Experience

Vermont Adult Learning

• United States
• Individual and Family Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Math Teacher

  • May 2023 - Present

  I work with students to meet them where they are at and teach them mathematical thinking. I teach small classes through the online learning center, as well as tutor students in person and remotely. I take math concepts that students may not have seen since middle or high school, or even at all, and present them in creative ways that blend the math with their everyday lives and relate it to concepts they can not only understand, but enjoy. In this way, students are brought up to Vermont Agency of Education standards, but leave with skills they can carry with them for life and apply to their communities. My work is a mutual struggle with students, but I am patient and compassionate to their needs, and we grow and learn together. This job has been an absolute pleasure so far. Show less



University of Colorado Boulder

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Graduate Research Assistant

  • Aug 2018 - Jul 2022

  Contributing to group research for a guidance/control system for Martian entry, descent, and landing, as well as independently researching usage of aerocapture/aerobreaking maneuvers in the Martian system from a stochastic perspective.Exploring how to efficiently and accurately approximate nonlinearities in the evolution of a spacecraft's uncertainty profile during capture and sustained aerobraking maneuvers. Aiming to extend this work from planetary entry, descent, and landing to maneuvering around small bodies (asteroids/comets) with dust/debris clouds.Exploring the use of adaptive mixtures for accurately propagating a non-Gaussian and multi-modal spacecraft state distribution during aerocapture.Application of uncertainty quantification techniques to approximate uncertain density profiles. Characterizing effects of aleatory uncertainty in density coupled with navigation uncertainty in spacecraft state during aerocapture, attempting to find representations of spacecraft quantities of interest that maintain desirable statistical properties.Attempting to apply uncertainty quantification methods for more robust filter design.Exploring mixture-model based stochastic guidance, specifically applied to EDL. In tandem, exploring dynamic tuning of uncertainty propagation methods. Show less

• Graduate Teaching Assistant

  • Jan 2019 - May 2019

  TA'ed for an undergraduate flight mechanics class. Worked closely with professors teaching the course to do the following:Assisted with labs and held office hours, helped with grading exams, attended lectures, and worked through homework assignments to better help students and provide step-by-step homework solutions.



NASA Langley Research Center

• United States
• Aviation and Aerospace Component Manufacturing
• 700 & Above Employee

• NIFS Intern

  • Jun 2021 - Aug 2021

  Worked on a team project/study exploring the feasibility of smallsat aerocapture for Mars, Venus, and Earth missions. Modified and tested the performance of a numerical predictor corrector for bank angle guidance and compared to results for direct force control. Translated guidance performance to fuel/mass requirements for the smallsat. Worked on a team project/study exploring the feasibility of smallsat aerocapture for Mars, Venus, and Earth missions. Modified and tested the performance of a numerical predictor corrector for bank angle guidance and compared to results for direct force control. Translated guidance performance to fuel/mass requirements for the smallsat.



Space Dynamics Laboratory

• United States
• Defense and Space Manufacturing
• 700 & Above Employee

• GN&C Intern

  • May 2018 - Aug 2018

  Gave functionality to an attitude test bed that tests 3-axis control of a cube-satellite using attitude feedback. The platform uses multiple feedback controllers for the testbed motors and implements a trajectory optimization routine to ensure that the motor rotation angles provide continuity. It is ready to integrate with both simulation software such as STK, as well as spacecraft hardware. Researched ways of analyzing the dynamic response of tape-measure spacecraft booms under torque maneuvers, and the effect on spacecraft moment of inertia. Provided a series of potential ways to use thin shell theory to fully analyze the boom deflections. Developed a finite element analysis framework in MATLAB that implements torsional and shear deformation effects, as well as the ability to be outfitted with thin shell dynamics. Modeled a constellation of GEO satellites that form an interferometer array. Developed a means of generating random formations of the constellation under range constraints. Used a combination of STK and MATLAB to perform Monte Carlo analysis on the constellation and determine how well it was maintaining range constraints over a multi-month period of time. Theorized ways of computing burn maneuvers to maintain range constraints, making maneuvers in only the radial and momentum directions of the spacecrafts' orbit. Show less



UB Nanosatellite Laboratory

• University at Buffalo

• Attitude Determination and Control Subsystem Member

  • Feb 2018 - May 2018

  Working with an ADC lead member and a graduate student to develop a controller for the University at Buffalo Nanosatellite Laboratory's LinkSat. The goal is to keep the bottom face of the satellite in nadir pointing, and control for disturbances using a single reaction wheel and three magnetorquers. Linearizing the spacecraft attitude dynamics about the target attitude and velocity and performing a change of variables to convert the nominal state to the error state yields a state space that is computationally efficient to update as the error quaternion changes with time. Current progress includes an optimal feedback controller (solves the discrete-time algebraic Riccati equation for gains that determine the desired torque the reaction wheel must produce under its saturation limit) and an algorithm that uses the control torques and a time-varying IGRF model of the Earth's magnetic field to determine whether or not to power on magnetorquers and the direction that current must flow through them. Future work includes analysis of the controller's region of convergence, and the possibility of using the reaction wheel for spin stabilization against disturbance torques once the satellite has reached its target state. Show less



DOES Lab

• University at Buffalo

• Undergraduate Research Assistant

  • Dec 2016 - May 2018

  Currently working on game theoretic models for interpreting small satellite subsystem interaction during the satellite's preliminary design phase. A Nash equilibrium solution that yields both turn order and design variable value for each subsystem is attempted to be found via sequential and simultaneous, continuous game models. Overall, the models should lead to a cost and performance optimal small satellite design based on a series of mission and system requirements that serve as a constraint space. If successful, these models can be applied to any type of small satellite. The scope of this project will eventually stretch beyond the ADC, structural, and payload subsystems of the satellite, taking into account features like battery requirements and size, solar panel design, antenna design, and thermal management. Communication between subsystem engineers and lag-time during the satellite development process are also taken into account. Show less



Air Force Research Laboratory

• United States
• Armed Forces
• 700 & Above Employee

• Research Scholar

  • Jun 2017 - Aug 2017

  -Studied numerical methods for convex optimization including quadratic programming, sequential quadratic programming, and interior point algorithms -Adapted numerical optimization algorithms for use with spacecraft model predictive control in a real-time environment -Successfully developed a real-time nonlinear model predictive controller using sequential quadratic programming and interior point algorithms, as well as a real-time linear model predictive controller using parallel quadratic programming -Applied controllers to the spacecraft attitude control problem and studied the trade-offs between each optimization scheme on convergence and solution time, and explored the differences between nonlinear and linear model predictive control when used for under-actuated control Show less



University at Buffalo Nanosatellite Laboratory

• United States
• Aviation and Aerospace Component Manufacturing
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Lead Optical Payload Specialist

  • Feb 2016 - Jul 2017

  As the lead payload specialist for UBNL's Spectral Observation for Reflectivity Analysis (SORA) satellite, it is my role to research and develop a remote-sensing spectrometry platform that satisfies satellite mission requirements. This includes designing an optical assembly to collect light for the spectrometer and guider camera, developing in-house modifications, characterizing the spectrometer diffraction grating, noise metrics, and thermal characteristics, along with the CCD's (charge coupled device) for the spectrometer and guider camera and working with the software subsystem to develop a lightcurve analysis and software binning program. Currently, I have used MATLAB to design the aperture for the spectrometer and test its signal to noise ratio performance metric by feeding it data for objects of high apparent magnitude based off of reflected sunlight (empirical solar irradiance data). I also developed a low-cost, intuitive test utilizing the quantum efficiency of a photodiode and its back-current reading to measure environmental photonic flux and experimentally determine the spectrometer's CCD response metric. As payload specialist, I also contribute to overall satellite design, using system engineering concepts to optimize payload, thermal, power, and structural performance of the satellite. Show less

• Thermal Engineer

  • Jun 2016 - Dec 2016

  Since UBNL's satellite, SORA, does not have a designated thermal subsystem, I serve as stand-in thermal engineer and consultant. My responsibilities include performing single and multi-node steady-state and transient thermal analysis of the satellite, as well as designing and implementing an active thermal control system for both the spectrometer and the satellite optical assembly. Fine temperature management is required for the satellite to perform optimally, holding the spectrometer a constant temperature that does not fluctuate by more than 2 degrees Celsius. Additional responsibilities include characterizing spectrometer thermal performance and analyzing thermal shift. Show less

• Thermal Subsystem Co-Lead

  • May 2015 - Jul 2016

  As co-lead of the GLADOS (GLint Analyzing Data Observation Satellite) thermal subsystem, my responsibilities included performing analysis on the satellite to characterize its thermal behavior in orbit, teaching relevant course material to subsystem members, developing projects and delegating tasks to members, and maintaining upkeep of the subsystem and ensuring forward progress for GLADOS. During my time as co-lead I performed both single and multi-node steady-state and transient thermal analysis for the satellite using ANSYS, developed mathematical models for up to six node analyses, developed a program that applied orbital angular data and calculated view factors for all six satellite surfaces relative to the sun and earth, and researched and analyzed the thermal behavior of various surface coatings and their role in passive thermal control. In a joint effort with the integration and testing subsystem, I contributed to the development of a thermal model verification test utilizing a thermal vacuum chamber, a satellite testing rig, thermocouples and RTD's. I performed thermal analysis on the test rig to use in verifying future results. Much of this work has led me to develop a strong interest in thermal engineering and heat transfer theory. Show less

• Thermal Subsystem Member

  • Sep 2014 - May 2015

  As a member of the thermal subsystem, I performed multi-node steady state thermal analysis for various operational modes of GLADOS (GLint Analyzing Data Observation Satellite) at set orbital inclination.



Sound and Vibrations Laboratory

• University at Buffalo

• Undergraduate Research Assistant

  • May 2016 - Jul 2016

  As a research assistant in the sound and vibrations laboratory, I worked with a team of other researchers and performed analyses in ANSYS to determine the frequency response of phononic and periodic structures. I also worked on a MATLAB script that located band gaps in a phononic rod. The goal of the summer research was to help locate band gaps in phononic membranes, rods, and locally resonant structures in order to provide information that could be usable for damping and controlling the structures' vibrations with piezoelectric resonators. Finally, I contributed to programming functionality into a MATLAB GUI to allow it to work with a script that located band gaps in a multi-cellular locally resonant structure. Show less