Live Graduate Panel

Moderator

Trevor Bennett
Astrodynamics & Satellite Navigation Systems (ASN)
PhD, 5th year

Panelists

Ann Dietrich
Astrodynamics & Satellite Navigation Systems (ASN)
PhD, 5th year
BS in aerospace engineering, University of Florida
"I've been in Boulder now for 5 years and feel I have a senior level view of grad school, research, and maybe have finally figured out a work/life balance whIle living here. I frequently enjoy climbing, running, yoga, hiking with my dogs, and snowboarding when it snows, and then occasionally also play ultimate frisbee and crochet. I lived in Florida all of my life until I moved here to Colorado, and so I know what it's like to adjust to something different. Though I can't talk as much to taking classes anymore, I can talk to the later part of the PhD process, on keeping up your motivation and with your research."

Phillip D'Amore
Aerospace Engineering Systems (AESys)
Masters, 2nd year
BS in mechanical engineering and math, Southern Methodist University
"I work as a Research Assistant in the Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles (RECUV) at CU Boulder. My interest is in controls and dynamics of aerospace vehicle systems. My thesis is on an autonomous landing system for one of our UAVs. 2 of my favorite things about being in Boulder are the great hikes nearby and the large selection of craft breweries."

Markus Geiss
Aerospace Engineering Systems (AESys)
PhD, 3rd year
Dual Studies at the University of Applied Sciences in Munich, Germany together with Airbus Defense and Space
"A native of Germany, I came to the U.S. as part of a foreign student exchange program in high school. I then attended the University of New South Wales in Sydney, University of Applied Sciences in Munich—where I earned my B.Eng. degree in mechatronics—and International Space University in Montreal. As a graduate student at Boulder, I am focusing on topology optimization and simulation of spacecraft structures and novel materials. I completed a practical semester internship) with EADS Astrium (now Airbus Defense and Space) and at the German aerospace center, DLR. I've received the Europe Prize from the city of Passau, Germany, for bass trombone and tuba. I also volunteers as an international student guide at Boulder and was a volunteer fireman in Germany, where I played in two brass bands and participated in the development of a constitution in the European Union youth parliament."

Tobias Niederwieser
Bioastronautics (Bio)
PhD, 2nd year
B.S. Technical University Munich 2013, M.S. University of Colorado 2015 
"As part of my doctoral studies I am evaluating bioregenerative life support system technologies using algae for air revitalization. In order to assess the feasibility of this technology I am specifically looking at the effect of altered pressure on algal cells. By combining biology and technology my hopes is to contribute to self-sustaining life support systems on long term human spaceflight missions."