Advancing GPS from undergrad to a PhD

 

Benon Gattis at Jammertest, an annual Norwegian conference for testing the robustness of global navigation satellite systems, like GPS.

Name: Benon Gattis
Advisor: Dennis Akos
Lab:Radio Frequency & Satellite Navigation Laboratory 
Program: Aerospace PhD Student

Benon Gattis is researching radio frequency jamming and spoofing by military and independent actors to disrupt GPS and other global navigation satellite systems. The research aims to quickly detect and locate the source of such transmissions to mitigate their impacts.

I grew up in Gunnison, a small town in western Colorado. I grew up biking and skiing in nearby Crested Butte, and ended up developing a passion for these outdoor activities. 

I knew I wanted to go to college somewhere that would support these sports while also providing an enriching academic experience. This led me to a fairly short list of schools, of which CU Boulder was the best fit for me. 

I wanted to pursue engineering and development, but I had a hard time deciding between the various engineering majors; electrical, software, and mechanical. 

Aerospace ended up being a combination of all those areas, giving me exposure to all of them in my undergraduate at CU Boulder. This also allowed me to then pursue the focus area I liked most for my masters. One of the selling points of an undergraduate at CU Boulder for me was the ability to get a BS and MS in 5 years with the Bachelor's Accelerated Masters (BAM) program.

In my undergrad I participated in the DLA program, a program designed to give undergraduates experience working in various labs around CU. My internship was in Dennis Akos’s lab studying GPS interference and jamming. 

I didn't originally plan on staying for PhD, but I really enjoyed the research and lab and wanted to keep going.

One of my highlights of my time at CU Boulder is that I now get to mentor people in this same DLA program that I was once a part of. I am now in my third year of my PhD, after finishing my BS and MS.

Through my time at CU and in Boulder I have come to appreciate both the city and the school. Boulder has allowed my outdoor passions to thrive and has an amazing athletic community. I think that is my favorite part about CU Boulder, is that the school and town together create an amazing and supportive environment to get a graduate degree.