Kristen is a first-year PhD student and Draper Scholar from Dayton, OH. She holds a BSE in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University, where she performed research on optimization under uncertainty for missions to Uranus. She is also a 2021 Brooke Owens Fellow and has worked at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), Radiance Technologies, and The Boeing Company on projects ranging from automated statistical analysis algorithms to...
Dahlia is a sixth year PhD student from Boerne, TX. Her current research includes asteroid shape modeling, surfaces and dynamical evolution. She holds a B.A. in Physics from Coe College, and was supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship awarded in 2018. Before joining CU Boulder and ORCCA, she interned at NASA Goddard and Planetary Resources as a Brooke Owens Fellow. As an ORCCA member, she has worked on the...
Rylie is a PhD student from Parker, Colorado. She holds a B.S. in Engineering Physics and a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. She also works at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory as a mission design and navigation engineer. Her current research focuses on trajectory optimization under uncertainty.
Grace Calkins is a first-year PhD student and NASA Space Grant Technology Fellow from Williamsburg, Virginia. She holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a MS in Aerospace Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on efficient uncertainty quantification and trajectory optimization. She is also an Amelia Earhart Fellow and has interned at several NASA centers (JPL, LaRC, JSC), and Blue...
Rachel is a third-year Ph.D. student from Eldersburg, Maryland. She holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is currently supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship that she was awarded in 2022. Rachel's research focuses on the dynamical evolution of binary asteroid systems. Prior to attending CU Boulder and joining ORCCA, she interned at both NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the Johns...
Zach is a first-year PhD student and an active-duty member in the United States Air Force. He holds a BS and MS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has held internships at Sandia National Laboratories, Blue Canyon Technology, and MIT-Lincoln Laboratory. Additionally, he has been an astrodynamics research scientist at Lockheed Martin, student pilot at Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training, visiting member of the Department of...
Giovanni, originally from Parma, Italy, is a first-year Ph.D. student and Graduate Research Assistant at the ORCCA Lab. He received his BS in Aerospace Engineering and MS in Space Engineering with honors from Politecnico di Milano. Giovanni's research interests encompass spacecraft autonomy, with a particular emphasis on guidance and control algorithms. Recently, he has been researching the use of reinforcement learning for autonomous guidance and control during cislunar proximity operations...
Chun-Wei is a first-year PhD student. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is interested in pushing the boundaries of space exploration using autonomous systems. He is co-advised by Dr. Morteza Lahijanian.
Ken is a PhD student and a Draper Scholar at ORCCA. He has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rutgers University and a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. Prior to joining ORCCA, he worked at Draper in Cambridge, MA on GN&C algorithms for aerospace vehicles. His research interests are in developing algorithms for autonomous lunar and small body navigation.
Chloe is a PhD candidate from Queens, NYC. They hold a BSc in mechanical engineering with a focus in sustainable engineering from SUNY Binghamton. Their research interests include asteroid tour mission design and binary asteroid dynamics. Chloe is a passionate advocate for accessibility and equity in academia - they founded the Ask a Brookie outreach program and currently serve as the Chair of the Graduate Student Advisory Board. In their...
Anivid (Ani) is a PhD candidate from Barcelona, Spain. She holds a BSc. in Aerospace Engineering from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and a MSc. in Astrodynamics and Satellite Navigation from CU-Boulder. Anivid first joined ORCCA Lab in Spring 2019 as an undergraduate researcher. Her work focuses on the dynamical environment of small bodies and understanding natural motion in their vicinity. Specifically, she is interested in gravity modeling, robust guidance algorithms,...
Jens is a fourth-year Ph.D. student from Circle Pines, Minnesota. He was awarded a NASA space technology graduate research opportunity (NSTGRO) fellowship to perform research on multi-disciplinary development of advanced aerocapture guidance algorithms for missions to the Ice Giants. He holds a BSc. in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame, where he performed experimental hypersonic aerothermodynamics research. Co-advised by Dr. Iain Boyd.
Kian is a second-year PhD student from Mission Viejo, California. He holds a Masters (MPhys) in Astrophysics from the University of St Andrews, Scotland. He has previously worked as a Spacecraft Controller for satellite communications company OneWeb and as a Spacecraft Flight Software Systems Engineer within NASA's Commercial Crew Program at Johnson Space Center. His research interests include spacecraft navigation, autonomy, and small body missions. Kian is a NDSEG Fellow...
David Dezell Turner is a second-year PhD student from Des Moines, Iowa. He holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is currently supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. For his current research, Dezell develops augmented reality tools for astrodynamics. In addition to being an NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Dezell is also a Smead Scholar, GEM Fellow, Space Workforce 2030 National Space Intern, and...
Jacopo is a third-year PhD student from Rimini, Italy. He holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering from University of Bologna and a MS in Aerospace Engineering from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. His research is supported by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he contributes to the design and development of autonomous vision-based navigation and perception algorithms for small body and planetary missions. Jacopo's research focuses on vision-based techniques...
Alexandre Cortiella is a Postdoctoral Associate, originally from Barcelona, Spain. His current research focuses on developing machine learning algorithms for autonomous spacecraft. Alexandre received his MS and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. His Ph.D. work focused on data-driven modeling and identification of nonlinear dynamical systems from noisy observations. He also holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the Technical University of Catalonia in Spain. Alexandre's...
Mattia has obtained his B.Sc. in Aerospace engineering at Politecnico di Milano, M.Sc. in Space engineering at TU Delft, and Ph.D. at Politecnico di Milano. During his studies he has also performed several visiting and working periods at DFKI (Bremen), University of Arizona (Tucson), GMV (Madrid), JAXA (Tokyo), Airbus Defense and Space (Friedrichshafen), contributing to CubeSats (Milani and EQUULEUS), smallsat (DESTINY+), and traditional (HERA) missions. Research Interests: Small bodies exploration...
Jonathan is a CU Aerospace alumni and Colorado native from Loveland, CO. He holds a BSc. in Aerospace Engineering and a MSc. in Aerospace Engineering, with a focus in Astrodynamics and Satellite Navigation with a thesis completed in ORCCA in 2018. He is currently a Navigation Systems Engineer at Maxar-DigitalGlobe. He is interested in advanced navigation filters, space situational awareness, optical tracking, and GPS applications.
Davide was a postdoc from Castellammare di Stabia, Italy. He holds a BSc. and a MSc. in Aerospace Engineering from the "Federico II" University of Naples, Italy, and a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the Technical University of Madrid, Spain. Prior to joining ORCCA, he was a postdoc at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ. His scientific interests are orbit propagation, orbital mechanics, machine learning applied to astrodynamics, and...
Benjamin, originally from Bordeaux, France, obtained his PhD in Spring 2019. He holds a BSc. and MSc. in Aerospace Engineering from ISAE-Supaero, Toulouse, France, and a MSc. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before joining CU Boulder in 2015, he was an intern at Airbus Defense and Space in Toulouse, France. His research focuses on shape reconstruction, uncertainty quantification and model-based navigation about small bodies. He...
Spencer is originally from Calgary, Alberta. He defended his PhD in November, 2022. He holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from McGill University in Montreal, and a MS in aerospace engineering from CU-Boulder. Before returning to CU for his Ph.D., he worked for several years in flight dynamics operations for various NASA Earth-observing missions. His research currently focuses on enabling autonomous spacecraft maneuvering and guidance in non-linear dynamical systems (e.g...
Daniel, originally from Jerusalem, Israel, obtained his PhD in Fall 2019. He holds a BSc. and MSc. in Aerospace Engineering from Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. Daniel is affiliated with the Space Generation Advisory Council, NASA Goddard and is a recipient of the Mather Nobel Scholarship. Daniel's research investigates the relationship between rotation dynamics and surface activity, such as landslides, on small bodies. Daniel is also a...
Luke, originally from Sioux Falls, SD, obtained his PhD in Fall 2021. He holds a BSc. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and his PhD was supported by the NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship which he was awarded in 2018. His research focused on trajectory design for landing on moons of the outer planets.
Disip defended his MS thesis in 2023. He is originally from Indore, India. He holds a B.Tech. in Material Science and an M.Tech. in Aerospace Engineering, specializing in dynamics and control from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India. For his thesis, he is currently investigating the reachability of a servicer spacecraft in a formation flight around a target spacecraft. He is also working on docking to and detumbling of...
Andrea is a third-year PhD student at Politecnico Di Milano, Italy. He holds honors degrees in MSc Space Engineering and BSc Mechanical Engineering from the same institution. Andrea’s research focuses on computationally efficient Collision Avoidance Manoeuvre (CAM) design. He previously worked as a Research Fellow from 2020 to 2021, collaborating with Leonardo Company and the Italian Space Agency on Orbit determination, correlation, and Sensors Network simulation.During his PhD, Andrea has...
Taralicin defended her Ph.D. in August 2023. She is originally from Assam, India. She holds a prior B.Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology Silchar, India, and an MSc. degree in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder, USA. In her research she leverages motion planning ideas from the field of robotics and expands their application to achieve safe, fuel- efficient, and near-optimal motion...
Ann graduated with her PhD in August 2017, focusing on supporting autonomous navigation research using a flash lidar instrument in proximity to small bodies. While at CU, she held honors such as being a Joseph H. Smead Fellow, and the National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellowship. She currently works at NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the Near Earth Tracking Applications group, working on orbit determination of the GPS satellites and...
Andrew, originally from Olympia, Washington, obtained his PhD in Spring 2020. He holds a B.A in Mathematics and B.Sc in Engineering Physics both from Whitworth University, and a M.Sc in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from CU Boulder. Andrew was affiliated with the Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium and with KinetX, Inc. Andrew's research was interested in orbit determination and gravity field estimation around asteroids and comets. Andrew was also a member...
Jeroen received his BS and MS in Aerospace Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2011 and the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2012. He graduated with his PhD in 2017 from Ann and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder under the supervision of Dr. Jay McMahon. He is currently working as an Orbit Determination Analyst at KinetX Inc. for the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission.
Originally from Ogden, UT, Matthew began his PhD at CU in the fall of 2019. He obtained a BSc. in mechanical engineering from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, UT and a MSc. in aerospace engineering from Utah State University in Logan, UT before moving to Colorado to join ORCCA. After working as an intern at the NASA Ames Research Center in 2016, Matthew was an engineer and...
Melis was a graduate student from Rochester, New York. She holds a B.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering from SUNY University at Buffalo and obtained M.S. in the same field from CU Boulder in Fall 2020. Her research explored the dynamics of aerocapture and entry, descent, and landing, focusing on uncertainty quantification/propagation and spacecraft guidance.
Shayna is a second-year PhD student from Springfield, MA. She holds a BSc. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Miami, and is currently supported by the Graduate Research Fellowship of the National Science Foundation that she was awarded in 2018. She is a recipient of the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship and is affiliated with Dr. Bobby Braun's ESD Laboratory at CU Boulder. Prior to joining CU, Shayna was affiliated with...
Megan was an undergraduate student obtaining a Bsc. in Aerospace Engineering at CU Boulder, which she received in 2021. She got involved with ORCCA over the summer of 2018 with the CU SPUR program assisting in building a drone and asteroid model test bed. She is interested in autonomous spacecraft systems for celestial body exploration missions, among other interests. She was interning at JPL over the summer of 2019 working...
Hermann obtained his PhD in Spring 2022. Originally from Douala, Cameroon, Hermann moved to Takoma Park, MD during his undergrad at the University of Maryland, where he graduated with a BSc. in Aerospace Engineering. He is affiliated with the Air Force Research Laboratory and NASA Langley Research Center. His research focused on 6DOF guidance and control of multi-agent systems leveraging differential SRP to facilitate autonomous on-orbit servicing.
Taehyeun, originally from Seoul, South Korea, was a M.S. student specializing in Astrodynamics and Satellite Navigation Systems. He holds a B.S. in Astronomy from Yonsei University. He is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. His research interests are optimal guidance and control for operating spacecraft in highly nonlinear dynamics, such as cislunar space and around small bodies.
Don was a PhD student from Hortonville, WI. He holds a BSc. in Engineering Mechanics and Astronautics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a MSc. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder. In addition to being an ARCs Scholar, he has interned with the Air Force Research Laboratory. His research focuses on enabling optimal guidance and control of spacecraft around small bodies using low-thrust propulsion. He defended...
Jonathan was a graduate student from Canton, Michigan and obtained his MSc. in Spring 2020. He holds a BSc. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering from Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI, and has studied abroad at the Osnabrück University of Applied Science in Germany. He was supported by the Draper Fellowship which he was awarded in 2018, and was an intern at the NASA Johnson Space Center over the summer...
Mark, originally from Briarcliff Manor, NY, obntained his PhD in Summer 2022. He holds a BSc. in Aerospace Engineering and a BSc. in Astronomy from the University of Maryland, and was supported by the NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship that he was awarded in 2018. During his PhD, Mark studied the highly perturbed orbital environment at active comets with applications to mission planning, operations, and science.
Sean Napier was a PhD student from Doylestown, PA. He holds a BSc. in Astrophysics from Lehigh University. He works as an aerospace engineer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, prior to which he held internships with Omitron Inc. and SpaceX. Sean's research is focused on multi-objective hybrid optimal control for multi-spacecraft interplanetary trajectories.
Kenshiro (Ken) was a Ph.D. student from Nagoya, Japan. He holds a BSc. and MSc. in Aero/Astro from the University of Tokyo. Summer 2018 and Fall 2019, he worked at NASA JPL on science orbit design for the Psyche mission (2018) and on solar sailing trajectory optimization for the NEA Scout mission (2019). He works on stochastic optimal control for robust space trajectory design and SRP-based orbit control, with applications...
Paolo was a visiting scholar in Spring 2019 from ISAE-SUPAERO, Toulouse, France. He holds a BSc. in Aerospace Engineering from Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, and holds MSc. in Space Engineering from Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, in Aerospace Engineering from ISAE-SUPAERO, Toulouse, France, and in Control and Signal Processing from Paris-Saclay University, Paris, France. He is supported by CNES Doctoral Fellowship. He was previously affiliated with Airbus Defence and...
Evan was a PhD student from Morristown, New Jersey with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Brown University and an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has interned at 3 NASA centers (NASA Langley, NASA Ames, and JPL) and has been a Draper Labs Fellow since 2018. His research focuses on guidance algorithm development for drag-modulated aerocapture. He defended his PhD in summer 2021.
Lubna is from Voorhees, NJ. She holds a BSc. in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech where she was part of the Systems Design Lab prior to joining CU. Lubna joined Blue Origin in WA after completing her MSc. degree in Spring 2019.
ORCCA Currents Students Academic Backgrounds Breakdown
