In space you can鈥檛 stop to ask for directions. 

Kristen Ahner is advancing the science of autonomous space exploration. 

An aerospace PhD student at the 精品SM在线影片, Ahner is being recognized as a The publication honors leading engineering students worldwide who are on course to 鈥渟hape the future of the aerospace and defense industry.鈥�

鈥淚t feels great,鈥� Ahner said. 鈥淚 was excited to be recognized and join a cohort of people doing impressive things who are all around my age.鈥�

Autonomous Guidance

Ahner鈥檚 PhD research is focused on improving autonomous guidance techniques for spacecraft so they arrive at their destinations on time and efficiently. In deep space exploration, even the tiniest of navigation errors can push a satellite radically off course. In an environment where the distance between Point A and Point B is measured in the hundreds of thousands or even millions of miles, that can create major problems.

鈥淪ome of the uncertainty comes from thrust performance errors. We try to test engines in vacuums on Earth but there are always errors associated with that,鈥� Ahner said. 鈥淎lso, when we model spacecraft moving in space we often use simplified models 鈥� traveling between the Earth and the Moon we鈥檒l assume the satellite is only orbiting Earth, but the Moon is pulling too.鈥�

In engineering parlance, Ahner is working to advance the state of the art by combining high-fidelity uncertainty propagation techniques with nonlinear chance constraints for spacecraft control in cislunar space and planetary exploration environments.

鈥淚 want to guide spacecraft more effectively. Computers on spacecraft aren鈥檛 smart enough to account for 300 different bodies that are exerting gravitational forces, so how can we develop better algorithms to make our corrections more accurate under simplified dynamical models,鈥� she said.

Bachelor's to PhD

Her enthusiasm for these deep space challenges is palpable, but Ahner did not originally set out to study space or even to earn a PhD.

She grew up in a military family, primarily in Ohio, listening to the sounds of fighter jets taking off from nearby Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Ahner envisioned her career would be on the aeronautics side of aerospace. A college internship at Boeing through the shifted her focus.

鈥淚 was working in space modeling and simulation. It was the same kind of analysis and math that I really liked, but had more unknowns than aviation. Space is the last frontier and I find that exciting,鈥� she said.

Academic Future

The Boeing internship was in Colorado Springs, but it is not what brought her back to Colorado for graduate school. As an undergraduate at Princeton, Ahner was required to complete a thesis, and two names kept popping up on the papers she was reading: 精品SM在线影片鈥檚 Jay McMahon and Dan Scheeres. Today, they are her PhD co-advisors.

Her goal now is to become a university professor herself.

鈥淚 had this heavy research load in my final year of undergrad. Initially I was scared of it. There鈥檚 uncertainty in doing a research project that may not work out, but I really enjoyed it. The more I learn the less intimidating it seems,鈥� Ahner said.

Both of Ahner鈥檚 parents are extremely proud of her accomplishments. Her father is a fellow PhD graduate 鈥� earning his degrees in mechanical and systems engineering and teaching as an active duty member of the Army at West Point.

鈥淢y Dad loves talking to me about the intricacies of my research,鈥� Ahner said. 鈥淚t can be intense when we start talking shop. My Mom is my biggest cheerleader 鈥� she tells the whole world when I win an award, and she found the 20 Twenties announcement before it had even been officially released. I wouldn鈥檛 be where I am today without their support.鈥�

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Above: C茅u G贸mez-Faulk holding a RAAVEN drone.
Header Image: C茅u G贸mez-Faulk, center right, looking up at a RAAVEN drone during a deployment.

C茅u G贸mez-Faulk is standing outside a gas station in rural Oklahoma waiting for a sound most people hope to never hear: tornado sirens.

The clouds above are an otherworldly shade of green 鈥� a signal that supercell thunderstorms that spawn tornadoes may be in the area.

An aerospace PhD student at the 精品SM在线影片, G贸mez-Faulk is part of a multi-university team of students and faculty working to improve human understanding and predictions of tornadic storms by pursuing them with fixed-wing drones and weather-sensing equipment.

鈥淚t鈥檚 awe-inspiring,鈥� G贸mez-Faulk said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 so much energy involved in these processes, and they鈥檙e so unpredictable. It鈥檚 frightening but also inspiring.鈥�

G贸mez-Faulk has been interested in drones from a young age. In high school, he competed in drone racing tournaments when quad-copters were still new and largely out of reach for consumers.

So he constructed his own.

鈥淲e were building these aircraft out of RC plane parts,鈥� G贸mez-Faulk said. 鈥淭he control systems to design quad-copters weren鈥檛 really available to the hobbyist market yet.鈥�

He was captivated by the components he was dissecting and wanted to know more. The child of academics 鈥� both of his parents have worked as college professors 鈥� G贸mez-Faulk started reading research papers, leading him to apply at 精品SM在线影片.

鈥淚 loved airplanes and everything about them. I always knew I wanted to do aeronautical engineering. Looking around on the internet I found the Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles and specifically Professor Eric Frew,鈥� G贸mez-Faulk said.

When he arrived in Boulder as a freshman, he sought out the RECUV lab and convinced them to hire him as a student employee within his first month on campus.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really give them a choice, but I couldn鈥檛 tell you why they hired me,鈥� he said.

Lab Manager Michael Rhodes has the answer.

鈥淭o have gone on his own in high school and looked up research papers, that鈥檚 unusual,鈥� Rhodes said. 鈥淏ut really, it was his enthusiasm. He had flying experience, but at the undergrad level, it鈥檚 not what you鈥檝e done. It鈥檚 enthusiasm that matters.鈥�

G贸mez-Faulk worked as an active contributor to the lab and in 2023 was able to join in field storm research, as the team fanned out across Tornado Alley.

鈥淲e鈥檙e using uncrewed aerial systems and autonomy to improve our understanding of the atmosphere. Doing field campaigns is what sets 精品SM在线影片 apart. We have to take our algorithms into the field and see how they perform. It makes the work feel very important. It is not abstract,鈥� G贸mez-Faulk said.

After completing his bachelor鈥檚 degree, G贸mez-Faulk wanted to have a more active role in designing research, and decided to continue on to a PhD, with Frew and Professor Brian Argrow serving as his co-advisors.

鈥淩esearch and development explores new frontiers, and I wanted to have more of a guiding hand. As an undergrad, you鈥檙e doing lower-level work. I wanted to be part of the bigger picture, what is being targeted and why. It led me pretty naturally to the doctoral program,鈥� he said.

Now in his second year as a grad student, G贸mez-Faulk is working to advance the autonomous flight algorithms that allow 精品SM在线影片鈥檚 systems to navigate in extreme weather conditions. It is challenging work that requires advanced engineering skills.

鈥淚 see myself as a career scientist, and we鈥檙e working toward better wind sensing,鈥� G贸mez-Faulk said. 鈥淭his is the way to get there. It鈥檚 very tangible and it really matters.鈥�

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Mitch Wall is studying atmospheric conditions at the threshold of space to improve future hypersonic vehicles and spacecraft.

An aerospace PhD student and Smead Scholar at the 精品SM在线影片, Wall is conducting computational fluid dynamics research to better understand a challenging zone of the atmosphere between 70-120 km in altitude.

鈥淲e fly spacecraft through that region of the atmosphere, but it represents a range where the uncertainty in our fluid dynamics analysis is larger,鈥� Wall said. 鈥淎s a result, when building a vehicle, we have to ask the guidance people or the structures people to overdesign their systems to compensate because we can鈥檛 shrink our uncertainty.鈥�

Traveling at hypersonic speeds, more than five times the speed of sound, causes the temperature of air and other gases around a vehicle to reach thousands of degrees, triggering chemical reactions on and around the vehicle. Reducing uncertainty in the atmospheric conditions would ease vehicle design and operation.

The analysis, however, demands much more than a typical desktop computer. Wall鈥檚 work requires use of

鈥淚鈥檓 working on a solver that couples two of the labs in-house fluid dynamics solvers,鈥� Wall said. 鈥淥ne is for low altitude flow and another is more commonly used for high altitude flows in space. I鈥檓 wrangling these two different methods and there鈥檚 two different codes to learn instead of one. Then I鈥檓 dealing with the nuts and bolts to get them to play nicely together.鈥�

It is a type of research with significant potential for the future.

鈥淎s we try to do more flying hypersonically, this is an area where we can sharpen our pencil and then be able to go places we wouldn鈥檛 necessarily go otherwise,鈥� Wall said.

Wall鈥檚 research is funded through a prestigious National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship he received in 2022.

鈥淚 really like the project I鈥檓 working on and having a fellowship you have the freedom to steer where you go. It was pretty exciting to get,鈥� he said.

Growing up, Wall knew he had interests in math and physics, but it was not until high school teachers encouraged him to pursue engineering that he saw it as a career possibility.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really have an idea of what I could do with it. Understanding physical systems and diving deep into the math, understanding the world around you and having that perspective going through life is super satisfying to me,鈥� he said.

Originally from Wisconsin, he completed his undergraduate degree in engineering mechanics at the University of Wisconsin Madison and decided to go on for a PhD at 精品SM在线影片.

鈥淭he experiences I had at internships pushed me toward a PhD,鈥� Wall said. 鈥淭he people I was really impressed with and thought had really cool jobs, a lot of them had PhDs. I saw how that enabled you to make more important fundamental engineering decisions on projects.鈥�

Wall chose 精品SM在线影片 after connecting with students working under professor Iain Boyd, an expert on hypersonic aerothermodynamics. Boyd became his PhD advisor.

鈥淚 knew I wanted to do aerospace and heard about professor Boyd and got in touch with his students. It really attracted me here; everyone in his lab were working on things they cared about,鈥� Wall said.

As a first generation college student, pursuing an advanced degree was a major step, but it was taken by both Wall and his brother.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 come from an academic background and now he has a BS/MS in architecture and I鈥檓 working on my PhD,鈥� Wall said. 鈥淚 took education and ran with it. My dad was a carpenter, and I see the thread there, understanding how things are put together and work. My parents are very proud, which is nice.鈥�

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Amrita Singh working with a vacuum chamber.

Amrita Singh is studying lunar dust to answer important health and technology questions for future Moon missions.

The gray, crushed rock material that coats the surface of the Moon is officially called regolith and presents substantial dangers, said Singh, a PhD student in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the 精品SM在线影片.

鈥淭he Apollo astronauts struggled a lot with lunar dust. It鈥檚 electrostatically charged, so it sticks to everything, and it鈥檚 basically crushed up glass in terms of how abrasive it is. It poses dangers to crew health,鈥� she said.

Those risks include rapid deterioration of space suits used on Moon walks, as well as damage to systems inside space capsules or habitats on the Moon.

鈥淲e need to make sure our life support technologies are capable of surviving the lunar dust environment. It will enter the habitat. There鈥檚 no way of completely preventing that,鈥� Singh said.

The recipient of a 2023 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), Singh is developing computational simulations and experimental tests of life support technologies to determine their continued effectiveness after exposure.

鈥淢y research focuses on worst-case scenarios. What if something goes wrong and the planned dust mitigation strategies fail and there鈥檚 dust everywhere?鈥� Singh said. 鈥淲e know we will see significant performance degradation for many technologies, but we don鈥檛 know what the degree of degradation or material damage will be. Those are the questions I鈥檓 trying to answer.鈥�

Singh did not originally plan on a career in aerospace. As an undergraduate at the University of Southern California, she double majored in theater and astronautical engineering.

She was drawn to both, but envisioned her future would be in acting or directing. COVID-19 changed her trajectory.

Harrison Schmitt's space suit covered in lunar dust during Apollo 17.

鈥淭he pandemic hit my junior year, and all the jobs and plans I had lined up were destroyed,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was spending a lot of time at home and took my first human spaceflight class, remotely, with Garrett Reisman, who is a former astronaut. That鈥檚 when I started thinking I could love aerospace as much as I love theater. As it turns out, I love it more.鈥�

An aerospace education does present unique academic challenges, but Singh has persevered.

鈥淚 really value math and science, but they are not my strong suits and it will take me a couple tries to learn a physics concept before it finally clicks,鈥� she said.

During her senior year, she began a work-from-home internship at NASA鈥檚 Ames Research Center, providing exposure to the world of research and piquing her interest in earning an advanced degree.

鈥淭he researcher I worked with was doing radiation modeling for cells, and she spent time re-introducing me to chemistry, biology, and physics 鈥� these fields I鈥檇 fallen out of love with 鈥� and made me fall in love with them again. It drove me to pursue a PhD,鈥� Singh said.

She applied to 精品SM在线影片鈥檚 bioastronautics PhD program and is now in her second year. In 2023, she earned both the NSF GRFP and recognition as an Aviation Week 20 Twenties Winner, a program that honors promising aerospace students across the United States.

Last semester, she and Ella Schauss, a fellow aerospace PhD student, competed in NASA鈥檚 a student competition to design concepts for addressing Moon dust kicked up during descent and landing.

They took third place nationally, earning a $3,000 prize.

鈥淭here鈥檚 still so many questions about lunar dust,鈥� Singh said. 鈥淭hat uncertainty is what drew me in. It鈥檚 such an important aspect of what it means to be in on the lunar surface. It鈥檚 really important for the future.鈥�

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Spencer Dansereau is building a business that could turn air pollution into a useable product.

A 精品SM在线影片 aerospace PhD student, Dansereau aims to take carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and extract the carbon molecules to create 3D printed carbon fiber, which can be used for everything from bicycles to aerospace components.

鈥淚鈥檓 really passionate about creating exciting next generation solutions that are also very positive for our environment. It led me to design a system that uses electrolysis to create carbon fibers directly from waste gas CO2,鈥� Dansereau said.

The work is a bit outside his PhD research, which is focused on heat shield analysis for NASA missions, and grew from the 2020 COVID lockdowns, when Dansereau was stuck at home with little to do.

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 come into the lab and started doing a whole lot of reading on how carbon fiber was made. Then I starting thinking about my experience in materials science and robotics and additive manufacturing,鈥� Dansereau said.

After conversations with his PhD co-advisor Francisco L贸pez Jim茅nez, an assistant professor of aerospace, Dansereau began to develop the technology further and founded a company to commercialize it.

Starting a business presented unique challenges, but he received support from numerous university programs designed to assist budding entrepreneurs. 精品SM在线影片 has offices to help with intellectual property and patent filing, and even access to mentorship opportunities from successful startups.

鈥淥n the technology side I have a decade of experience, but the business side is different and the tools that 精品SM在线影片 has for helping to launch a business are amazing. I can鈥檛 say enough good things about it,鈥� he said.

In 2023, Mach Electric Aerospace took first place in 精品SM在线影片鈥檚 Lab Venture Challenge business development competition and second place in New Venture Challenge. The company recently received $125,000 in startup funding from the State of Colorado and the university.

鈥淚t鈥檚 still early stage, but the research has been promising so far,鈥� Dansereau said. 鈥淎nything that produces CO2 waste gas could be feed stock to make carbon fiber.鈥�

He recently applied to a U.S. Department of Energy fellowship to further the research and is optimistic about potential applications for the technology.

鈥淭he most exciting thing is this can be used in everything from electric vehicles, to aircraft, spacecraft, anything with carbon fiber components 鈥� seats, brackets, clips, engine parts, chassis components,鈥� Dansereau said. "The sky is the limit.鈥�

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Asteroids with 精品SM在线影片 Connections

Meyer is not the first person at 精品SM在线影片 to have an asteroid named after them! There are currently three other researchers in Smead Aerospace who also have the distinction:

Distinguished Professor Dan Scheeres

• Asteroid:

Associate Professor Jay McMahon

• Asteroid: (46829) McMahon

Research Associate Paul S谩nchez

• Asteroid: (20882) Pauls谩nchez

Above: Alex Meyer
Header Image: Diagram showing the orbital path of asteroid (33974) Alexmeyer.

PhD student played key role on NASA鈥檚 DART Mission

Alex Meyer is an astrodynamics expert, engineer, PhD student, and now, a part of the night sky. The International Astronomical Union has officially named an asteroid after him.

Asteroid 2000 ND17 is now

鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty cool and quite an honor,鈥� Meyer said. 鈥淵ou look around at other asteroids and the people they鈥檙e named after; it鈥檚 very good company to be in.鈥�

As a fifth year aerospace PhD student at the 精品SM在线影片, Meyer is being recognized for fundamental research he conducted on the dynamics of binary asteroid systems and how they are affected by close planetary flybys.

His work is part of which in 2022 intentionally crashed a space probe into an orbiting binary asteroid to study deflection technology.

鈥淎lex鈥檚 research was fundamentally relevant to the DART mission,鈥� said Dan Scheeres, a distinguished professor of aerospace at 精品SM在线影片 and Meyer鈥檚 advisor.

Scheeres nominated Meyer for the naming honor.

鈥淗e played such a big role and the work he provided was really unique. He developed simulations on what would happen to this asteroid after the impact and provided advice on the science to other engineers,鈥� Scheeres said.

The naming is made all the more impressive by the fact that Meyer鈥檚 contributions began somewhat unexpectedly.

鈥淲hen I started at 精品SM在线影片 I was interested in orbital mechanics, but was playing around in a couple different areas of research. Then a more senior grad student who had responsibility with DART was leaving, and Dan asked if I could take over,鈥� Meyer said.

He dove in with aplomb.

鈥淏inary asteroids gave me the opportunity to work on cutting edge missions and I just kept finding new and interesting things to study,鈥� Meyer said. 鈥淭he dynamics of these binary systems can be quite complicated. Asteroids don鈥檛 look like spheres; they鈥檙e weird shapes and their orbits are quite close together. So the gravity between them becomes really complex.鈥�

A personal ambition toward advanced research and analysis is what drove Meyer鈥檚 interest in graduate school and specifically 精品SM在线影片.

鈥淭his is one of the best astrodynamics schools in the country, and being able to apply myself on these real world problems as a PhD student is a great opportunity. I was one of the main dynamicists on the mission,鈥� Meyer said.

The research has become a key part of his PhD thesis. Meyer intends to graduate this summer and is currently at work on his dissertation. After graduation, he hopes to work full time in a research laboratory.

Meyer鈥檚 asteroid orbits as part of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Approximately 7 km (4.35 mi) in diameter, it was originally spotted in 2000. It is possible to see with a large personal telescope, but it requires at least an 18鈥� mirror, and so is best viewed from an observatory.

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Dezell Turner loves orbital design; a critical step in planning any space mission, and he is plotting out a way to streamline the complex process with an interactive, augmented reality tool.

鈥淭he current methods of trajectory design for cislunar space 鈥� missions that go beyond low Earth orbit to the Moon 鈥� are very complicated and not intuitive. I want to change that,鈥� Turner said.

As an aerospace PhD student at the 精品SM在线影片, Turner discussed ideas with his advisor. They realized a mixed reality system would be a major advance, allowing engineers and mission planners to  quickly design and manipulate trajectories in a 3D real-world environment.

鈥淏eing able to see something in 3D space is hugely helpful, but this goes beyond that,鈥� Turner said. 鈥淭he system will allow you to physically interact with virtual objects. You鈥檙e wearing a headset and are able to grab holograms and manipulate them with your hands. I can drag an orbit to do what I want. I can change the end point of a transfer orbit and see how it shifts overall.鈥�

It is a huge undertaking. Turner is effectively designing a new piece of software on his own, but it has major promise.

鈥淒esigning cislunar trajectories is much more complex than designing trajectories around the Earth. With cislunar trajectories, you have the Earth and the Moon鈥檚 gravity both pulling on the spacecraft, and sometimes the orbits can take unexpected shapes,鈥� he said.

Despite the challenge, Turner is well suited to the task. He has a longstanding passion for astrodynamics and has been honored multiple times for educational excellence. He is currently a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, Smead Scholar, and a Each program provides funding for promising young scientists and engineers pursuing graduate education, with GEM focused on expanding access for underrepresented minorities.

Turner said GEM is important to bringing more viewpoints to science and engineering problems.

Example of the mixed reality trajectory software.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 pretty imperative that we have a more diverse space workforce,鈥� he said. 鈥淪pace is about tackling really hard problems and you can鈥檛 do that as well if you aren鈥檛 considering all the angles.鈥�

Despite his fellowship success and recognition by internship programs like the and Space Workforce 2030, at times Turner still doubts his talent.

鈥淭hese programs have helped connect me to all kinds of different people and really tackle my imposter syndrome. I鈥檓 grateful to have that access and hope I can pay it forward. They help me remember there is in a place in this industry for me and I hope I can help other people see that they belong too,鈥� he said.

Despite any lingering fears, Turner loves what he is doing and the impact aerospace work can have. During an internship at the Aerospace Corporation, he was part of a team of interns that developed a low cost GPS architecture for cislunar space. It is a design the company continues to advance.

鈥� The coolest part was when they told us they would be carrying the project forward. It reminded us that it wasn鈥檛 a game for interns, it was a real project with real impact,鈥� Turner said. 鈥淚t was an amazing experience.鈥�

As a second year PhD student, Turner still has 2-3 years left in his education and is leaning toward a career in industry.

鈥淚鈥檓 like a kid in the candy store except the candies are fuels and spacecraft,鈥� he said. 鈥淎erospace is such a wonderful place to be. I鈥檓 very fortunate.鈥�

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Sarah Luettgen is building a future as an aerospace professional, studying the space domain of satellite orbits in the extreme upper reaches of Earth鈥檚 atmosphere.

As a second-year aerospace PhD student and Smead Scholar at the 精品SM在线影片, Luettgen is leveraging advanced atmospheric models and super computers to study an area of the upper atmosphere from 80-600 km (50-375 miles) in altitude and beyond, where air and other gases dissipate, and space begins.

Many satellites, including the International Space Station, orbit through this range. But even at these high elevations, some atmospheric gases remain and can cause trouble.

鈥淥ne of the biggest challenges is satellite drag,鈥� Luettgen said. 鈥淎tmospheric density can vary by an order of magnitude depending on the conditions at a given moment. If we have a more accurate way to model these changes, it can reduce the uncertainty for operators trying to determine orbital paths.鈥�

Gas levels in the atmosphere can change because of weather conditions on Earth as well as solar storms from the sun 鈥� called space weather. It is an area of active research and Luettgen hopes to develop better models to predict spacecraft trajectories more accurately and safely.

The research also has potential to help improve understanding of climate change and explore what makes our planet habitable, she said.

鈥淭he issue is we need a fluid model for the lower part of the atmosphere where gases are denser, but as you get higher, things get less dense and there are fewer atmospheric collisions. There it makes more sense to model the motion of individual particles,鈥� Luettgen said.

The effort, sponsored by the NASA Heliophysics Theory, Modeling, and Simulations program in combination with a NASA/FINESST fellowship Luettgen earned last year, aims to create a unified model of both.

This is where the super computers come in. This type of work requires crunching a lot of numbers in parallel to simulate a very large volume of space and its evolution over days, months, or years. Using systems operated and maintained by NASA and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Luettgen is writing code across several computer languages and platforms that will push the limits of atmospheric modeling into new areas.

It is intensive work that just a few years ago would have been impossible.

鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 be able to do this research without the computational technologies available today,鈥� Luettgen said. 鈥淚 feel very lucky. We鈥檙e at a point where the coupling of these two models into a single massive simulation is now possible and is the next logical step as computing power and mathematical methods have advanced.鈥�

As she begins the second year of her PhD program, Luettgen is looking forward to how the work will progress. She sees these developed skills as transferable to a career in industry, government, or academia and is keeping the door open for however the future unfolds. For now, however, Luettgen is thoroughly enjoying her research and doctoral program.

鈥淚 started thinking about a PhD in second grade,鈥� Luettgen said. 鈥淚 love school and I鈥檝e always been drawn to physics and math, and I love applying it.鈥�

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Name: Roland Barnabas Ilyes
Advisor: Morteza Lahijanian
Lab:
Program: Aerospace BAM Student

I am from Arvada, Colorado and I've always been interested in math and science, particularly when we see solutions to problems that make so much sense that it's hard to believe they came from a bunch of equations. It's a bit of a "eureka" moment.

The first time I felt this in my undergraduate program was when we learned about control theory. The problems usually consist of many ugly differential equations, but the first approach we learn to control these systems is extremely intuitive and rewarding to implement. It's this satisfying feeling of seeing a complex system behave the way you want it to that sparked a flame of passion in me, and still keeps me yearning for more.

Growing up in Colorado, I was already very fond of the beautiful city of Boulder. When I was looking at universities to attend, I knew I wanted to pursue an engineering degree.

Furthermore, I was very impressed by 精品SM在线影片's esteemed Aerospace Engineering Sciences program. Visiting the astounding campus was the final big selling point! I've loved it here ever since.

As senior year approached, I found myself very interested in the Bachelor's-Accelerated Master's (BAM) program. It provided an excellent path to first see what some graduate courses were like before having to decide to commit to a higher degree.

Luckily for me, I loved the first couple graduate courses I took and decided to stick around!

I am now pursuing my MS in Aerospace Engineering with a focus on Autonomous Systems, and am on track to finish this Fall. I am completing a thesis under Professor Morteza Lahijanian, doing research with the

The thing I love most about 精品SM在线影片 are the vast resources and freedom to pursue my topics of interest. The Aerospace Engineering Sciences building is equipped with various laboratory facilities, fabrication equipment, and testing environments to accommodate all sorts of projects!

Beyond that, the faculty and other graduate students both in Aerospace and throughout campus create a very collaborative environment.

Researching at 精品SM在线影片 makes you feel like you're part of a large network of great minds pursuing excellence.

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Name: Becca Mikula
Hometown: Savannah, Missouri
Advisor: Zoltan Sternovsky
Program: 2nd Year Aerospace PhD Student

My name is Becca Mikula and I am from Savannah, Missouri.  Savannah is a small, farming community in northwest Missouri.  When I was growing up, I remember looking at the stars almost every night and being able to pick out constellations and planets from the mess while I looked out over the fields. 

I have always been interested in science and engineering. My brother brought me his high school astronomy textbook when I was in elementary school and he and my grandma helped me read it.  I had known from as early as I could remember that I wanted to do something focusing on space.

There wasn't a ton of exposure to role models in STEM, especially as a little girl. I mostly saw role models on TV and in books.  I always looked up to women like Jocelyn Bell Burnell.  I saw them in documentaries and wanted to be just like them.

The problem was, that opportunities to do physics and engineering just didn't exist back home.  I decided to pick up everything and move after high school.

I did my undergrad at Morehead State University, a small university in eastern Kentucky.  Within my first year, I was working at the Space Science Center as an astrophysics undergrad fellow.  By the time I graduated, I had worked on the ground station tracking small sats, in the planetarium, and on the assembly of a cube sat. 

I knew after trying just about everything there that the more engineering-focused areas of space exploration were for me.

I always thought I wanted to be an astrophysicist, but during undergrad, I got extremely interested in the mission planning side of things from a systems perspective and instrumentation for space missions. I ended up finishing bachelor's degrees in astrophysics and chemistry and decided to pursue my graduate degree in a more engineering-centric area. 

At 精品SM在线影片, I'm working on my PhD in aerospace engineering with a focus on remote sensing.  I just finished my first year of grad school and couldn't be happier I did it here.

I decided on 精品SM在线影片 for graduate school after hearing tons of great things about the university, the research opportunities, and the beautiful Front Range.  I knew I wanted to go somewhere I would be happy for a minimum of six years and Boulder seemed to tick all those boxes. 

was a huge draw for me.  I had always read articles and papers that featured LASP/精品SM在线影片 projects and getting the opportunity to be part of that kind of scientific and engineering community was something that excited me.

I love 精品SM在线影片's campus! It is amazing to walk to and from class and be able to see the mountains and hear Boulder Creek. 

I think East Campus in particular is beautiful and it is fun to see the ducks in the ponds (I take my binoculars to class to stop and bird watch). 

In addition to 精品SM在线影片 having the most beautiful, natural campus, I love the atmosphere here.  It feels so collaborative and welcoming in the aerospace building.  I love the feeling of belonging and the excitement to be learning and researching.

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