Co-Founder & Systems Strategist
Founded Nexylux: 2017
Mason brings over two decades of experience in systems engineering, with a career spanning energy infrastructure, mission assurance, and digital control systems. He previously worked in senior engineering roles at a U.S. national lab and in private-sector grid modernization efforts.
Holding a master’s degree in electrical engineering from a top-tier U.S. university, Mason helped shape Nexylux’s technical direction and editorial tone. He’s known for making complex system interactions understandable—particularly where software meets hardware in critical environments.
Abigail Mercer
Co-Founder & Editorial Director
Founded Nexylux: 2017
Abby leads Nexylux’s editorial and research strategy, bringing a background in science writing, technical communication, and applied computing. She holds a master’s in information systems from Cornell and has worked on projects ranging from aerospace policy reports to public infrastructure briefings.
She’s especially interested in how expert knowledge is conveyed—and misunderstood—outside of research labs and engineering teams. At Nexylux, Abby ensures that clarity and precision remain central to how stories are told.
Eric Harlan
Co-Founder & Platform Architect
Founded Nexylux: 2017
Eric built Nexylux’s original digital platform and continues to oversee its architecture and publishing tools. With a degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue and experience in automation and prototyping, he bridges the gap between technical content and digital infrastructure.
He’s previously worked in robotics labs and industrial design shops, and has contributed to several open-source tools in the infrastructure-as-code and engineering visualization space. Eric is passionate about building platforms that make technical depth accessible without oversimplification.
Contributing Experts
Dr. Lauren Fielding
Power Systems and Grid Integration
PhD in Electrical Power Systems (University of Wisconsin–Madison)
Senior IEEE Member
Lauren is an expert in grid dynamics, renewables integration, and control algorithms for large-scale energy systems. She advises state energy commissions and frequently publishes in IEEE Transactions. At Nexylux, she contributes in-depth essays on power reliability, inverter dominance, and long-range capacity forecasting.
Dr. Samuel Rhodes
Defense Systems Engineering
PhD in Aerospace Engineering (Georgia Tech)
Certified Defense Acquisition Professional
Samuel brings deep insight into mission-critical systems architecture, with experience working on autonomous platforms, missile defense, and network-centric warfare systems. He has been quoted in defense technology briefings and co-authored government-funded reports on adaptive control in contested environments.
Dr. Olivia Jensen
Bioengineering and Synthetic Systems
PhD in Bioengineering (Caltech)
NSF Career Award Recipient
Olivia’s expertise lies at the edge of biology and machine logic: synthetic gene networks, smart biomaterials, and programmable cellular systems. She contributes deeply researched articles on bio-circuit design and the engineering implications of programmable life.
Dr. David Leland
Materials Science and Manufacturing Systems
PhD in Materials Science (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
ASM Fellow
David specializes in material systems under extreme conditions—high-temp alloys, additive manufacturing, and wear resilience in propulsion and defense. His analysis connects lab-scale material research to real-world manufacturability and failure modes.
Editor teams
Cora Wren
AI Systems
Since joining Nexylux in 2018, Cora Wren has led coverage of AI systems, tool development, and infrastructure-scale deployment strategies. With more than two decades of experience in mission-critical engineering and resilience planning, she brings a pragmatic lens to the way AI products are built and stressed under real-world conditions.
Her writing focuses on how research breakthroughs move from lab demos to production-grade systems—often under pressure, constraint, and incomplete information.
Elliot Graham
Science and Discovery
Elliot Graham came aboard in 2019, bringing with him a methodical, systems-driven approach shaped by years in reliability testing and defense research. His specialty lies in identifying emerging technologies—especially those hiding inside long timelines or deep technical stacks.
From synthetic biology to space instrumentation, Elliot breaks down how discoveries unfold, what holds them back, and how they transition from idea to implementation. Off-hours, he holds a pilot’s license and maintains a private collection of Cold War-era artifacts—physical reflections of his enduring interest in engineered history.
Leela Agarwal
Artificial Intelligence and Tactical Autonomy
Leela Agarwal joined Nexylux in 2021 to document one of the field’s most consequential frontiers: intelligent autonomy in high-integrity systems. Her background in mechanical design and embedded computing gives her a working knowledge of how real machines interpret and execute AI-driven decisions.
At Nexylux, she writes on everything from swarm control layers to AI’s role in defense robotics and industrial automation. She is especially interested in edge cases—where AI meets uncertainty, latency, or failure. Leela also contributes to open-source AI control frameworks and trains for long-distance cycling events.
Ravi Krishnan
Thermodynamics and Propulsion Systems
Since 2020, Ravi Krishnan has been Nexylux’s guide to energy conversion at the extreme edges of performance—hypersonic propulsion, cryogenic power cycles, and field-scale thermal dynamics. A specialist in thermodynamic theory and real-world engine output, Ravi has a talent for identifying where models break down and where systems truly deliver.
His work translates dense theory into operational reality, helping readers understand the physical boundaries of force, fuel, and reliability in defense and aerospace systems.
