Undergraduate Researchers

DLA 2025/26 student portrait Isabella Davila

Research:

Orbital mechanics, attitude dynamics, high-fidelity simulation.

Research Advisor:

Andrew Morell
DLA 2025/26 student portrait Landon Holligan

Research:

Touchless Sensing, Spacecraft Charging, Space environment interactions, and Autonomous space systems.

Research Advisor:

Kaylee Champion
DLA 2025/26 student portrait Isaias Perez

Research:

Deep Reinforcement Learning, Spacecraft Tasking, Autonomous Systems, Simulation, Python, PyTorch, Open-Source Tools.

Research Advisor:

Lorenzzo Quevedo Mantovani
DLA 2025/26 student portrait Ian Youngblood

Research:

Active Debris Remediation and Spacecraft-Plasma Interactions.

Research Advisor:

Amy Haft

Completed Undergraduate Research

  1. student portrait Justin McFarland, “Modeling the Ballistic Missile Problem with the State Transition Matrix: A Comparative Analysis,” AIAA Region I-MA Student Conference, Blacksburg, VA, April 16–18, 2004, Paper No. 04–22666.
  2. student portrait Justin McFarland, “Modelling the Ballistic Missile Problem with the State Transition Matrix: An Analysis of Trajectories including a Rotating Earth and Atmospheric Drag,” AOE 4994 Semester Report, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, May 2004.
  3. student portrait Jeremy Davis, “Mathematical Modeling of Earth's Magnetic Field,” AOE 4994 Semester Report, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, May 2004.
  4. student portrait Kevin Daugherty, “Restricted Three-Body Problem,” AOE 4994 Semester Report, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, Dec. 2004.
  5. student portraitThomas Reppert, “Extending the Patched-Conic Approximation to the Restricted Four-Body Problem,” AOE 4994 Semester Report, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, May. 2006.
  6. student portraitThomas Reppert, “Extending the Patched-Conic Approximation to the Restricted Four-Body Problem,” AIAA Student Journal, Vol. 44, No. 2, May–Aug. 2006, pp 1–11. BibTeX
  7. student portraitThomas Reppert, “Interplanetary Trajectory Development: Sensitivities of the Restricted Four-Body Problem,” AOE 4994 Semester Report, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, Dec. 2006.
  8. student portraitThomas Reppert, “Interplanetary Trajectory Development, Undergraduate Honors Thesis, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, May 2007. Project Code
  9. student portrait Nicholas Zinner, "Spacecraft Coulomb Thrust Testbed Enhancements", Discovery Learning Apprenticeship Oral Presentation Winner, University of Colorado, Boulder, May 2009.
    Mentor: Carl Seubert
  10. student portrait Wenceslao E. Shaw-Cortez, "Coulomb Thrusting Testbed", Discovery Learning Apprenticeship Oral Presentation Winner, University of Colorado, Boulder, May 2010.
    Mentor: Carl Seubert
  11. student portrait Brandon Bosomworth, "Identification and Reduction of External Forces On The Coulomb Testbed", Discovery Learning Apprenticeship, University of Colorado, Boulder, May 2011.
    Mentor: Carl Seubert
  12. student portrait John P. Mills, Discovery Learning Apprenticeship, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2011-2012. Received Discovery Learning Research Symposium Award.
    Mentor: Laura Stiles
  13. student portraitJulie Slaughter, Undergraduate Researcher, University of Colorado, Boulder, Jan-May 2012.
    Mentor: Erik Hogan
  14. student portrait Tyson M. Sparks, Discovery Learning Apprenticeship, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2012-2013.
    Mentor: Daan Stevenson
  15. student portrait Matthew S. Holmes, "Charging Methods for Electrostatic Deployment Flight Experiment," Discovery Learning Apprenticeship, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2012-2013.
    Mentor: Laura Stiles
  16. student portraitKelsey E. McGowan, Undergraduate Researcher, University of Colorado, Boulder, Jan-May 2013.
    Mentor: Paul Anderson
  17. student portraitAnthony Lima, "Space Debris Removal through High Thrust Towing," Discovery Learning Apprenticeship, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2013-2014.
    Mentor: Lee Jasper
  18. student portraitIan B. Thom, "Torque Control by Coulomb Forces," Discovery Learning Apprenticeship, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2013-2014.
    Mentor: Daan Stevenson/Lauren McManus
  19. student portraitJames A. Penrod, "Feasibility of Using Lunar Magnetic Fields to Control CubeSat Attitude," Undergraduate Thesis, Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, May 2015.
  20. student portraitSteven Pfeifer, "Electromagnetic Interference in Strong Electric Fields," Discovery Learning Apprenticeship, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2014-2015.
    Mentor: Daan Stevenson, Trevor Bennett, Joseph Hughes
  21. student portrait Himanshi Singhal, "An Exploration Into Optimal Multi-Sphere Method Sphere Population For Electrostatic Interaction," UROP Researcher, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2014-2015.
    Mentor: Trevor Bennett
  22. student portrait Mar Cols Margenet, Balsells Undergraduate Fellowship, University of Colorado, Fall 2015.
    Mentor: Patrick Kenneally
  23. student portrait Christine Reilly, "May the Electrostatic Force be With You: Charge Spacecraft Models," Discovery Learning Apprenticeship, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2015-2016.
    Mentor: Trevor Bennett
    Award: Winner of the Top DLA Award, Aviation Week 20 Twenties Award, Brooke Owens Fellow for Virgin Galactic
  24. student portrait Lee Huynh, Discovery Learning Apprenticeship, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2015-2016.
    Mentor: Joseph Hughes
  25. student portrait Tony Ly, Discovery Learning Apprenticeship, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2015-2016.
    Mentor: JoAnna Fulton
  26. student portrait Thierry Shimoda, Discovery Learning Apprenticeship, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2015-2016.
    Mentor: Trevor Bennett
  27. student portrait Robert J. Belter, Discovery Learning Apprenticeship, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2016-2017.
    Mentor: Cody Allard
  28. student portrait Hanwen Zhao, Discovery Learning Apprenticeship, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2016-2017.
    Mentor: Mar Cols Margenet
  29. student portrait Aparajithan Venkateswaran, YOU'RE@CU Undergraduate Researcher, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2017.
    Mentor: Thibaud Teil
  30. student portrait Ryan Waugh, YOU'RE@CU Undergraduate Researcher, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2017.
    Mentor: Joseph Hughes
    Awards: Best Poster Presentation
  31. student portrait Mahdi Ghanei, Discovery Learning Apprenticeship, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2017-2018.
    Mentor: Jordan Maxwell
  32. student portrait William Starck, Undergraduate Researcher, University of Colorado, Boulder, Nov. 2018 - May 2019.
    Mentor: Miles Bengtson
  33. student portrait Dalton Turpen, Undergraduate Researcher, University of Colorado, Boulder, Nov. 2018 - May 2019.
    Mentor: Kieran Wilson
  34. student portrait Michelle H. Tran, Undergraduate Researcher, University of Colorado, Boulder, Fall 2019.
    Mentor: Scott Carnahan
  35. student portrait Dalton Turpen, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2019 - 2020.
    Mentor: Kieran Wilson and Miles Bengtson
  36. student portrait Trace Valade, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2019 - 2020.
    Mentor: Andrew Harris
  37. student portrait Lucas Webb, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2019 - 2020.
    Mentor: Thibaud Teil and H. Schaub
  38. student portrait Dana Coe, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2019 - 2020.
    Mentor: John Martin
  39. student portrait Trace Valade, UROP, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2020 - 2021.
    Mentor: Andrew Harris
  40. student portrait Libby Moore, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2020 - 2021.
    Mentor: Anne Bennett
  41. student portrait Ryan Block, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2020 - 2021.
    Mentor: Álvaro Romero Calvo
  42. student portrait Samuel Alvis, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2021 - 2022.
    Mentor: Ethan Burnett
  43. student portrait Mikaela Felix, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2021 - 2022.
    Mentor: Samuel Albert
  44. student portrait Matthew Grewe, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2021 - 2022.
    Mentor: Adam Herrmann
  45. student portrait Saurabh Totey, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2021 - 2022.
    Mentor: John Martin
  46. student portrait Karina Andersen, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2022 - 2023.
    Mentor: John Martin
  47. student portrait Zachary Ellis, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2022 - 2023.
    Mentor: Julian Hammerl
  48. student portrait Ketan Kamat, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2022 - 2023.
    Mentor: Riccardo Calaon
  49. student portrait John Aldrete, Undergraduate Software Assistant, University of Colorado, Boulder, Fall 2023.
    Mentor: Mark Stephenson
  50. student portrait Peter Johnson, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2023 - 2024.
    Mentor: João Vaz Carneiro
  51. student portrait Leya Shaw, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2023 - 2024.
    Mentor: Kaylee Champion
  52. student portrait Andrew Swackhamer, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2023 - 2024.
    Mentor: Andrea López
  53. student portrait Shawn Patel, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2024 - 2025.
    Mentor: Mark Stephenson
  54. student portrait Raaghav Lele, Discovery Learning Apprentice, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2024 - 2025.
    Mentor: James Walker

High-School Researchers

  1. student portraitKatherine Ferris, "Einstein-Sat: Resurrecting the Drag-Free Satellite Motion Control Experiment," University of Colorado, Boulder, September 2010 - April 2011.
    Mentor: Carl Seubert
  2. student portraitAndrew Dewey, "Control System for Detumbling and Pointing a CubeSat," Highschool Researcher, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2012-2013.
    Mentor: Erik Hogan
  3. student portraitNina Janjic, Highschool Researcher, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2012-2013.
    Mentor: Daan Stevenson