Researchers

Timothy T. Aiken received a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences in 2023 from the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he also completed a M.S. in 2022. He previously earned a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Kansas in 2019. Tim is currently a postdoctoral research associate at the Center for National Security Initiatives at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Tim specializes in computational modeling of hypersonic flows, sensitivity...

Daniil A. Andrienko received his Ph.D. in Applied Physics in 2013 from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and a second Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 2014 from Wright State University. Later he was appointed as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Michigan and as an assistant professor at Texas A&M University. Presently he is a Principal Research Associate at the Center for National Security Initiatives at...

Alan S. Brannon received the B.S.E.E. degree from Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA, in 2002, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA, in 2004 and 2007, respectively. He currently leads the RF research group at CU Boulder’s Center for National Security Initiatives. He has 22 publications in the fields of electrical engineering and physics and is inventor on 15...

Education PhD, Aerospace Engineering Sciences, CU Boulder, 2019 MSc, Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida, 2014 BSc (with Honors), Mechanical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 2011 Professional Experience 2020 - 2022, Research Associate, Nonequilibrium Gas & Plasma Dynamics Laboratory, CU Boulder 2019 - 2020, Research Associate, Research & Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles, CU Boulder 2016 - 2019, Resource Chair & Lead Developer, Committee for Expansion into Key Space Industries (CENKI)...

Calvin Chan is a Senior Principal Research Associate and Lead of the Microelectronics Program at CU's Center for National Security Initiatives. His work has spanned the entire range of the microelectronics lifecycle, from basic materials and device research to applied systems and technical evaluations. He is often called upon by stakeholders to assemble and lead agile teams that can quickly research new phenomena and evaluate new technologies for acquisition, integration,...

Dr. Angie Crews received her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the United States Naval Academy in 2004 and M.S. degrees in Aeronautical Engineering and Astronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 2012. She spent 11 years active duty in the Marine Corps as an EA-6B Electronic Countermeasures Officer (ECMO) and Space Operations Officer before transitioning to the Reserves. Dr. Crews then received her Ph.D. in Space Systems...

Dr. Greg Furlich is a Research Associate and the Space Domain Awareness research lead for the Center for National Security Initiatives (NSI) at the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Furlich received his PhD in Physics from the University of Utah in 2020. His doctoral thesis focused on the ultraviolet remote sensing of ultra-high energy cosmic ray interactions within the atmosphere. Prior to NSI, Dr. Furlich worked as a research scientist...

Kyle Harlow is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Autonomous Robotics and Perception Group (ARPG) advised by Dr. Christoffer Heckman. He has worked on the DARPA Subterranean Challenge, where Team MARBLE placed 3rd overall and best in the United States. He continues to research mapping and odometry solutions using dense millimeter wave radar. To date, he has obtained a B.S. in Applied Mathematics in 2017 and a B.S/M.S. in Electrical Engineering...

Dr. Nathan Miller received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado State University in 2009 and 2010 after which he joined the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) as a Research and Development engineer in the Advanced Engineering Analysis group. During his time at LANL, he supported modeling complex multi-component structures using finite elements and spearheaded the development of constitutive models for plastic bonded explosives (PBXs). He also...

Chris Roseman graduated with his PhD in Aerospace Engineering Sciences in August of 2022. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters in Aerospace Engineering Sciences. During his graduate studies he worked on the Hypersonic Flight in the Turbulent Stratosphere (HYFLITS) research campaign for the AFOSR. His work included the development and testing of a low-speed, low-pressure wind tunnel for testing fine-wire instruments at stratospheric conditions...

Sara Swenson received her Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences in 2024 from the University of Colorado. She also holds a M.S. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado and a B.A. in Physics from St. Olaf College. During her graduate studies, Sara worked on developing in-situ measurement suites for direct measurements of supercell thunderstorms as well as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of vehicles traveling at hypersonic speeds...

Dr. Chad Tossell (Lt Col, Retired) leads the Human and Sociotechnical Systems Research (HSSR) Program in the Center for National Security Initiatives (NSI) at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from UC Berkeley, a M.S. in Applied Psychology from Arizona State University, and a Ph.D. in Human Factors / Human-Computer Interaction from Rice University. Before joining NSI, Dr. Tossell taught courses in human factors,...