James

James Simonelli is an engineer, instrumentalist, and producer. Born in Los Angeles and a proud product of the California public school system, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from UC Irvine, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Aerospace Engineering from UCLA. Now working in R&D in the semiconductor industry, his work has been published in IEEE Transactions on Mechatronics and the proceedings of the International Federation of Automatic Control and American Control Conferences. While at UCLA, James played trumpet with the UCLA Bruin Marching Band, which afforded him many high-profile opportunities—performing in commercials, television, and in a special opening act for the Rolling Stones under the direction of Kenny Ortega. He has professional credits on trumpets and guitars and produces all officially-published recordings of this group. James is currently serving as Treasurer of LA Chamber Music Company.