I am currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University.

I received my Ph.D. in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford in June 2005. My primary advisor was Dr. Stephen Rock in the Aerospace Robotics Lab, but I also worked closely with Dr. Jean-Claude Latombe in the Computer Science Department. My research focused on developing a motion planner for autonomous free-climbing robots. Before beginning this work, I received my Master of Science degree in June 2000, also from Stanford.

In my spare time I enjoy reading, cooking, backpacking, running, and in particular rock-climbing. I have been climbing for five or six years now, and have really fallen in love with the sport. For a full description of my exploits, see my climbing page. If you asked what my favorite books are, I would probably give you a different answer every time... but a few that stand out are Dune (Frank Herbert), Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card), and Blindness (José Saramago).

I also enjoy spending time with my beautiful wife Andrea. She currently works at EKI, an environmental engineering consulting company in Burlingame, CA. We got married on September 28, 2002, and have been very happy ever since. (Even though the honeymoon is over!)

In June 1999 I graduated Swarthmore College, which is a wonderful, intense place to spend four years. While there, I double-majored in Engineering and Mathematics, in particular enjoying a seminar in Topology taught by Dr. Thomas Hunter. I played soccer all four years, which was both very frustrating and a lot of fun. We always claimed to be in a top conference nationally (and that's why we never made it to post-season), but it was only Division III after all.

My parents, Tom and Donna Bretl, still live in Plymouth, Minnesota, where I grew up. They both work at The Blake School, where I attended from 3rd-12th grade. Of course, I spent my formative years (until I was 8) in Overland Park, Kansas.

For more information about me, please see my personal page.