Stephen “Kyle” Wilshusen, a first-year Ph.D. student in computer science at Penn’s School of Engineering & Applied Science, died in Philadelphia on December 31. He was 25 years old.

Mr. Wilshusen grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He attended Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, where he earned his bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in math and computer science in 2015. He received an honorable mention in the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program in 2014, as well as Hendrix College’s Robert C. Eslinger Computer Science Award in 2015.

A summer internship in robotics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh turned into a yearlong position working in vineyards and orchards with a team learning how to better estimate crop yields. He co-authored an article entitled “Automated visual yield estimation in vineyards,” published in 2014 in the Journal of Field Robotics.

Mr. Wilshusen came to Penn in 2015 and began his dissertation work in agricultural robotics. He worked in Penn’s General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) lab.

He is survived by his parents, Richard Wilshusen and Virginia Pool; his grandfather; two great aunts; five aunts; three uncles and 12 first cousins. A Memorial Meeting will take place on February 6 at 2 p.m. at Crest View Elementary School, 1897 Sumac Avenue, Boulder.

His parents ask that in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to Growing Gardens (http://www.growinggardens.org) or the Second Wind Fund (http://www.thesecondwindfund.org).