Sutton Hathorn

Degree Obtained: PhD

University: Purdue University

Date Degree Obtained: 8/3/2024

Faculty advisor: Saeed Mohammadi

Email Address: shathorn@purdue.edu

Research Statement: My research focused on the design and implementation of phase controllable all digital phase locked loops for use in distributed synthesis phased arrays. I also studied the reliability of oscillators and applications of reliability studies to identifying recycled chips.

Motivation statement: There are many great potential uses of phased array systems for new 5G, 6G, and space-based communication systems. I was excited to look into new architectures for designing phased array systems.

Tell us more about you: I graduated with my BSEE from Purdue in 2015. I then joined the PhD program in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering also at Purdue University. I also joined the ECE School as an Instructional Lab Coordinator in October 2018. During this role, I was the primary instructor for senior design and redeveloped many lab courses.

During my graduate studies, I received:

• Andrews Fellowship
• Outstanding Graduate Service Scholarship
• Magoon Award for Excellence in Teaching
• Outstanding Engineering Teacher
• CSME Traineeship

Tell us your plans after graduation: I will be joining SpaceX fulltime as an RFIC engineer working on Starlink.

Tell us a fun fact about you: I used to play drums in an alt-rock band!