo no Tripulado (UAV)". In Proceedings of AMIME Primer Congreso Internacional de Mecatronica, 2005.

5.- M.I. Lizarraga, G.H. Elkaim, I. Kamier, V. Dobrokhodov. "Architecture for a Fault Tolerant Low-Cost Autopilot Suitable for Small UAVs". Submitted for presentation at the AIAA 2008 Guidance Navigation and Control Conference and Exhibit.


6.- M.I. Lizarraga, G.H. Elkaim, I. Kamier, V. Dobrokhodov. "Spatially Decon�?icted Path Generation for Multiple UAVs in a Bounded Airspace". Accepted for presentation in the IEEE/ION 2008 Position Location and Navigation Symposium


"Non Refereed Publications"

1.- M. Lizarraga, R. Toledo. "Seguridad en Internet: �?¿Un problema de Seguridad Nacional?"(Internet Security: A National Security Problem?). In Revista de la Secretaria de Marina. 2004.

2.- M. Lizarraga, C. Aparicio, J. Rivera. "Analisis de la variaci�?³n de las caracteristicas aerodinamicas de la aeronave Lancair Legacy al colocarle objetos en los puntos duros del fuselaje" (Variation Analysis of the aerodynamic characteristics of the Lancair Legacy Aircraft when putting objects on the fuselage's hard points). Reporte Tecnico INIDETAM-001-2005.

3.- M. Lizaraga. "Aplicaciones de Codigo Abierto: Una Alternativa Viable" (Open Source Software: A Valid Alternative). In Revista de la Secretaria de Marina. 2005.