Ricardo Fricks

About Ricardo Fricks

Ricardo Fricks is a seasoned systems engineer with an expansive career spanning…

Experience

1. Consultant Systems Engineer

   Boeing

   Jun 2008 — Present · Everett, WA, US

   Ricardo Fricks is advancing Boeing’s engineering capabilities by integrating AI engineering, knowledge graph technologies, and advanced analytics to transform systems engineering and safety analysis. His work employs tools such as ChatGPT, Neo4j, Mathematica, and Python to automate critical workflows and enable new approaches for interpreting and reasoning over complex aerospace systems.Key Highlights* AI-Driven Engineering Automation: Designed and deployed advanced ChatGPT-based solutions and fine-tuned transformer-based deep learning models (GRUs, LSTMs, BERT variants) to automate systems engineering and safety workflows, including functional hazard and requirements analysis.* Advanced Deep Learning Research: Investigated the evolution of neural architectures—such as Inception, ResNet, and DenseNet— and transformers to look for new opportunities for analyzing aerospace design artifacts in conjunction with anomaly detection, clustering, encoding, and data compression.* Knowledge Graph Integration: Developed airplane-level knowledge bases in Neo4j and Protégé, integrating semantic ontologies with linked data across systems engineering, regulatory requirements, and safety analysis artifacts.* Hybrid Analytics Platforms: Built integrated solutions combining Neo4j’s graph query capabilities with Python’s data science stack, enabling advanced analytics such as traceability, model validation, and AI-driven audits of System Functional Hazard Assessments (SFHA) and quality assessment of fault-tree models.* Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE): Led the development of the MBSA Interoperability Platform to enable cross-tool integration via OSLC. Developed SysML architectural models for airplane programs.Core Competencies: Generative AI · Deep Learning · Machine Learning - Semantic Web · Neo4j · Python · MBSE · Systems and Safety Engineering Programming Languages: Python, Mathematica, Cypher, C, Pascal, FORTRAN

Education

• Duke University

  Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Electrical and Computer Engineering

  1993 — 1997

• Universidade Federal do Paraná

  BSEE, Electrical Engineering

  1978 — 1982

• University of Southern California

  Graduate Certificate, Systems Architecting and Engineering

  2009 — 2013

• University of Southern California

  Master of Science (M.Sc.), Systems Architecting and Engineering

  2013 — 2015

• Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul

  Master of Science (M.Sc.), Computer Science

  1986 — 1989

Skills

• Distributed Systems
• Programming
• Technical Leadership
• Reliability Engineering
• Algorithms
• Systems Engineering
• Systems Design
• Stochastic Processes
• Qos
• Integration
• System Architecture
• Engineering
• Software Engineering
• Embedded Software
• Model-Based Safety Analysis
• Simulations
• System Design
• Sysml
• Telecommunications
• Embedded Systems
• Bayesian Networks
• Architecture
• Uml
• Unix
• Rtos
• Operating Systems
• Software Development
• Network Architecture
• Architectures