Our People

Research Areas: Space architecture, Space robotics, System-of-Systems methodology, Dynamics and Control, MBSE

Research Areas: Systems Engineering, Structures and Materials, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Prajwal holds a Masters in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue. He has previous experience in projects ranging from electric vehicle DBT, operations research methods, multi-agent system architecture, mechanism design for game balance, system-of-system acquisition and portfolio optimization, to leading conceptual design for amphibious aircraft, using machine learning to quantify game balance. His PhD dissertation focuses on modeling and measuring fidelity of models for SoS and Digital Twins. He used to play the violin and is currently learning the guitar. He starts his day with a big cup of coffee and a few chess rapid games. Always interested in games - on a board or a console.

Research Interests: Modeling & Simulation, Digital Twins, Machine Learning, System Design and Verification, Multi-agent Systems, Operations Research and Gamification

While completing her bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, Lacey was actively involved in student projects ranging from test driving a prototype solar car, performing with Cal Poly's dance company, leading a Venus rover design team, and organizing outreach events for local middle schools. These experiences culminated her love for researching odd problems and working in a collaborative environment whether that be with other students on a project, choreographers and dancers, or youth communities interested in STEM. At Purdue she completed a Master's in Astrodynamics and Space Applications and began her PhD research analyzing human-system interactions in complex, collaborative and high-risk environments with the goal of designing safe human space exploration methods.

Research interests: space exploration, human-machine interactions, communication and information architectures.

Edward is a Ph.D. student at Purdue School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Edward holds a bachelor's and master's degree at National Cheng Kung University Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics with experience in the design of Stirling engine and aerospace heat exchangers.

Research Interests: System architectures of advanced aerial mobility and space structures.

Nick is currently a graduate research assistant in the Advanced Air Mobility cluster, particularly on the Operational Limits Analysis Project sponsored by NASA Langley and the National Institute of Aerospace. His personal work aims to develop methods to and study powering future electric aircraft for minimizing operational costs and identify opportunities for urban planners. He has previous internship experience at American Airlines and GE Aviation, working on civil and military aircraft such as the 787, 777, P8 Poseidon, KC-46 Tanker, F/A-18 etc.

Research interests: Advanced Air Mobility, Aircraft Operations and Design, Optimization, Renewable Energy.

Sean Matthew Nolan is a Ph.D. candidate and research assistant. He received his B.S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering and M.S. Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue in 2015 and 2018 respectively. His research interests include trajectory optimization via indirect methods and its applications. He was a summer researcher at the Mathematical Modeling and Optimization Institute working with the AFRL in 2016 and a summer intern at General Atomics in 2017 and 2018.

Research interests: Optimal Control, Indirect Methods, Reinforcement Learning, Hypersonics, Simulation, Numerical Methods.

Rodrigo Schmitt received a BSc in Astronomy and a second BSc in Physics, followed by a M.Sc. in Space Engineering focused in Space Mechanics & Controls. Rodrigo also specialized in AI and deep learning by working as a programming teacher and data scientist, co-founded one of the most reliable open-source rocket trajectory simulators, called RocketPy, and founded the first organization at Purdue dedicated to promoting human space exploration, SEARCH, which facilitates the Purdue participation at the Mars Desert Research Station and programs for future student-astronauts. In his PhD, Rodrigo is applying his expertise in AI to space-related topics, with focus on the coming of age of cislunar space exploration, space tourism and In-Situ Resource Utilization. In his free time, he enjoys outdoors activities such as hiking, backpacking and rock climbing, as well as instrumental music and philosophical books.

Research interests: Space Mission; Deep Learning; AI; Space Tourism; In-Situ Resource Utilization; Optimization.

Sonali is a Ph.D. student at Purdue's School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a Graduate researcher at CISA (SoS Lab). She has a keen interest in interdisciplinary research for space applications, with a focus on Systems Engineering. She has an affinity for large-scale space missions involving multiple systems and stakeholders.

Research interests: Space Mission Engineering, Systems Architecture, System Safety and Risk Assessment, Model-based Systems Engineering, Space Exploration Systems.

Tyler is from Phoenix, AZ, and received his Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from BYU and is looking forward to specializing in Aerospace at Purdue. He's always had a love for fighter jets (pretty much any military aircraft) and his dream is to work on top secret projects in that area. He enjoys playing pretty much all sports; especially soccer, volleyball, tennis, and pickleball. He also loves to play the piano.

Research Interests: High Performance Aircraft, Design, and Simulation

Dalia Bekdache holds Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. She is pursuing an MSc in AAE at Purdue with a major focus on Aerospace Systems, and a minor in Computational Science and Engineering. She is researching Digital Mission Engineering methodology and implementation for space missions.

Research interests: Space Exploration, Digital Mission Engineering.

Derek Carpenter is a graduate research assistant at Purdue University's Center for Integrated Systems in Aerospace. He has focused on integration of the Robust Portfolio Optimization (RPO) toolset with Purdue-developed rocket sizing, payload allocation, and complexity assessment tools. Additionally, Derek worked as a teaching assistant for a Purdue system-of-systems engineering (SoSE) course, titled AAE560, during the spring of 2022. He also assisted in generation of problem sets, solutions, and example content for a SoSE textbook.

Research Interests: System-of-Systems Simulation, Model-based Systems Engineering, Technical Writing, System Dynamics Modeling

Josh is completing his masters thesis on the technologies, economics, and policy of Active Debris Removal for both LEO and GEO orbital debris. He has interned at NASA and Sierra Space and is currently a Space Operations Associate Engineer at SpaceX working on Dragon and HLS flight operations. His skills are in orbital mechanics and space mission design, systems engineering, flight operations, software development, and human factors. Josh intends to focus his career on contributing to reusable space transportation, earth science and climate science satellite missions, deep space interplanetary missions, and human space exploration architectures.

Research Interests: Astrodynamics, In-Space Servicing Assembly & Manufacturing, Active Debris Removal, Reusable Space Transportation, Space Situational Awareness, Flight Operations, Deep Space Exploration, Human Space Systems

Winston completed his Bachelor's of Aeronautical and Astronautical engineering at Purdue. His master's thesis is focused in indirect methods applied to trajectory optimization. His research at CISA focuses on using reinforcement learning and indirect optimization for autonomy of high speed vehicle mission planning. In the future he plans to develop this focus into PhD work in closed-loop robust and adaptive control of high speed systems.

Research Interests: Autonomy and Control, Robust Control, Adaptive Control, Indirect Methods, Algorithmic Differentiation, Reinforcement Learning, High Speed Systems, Trajectory Optimization

Seejay graduated with an undergraduate degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at Purdue in May of 2022. During his undergrad he was lucky enough to get introduced to research and Dr. D's lab through Nick Gunady. His research interests lie in Urban Air Mobility, specifically in operations and energy infrastructure. In June, he was apart of the team that won the FAA Smart Connected Aviation Student Competition with their Demand Response UAM infrastructure project. He is super excited to continue this work and do more research with the lab!

Research Interests: Urban Air Mobility, Advanced Air Mobility, Energy Infrastructure, MBSE, Reinforcement Learning

Lauren is a Master’s student as part of Purdue’s 4+1 program. She received her Bachelor’s in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering in the spring of 2022 and is interested in autonomous, high-speed flight systems as well as machine learning-based fault-tolerant control methods. In addition to her work at Purdue, Lauren interns at Sandia National Laboratories where she works on real-time trajectory generation strategies for hypersonic boost-glide applications. After completing her Master’s, Lauren intends to pursue her Ph.D. and continue her quest to find the best chocolate cake in the U.S.!

Research Interests: Autonomous Systems, Fault-Tolerant Control, Reinforcement Learning

Liam Ward is originally from just outside of Philadelphia, PA. He graduated in May 2022 from Boston University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a concentration in Aerospace Engineering. At BU he served on the structures team of the student-led Rocket Propulsion Group (BURPG), helping to design and build the group’s next liquid-bipropellant rocket. As a Lutchen Distinguished Summer Research Fellow, he developed physics-informed deep learning methods to predict the behavior of complex dynamic systems. He has internship experience developing spaceflight hardware at ABL Space Systems, for the RS1 orbital launch vehicle, at Inversion Space, for a reusable reentry vehicle, and at Hedron Space, for a next-gen optical communications payload. Outside of STEM, Liam enjoys playing and listening to music, learning about history, and exploring new places.

Research Interests: Space Systems Engineering, Hypersonics Materials & Manufacturing, Thermal Protection Materials, Launch & Reentry Vehicles

Ethan Wright is a graduate researcher in the Advanced Air Mobility cluster.

Research interests: Network Design and Optimization, Aircraft Electrification, Wireless Power Transmission

Originally from Ft. Lauderdale Florida, he completed his undergraduate studies here at Purdue. He currently specializes in Aerospace Systems.

Research Interests: Systems, Spacecraft, Aircraft