PhD Scholar Alumni
2017 Scholars
Abhishektha Boppana entered CU’s Aerospace Engineering Sciences PhD program in Fall 2017 and is advised by Prof. Allie Anderson in the His research focuses on developing a new spacesuit boot architecture using dynamic foot-shape models, thereby allowing for astronauts to more efficiently and comfortably walk on planetary surfaces. This work is further supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship he earned in 2018. Abhi is involved in research exploring alternative reality technologies as a spacecraft habitat design tool. He graduated from Case Western Reserve University in May of 2017 with a BS in Biomedical Engineering and a minor in Mechanical Engineering. Abhi conducted multiple internship tours at NASA as an undergrad. He is an alumnus of the 2015 Glenn Space Academy, where he worked to create a finite-element based model designed to simulate the effects of microgravity-performed exercises on bone loss. He also spent the spring and summer of 2016 at Johnson Space Center, working with their Anthropometry and Biomechanics group and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, evaluating new equipment to improve the space suit sizing process. Outside of school, Abhi enjoys hiking, photography, traveling, and cooking.
Jonathan Manni enteredÌýSmead Aerospace's PhD program in Fall 2017 and is co-advised by Prof. Nisar Ahmed in the Autonomous Systems focus area with an emphasis on Controls, and Prof. Jay McMahon in the focus area. Jonathan graduated from Calvin College in May of 2017 with a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a minor in German. As an undergraduate, Jonathan participated in numerous study programs in Germany, including a research internship developing methods to improve crop sensing and imaging for autonomous agricultural robotic platforms at the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences in Osnabrück, Germany. Jonathan’s research interests include spacecraft autonomy and autonomous planning, machine learning, and human-robot collaboration. Outside of his academic interests, he enjoys hiking, learning, tinkering, photography, and travel.
2016 Scholars
Andrew Harris is conducting research on developing and refining techniques for autonomous, aero-assisted orbital and attitude maneuvers as a PhD student working under Prof. Hanspeter Schaub. Prior to arriving at ²ÊÃñ±¦µä, Andrew graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University at Buffalo with a degree in aerospace engineering and a minor in English. While at UB, he co-founded the University at Buffalo Nanosatellite Laboratory (UBNL), an undergraduate-focused satellite development group with funding from NASA and the Air Force. He has also spent multiple summers interning with NASA and the Air Force Research Laboratory. In his spare time, Andrew enjoys community engagement, hiking, tinkering, tennis, and creative writing.
Marielle Pellegrino is a 2016 Smead Scholar working under Prof. Daniel Scheeres in the . Marielle is studying the solar radiation pressure perturbation and how to harness it for orbital debris removal and mission design optimization. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Florida where she worked as an undergraduate research assistant for the Space Systems Group. Recently, she has been focusing her energy in science communication by founding with the goal of making information accessible to someone without a technical background. In her free time, she loves to travel, eat, watch TV, watch sports (occasionally play them), and hike.
2015 Scholars
Shaylah Mutschler worked as a software engineer in the Space Situational Awareness Industry after completing her BS in Computer Engineering at Wright State University in 2012. As a software engineer, she assisted in the development of algorithms that characterized geosynchronous satellites using light curve data. After two years in the space industry she began pursuing her PhD at the ²ÊÃñ±¦µä with aÌýfocus in . She was a research assistant with the during her first two years, where she developed algorithms for multi-target, multi-sensor tracking. In addition, Shaylah conducted research as an intern Summer 2016 and 2017 at the Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There, she focused on analyzing and quantifying the effect of attitude dynamics, shape modality fidelity, and uncertainty on the characterization and prediction of space-object motion. In 2017, Shaylah was awarded both the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (accepted).
Conor Benson is pursuing his PhD in the focus area. As a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow, Conor is investigating how solar radiation and other perturbations affect the spin states of retired Earth-orbiting satellites. He hopes to better understand and predict the long-term rotational evolutionÌýof these debris objects through dynamical modeling and analysis of satellite light curve observations obtained with ground-based telescopes. Conor received his BS in Aerospace Engineering from North Carolina State University in 2015. Outside of academics he enjoys cycling, skiing, and exploring the great Colorado outdoors.
2014 Scholars
JoAnna Fulton is a Technologist at Tendeg, LLC, working on the Starshade project. She completed her PhD in May 2020 in the Autonomous Vehicle Systems Laboratory with Prof. Hanspeter Schaub. As a graduate student, JoAnna earned both a NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship and Zonta Amelia Earhart Fellowship. She received her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Florida in 2014. Her broad research interests concern the deployment dynamics of complex deployable space structures. Current research focuses on origami-inspired folded space structures that incorporate novel elastic hinge materials. Additionally, she co-founded a new student organization for Women in Aerospace Engineering at ²ÊÃñ±¦µä and serves on the graduate committee for the Society of Women Engineers. In her spare time, she enjoys rock climbing, reading, crafting, 3D printing, and cooking.
Ryan Skinner works at the intersection of design optimization and computational fluid dynamics. He spent his first two years at ²ÊÃñ±¦µä developing active flow control strategies for an aggressive subsonic diffuser, in collaboration with Prof. Kenneth Jansen and Northrop Grumman. As an NDSEG graduate fellow, Ryan developed scalable methods for design optimization of a broader class of unsteady aerodynamic systems. He earned his bachelor's degree in physics from Carleton College in Minnesota and graduated with his PhD in aerospace from ²ÊÃñ±¦µä in Spring 2019. Outside of science and engineering, Ryan is also an avid cyclist and cross-country skier.
2013 Scholars
Kiichiro J. DeLuca is a venture capitalist at WERU Investment, the oldest university-affiliated venture capital firm in Japan. He leads the firm’s investment activities in frontier technology areas including space technology and invests predominantly in spinout companies from universities and research institutions in the US and Japan. He currently serves on the board of LeoLabs, an SRI International spinout which operates the world’s first and only commercial space situational awareness (SSA) platform for low Earth orbit (LEO). Before entering the venture capital world, Kiichiro worked with several early stage startups in San Francisco and Tokyo in technology focused business development roles. Prior to his career in the venture capital and technology industry, he was a graduate student at the ²ÊÃñ±¦µä under the guidance ofÌýProf. Daniel J. Scheeres.ÌýHis research work focused on guidance, navigation, and control of spacecraft and was funded by The Smead ProgramÌýas well as the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. He graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2013 with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering with Highest Honor.
Lauren McManus graduated with her master's from ²ÊÃñ±¦µä in 2013. She worked under the advisement of Dr. Hanspeter Schaub where she completed her thesis,ÌýAn Investigation into Establishing a Formation of Small Satellites in a Lunar Flower Constellation. She now works as a Systems Engineer at Analytical Graphics, Inc. (AGI).
2012 Scholars
Ann Dietrich graduated with her PhD in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the ²ÊÃñ±¦µä in 2017 under the supervision of Dr. Jay McMahon. Her thesis focused on studying satellite relative navigation around asteroids with lidar altimetry measurements.ÌýShe received the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and Zonta Amelia Earhart Fellowship while at CU, and has completed internships at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the JPL Planetary Science Summer School.Ìý She received her Masters from CU in 2014, and her Bachelors in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Florida in 2012. Ann has volunteered her time encouraging engineering outreach in middle and elementary schools through CU TEAMS and the Society of Women Engineers. She loves being outside with her two dogs enjoying rock climbing, yoga, running, and kayaking.
Samantha Rieger is an aerospace engineer at Lockheed Martin, supporting the asteroid sample return mission, OSIRIS-Rex, out of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. While pursuing her PhD, Samantha worked with A. Richard Seebass Chair, Prof. Dan Scheeres, in the where she studied natural and artificial satellite stability and orbital evolution around small bodies. She was a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow and NSF Fellowship recipient. Her research was on Laplace plane dynamics related to spacecraft and natural satellites around asteroid. Other research interests include astrodynamics, celestial mechanics, and mission design. Before pursuing her PhD, she graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical engineering in 2012. She has interned previously at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Samantha’s other interests include rock climbing, skiing, traveling, and learning about world history.Ìý Ìý
2011 Scholars
Antonella Albuja received her undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering from Iowa State University in 2011. She finished her Ph.D. at the University of Colorado - Boulder under the guidance of Dr. Daniel Scheeres in October 2015. Her dissertation focused on studying the rotational dynamics of inactive satellites in Earth orbit, with a special focus on the Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP effect). Antonella is currently Technical Director for Walt Disney Animation Studios in California. Prior to that, she wasÌýa Member of the Technical Staff in the Astrodynamics Department at The Aerospace Corporation.
Dan Lubey graduated in 2011 with a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Penn State University. He received a PhD in Aerospace Engineering Sciences in 2015 from the ²ÊÃñ±¦µä where he was advised by Dr. Daniel Scheeres. In addition to being supported by the Smead Program, Dan was a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow. His research focused on Estimation Theory and Uncertainty Quantification as applied to problems in the area of Space Situational Awareness. Dan is currently working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the Psyche and LICIAcube missions. He was previously at The Aerospace Corporation as a Member of the Technical Staff in the Navigation and Geopositioning Systems Department in El Segundo, CA.
2010 Scholar
Aaron Rosengren is an Assistant Professor of Space Systems in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at University of California San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering. He was previously an Assistant Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Arizona, specializing in astrodynamics-based space situational awareness. Prior to joining UA, he spent one year at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece working in the Department of Physics, as part of the European Union H2020 Project ReDSHIFT. He has also served as a member of the EU Asteroid and Space Debris Network, Stardust, working for two years at the Institute of Applied Physics Nello Carrara of the Italian National Research Council. He held visiting researcher positions at both the University of Rome Tor Vergata in Italy and the Belgrade Astronomical Observatory in Serbia. His research interests include space situational awareness, orbital debris, celestial mechanics, and planetary science. Aaron is kept stable in the chaotic dynamics of tenure-track academia by occasionally hiking, boxing, and traveling.
2009 Scholars
Dylan Boone is a Navigation Engineer in the Outer Planet Navigation group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His tasks include navigation for the Cassini mission at Saturn, and the New Horizons mission to the Pluto-Charon system, as well as studies for the Europa Clipper and Next Mars Orbiter missions. Dylan received his PhD in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2013. While at CU he was awarded the H. Joseph Smead Fellowship and the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship. He received a BSE in Aerospace Engineering in 2008 and an MEng in Space Systems in 2009, each from the University of Michigan. He is interested in continuing research into the information content of spacecraft tracking measurements and orbit design in unstable orbital environments.
Ben Dunham grew up in Helena, Montana, where he attended Carroll College and earned a double major in Mathematics and Computer Science. He is fascinated in both the art and science of design optimization and automation. Ben completed his PhD in Aerospace Engineering Sciences in 2017.
2007 Scholars
Stephanie Golmon is currently a Principal Engineer at Ambri, Inc in Boston, where she has lived for the last several years. She received her PhD in Aerospace Engineering from ²ÊÃñ±¦µä in 2011, where she also earned an MS. She holds a BS in Physics and Mathematics from Principia College. She was one of the inaugural Smead Scholars (then Fellows) in 2007.
Jason Roadman has been a test engineer at the NWTC since March of 2011. His experience includes field and dynamometer testing of large and small wind turbines, validation of eagle detection systems using trained raptors, metrology, storm chasing, and wind tunnel testing of atmospheric turbulence. He is also an integral member of the team that organizes the Department of Energy's Collegiate Wind Competition, acting as head rules judge as well as testing judge during the wind tunnel tests of the students' turbines. Jason is the NWTC’s lead point of contact for unmanned aircraft and sits on NREL’s unmanned aircraft steering committee.ÌýÌýHe has a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Virginia Tech and an MS in Aerospace Engineering from the ²ÊÃñ±¦µä.ÌýHe was one of the inaugural Smead Scholars (then Fellows) in 2007.