Alumni News

Life in space from a CU Boulder alumna who has been there

Jeff Zehnder — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 19:07:41 +0000

Life in space from a CU Boulder alumna who has been there Jeff Zehnder Tue, 11/12/2024 - 12:07

Jeff Zehnder

Sarah Gillis (AeroEngr’17) is a lead space operations engineer and astronaut trainer at SpaceX with literal out of this world experience.

The University of Colorado Boulder alumna recently returned from a five day orbital mission aboard Polaris Dawn, which took astronauts further from Earth than any have traveled since the end of the Apollo program in 1972.

On Nov. 11, she spoke to students and community members in a special event at Fiske Planetarium.

A Boulder native, Gillis shared what life was like in space for the four-member crew and details of the science and engineering that brought them to orbit and safely home.

What it is like experiencing launch for the first time.

Intellectually, I had studied all the physical changes you go through going to space, but actually going through them is fascinating. For this one moment, you’re defying gravity as the rocket lifts off the pad and you start accelerating and accelerating. You get pushed into your seat. The Gs get to about 4.5. When you get to second engine cutoff and you’re just floating; you no longer have pressure pushing you into the seat, you have fluid in your face. You suddenly feel like when you’re a kid and you’re laying upside down off the bed.

There’s an adjustment period once you are in orbit.

Every crew member goes through this time on board where you’re adapting. The first two days are pretty hard in space. You’re figuring it out. You’re going through all the physiological changes. You have this brain fog; you have elevated fluid. You can have space motion sickness.

You’re probably not feeling your best, in all honestly. How you setup a timeline for crew members in space should account for that. You could not possibly have talked our crew into doing any less on our mission, but hindsight is definitely helpful, and it’s just a reality that it takes a bit of time for crew members to adapt.

Keep an eye on space while following your passions.

I always knew how unlikely it was to ever become an astronaut. The statistics are not in your favor right now at our point in human history. I do think that’s going to change in the very near future if SpaceX is successful in bringing Starship online. You go from having four people in a spacecraft to 100 people in a spacecraft. As you change those numbers, cost of access to space will go down, so the opportunities that will exist will look much different in next 10-15 years.

For me, knowing how unlikely it was, it was super important to find things I was genuinely interested in. That way, no matter what happening in life, I couldn’t be disappointed because I was doing things that were interesting and engaging and things I wanted to be pursuing. Follow your curiosity and it will take you to extraordinary places.

The incredible complexity of designing a space suit from scratch.

It was about a 2.5 year development program where one day we would show up and we’d have the left shoulder rebuilt in a certain way. The next Monday we’d show up and they’d have a whole new elbow for us to try and then we’d go and get in the simulator and understand what worked and what didn’t and really fed that into the design process of these suits. It was a pretty extraordinary development effort.

There were times that we were learning stuff that went against industry knowledge. One of the things we discovered pretty late was the risk of electrostatic discharge in the suits. That led to an entire deep dive into understanding material testing.

One of the last tests we did still on Earth was once the suit had gone through all sorts of iterations, we actually took them to a vacuum chamber at Johnson Space Center and we wore them in the vacuum chamber and ran through the entire depress and repress sequence. It was just an extraordinary test of competence into the suit, understanding what the pressure changes and temperature changes would feel like.

Moving in space without gravity to weigh you down creates challenges.

What’s so cool about moving in a pressurized suit is it’s really almost physical problem solving. You can only rotate your shoulder so many degrees, or you can only extend your arm so far in the suit. What that means is you have to make sure that a person of a certain stature can perform everything they need to in that pressurized environment. It was a really cool development process with SpaceX to figure out what new mobility aids we needed in the spacecraft. What additional handholds and footholds would be required to make sure we could accomplish all the tasks we needed to.

On flight day two we got pressurized in the suits and did a dry run (of the EVA). It was really fun to actually see how things worked, and what were the things we hadn’t accounted for. As soon as I went to the controls and interfaced with them, based on where my center of mass was, my feet would suddenly start rotating up, and so I had to find a whole new strategy for how to secure myself when I was at the displays and how to transition out from the displays.

Train for the worst day so you can experience the best day.

In training we had really prepared for every possible scenario we could come up with for the EVA. Really as much as we could use the imagination to prepare bad day scenarios, we had trained for them, and it was so smooth. You train for the worst day so you can actually experience the best day. The spacewalk went exactly as we had hoped.

There is so much we do not know about life in space.

We partnered with 31 institutions on 36 research experiments, a lot of which came from CU, which I was really excited about. Some of my former professors actually contributed experiments to the mission.

Overall, the research was really focused on experiments that needed human involvement, things that could benefit future life as we try and look toward Mars. There’s a lot of health issues that astronauts encounter over long duration, and this includes space motion sickness, and spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome.

Many astronauts do have degraded vision over time and we don’t actually understand the mechanism at this point. It’s often associated with the fluid shift that happens where you suddenly have more fluid in your brain, but if we’re going to actually mitigate that and fix it in the future, we need to get to the heart of the cause, so we did a whole slew of experiments looking at different eye pressure and vision change data.

Re-entry is awesome.

It’s so, so cool to reenter Earth’s atmosphere. We start seeing a glow around the spacecraft at around 100 km. Then as you start to get lower you start to see these neon colors, pinks and oranges, and you actually see some of the sparks flying past the window. As you get lower in the atmosphere you start encountering turbulence with the different layers of the atmosphere. The thrusters are firing all around and it really feels like Dragon is clawing its way back into the atmosphere.

The mission does not end at splashdown.

We were picked up by the recovery vessel and about 30 minutes later we climbed out of the spacecraft and we were checked out by the doctors before being flown by helicopter back to Kennedy Space Center where we met our families. From there the mission wasn’t over, we had about a week of science and research and data collection post flight. We traveled to Houston pretty immediately for some high density bone scans.

Trusting others with your life -- teamwork is critical.

Human spaceflight is the ultimate team sport. It’s not only you have to have an extreme working relationship with the people on that mission -- you are absolutely trusting them with your life to keep you safe. That extends to the people on the ground team as well, you have this entire team supporting you, and even more people behind the scenes beyond that.

As a trainer, I knew the technical side of Dragon and what you need to do to live and work in space, and what I found most interesting was in one of our early sims, the four of us go in the spacecraft, and we did terribly. We completely messed up the scenario. We were all going in different directions, chasing rabbit holes and ultimately just failed the simulation in so many ways. You have to learn how to work as a team.

It doesn’t matter what you bring to the team, you have to learn when to lead, when to follow, how you bring what you can contribute through a different lens because ultimately the success of the crew is what’s most important versus your own knowledge.

Seeing Earth from space changes you.

Seeing the Earth from that perspective cannot not change someone. All of our time here on Earth is so precious, your life is only so many hours overall. I have this immense appreciation for maximizing what we are here to do in this world. I think you certainly take calculated risks when you put yourself on a rocket and launch to space, or reenter the atmosphere. Those are all things that you have to believe that the risk is worth it for the benefit. It’s shifted my perspective a little bit on how cherished our time is with our family and our friends and what we’re here to do on this Earth. I’m still reflecting on it. I think it will continue to change me.

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Retired Astronaut Marsha Ivins Reflects on Her Time in Space

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 20:50:37 +0000

Retired Astronaut Marsha Ivins Reflects on Her Time in Space Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/30/2024 - 14:50

Marsha Ivins (AeroEngr’73) is a retired astronaut who has participated in five missions to space. Over the course of her career, Ivins spent a total of 55 days in space handling various responsibilities, from monitoring systems as a flight engineer to managing photography. This year, she was selected as a 2024 inductee for the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, one of the highest honors in the industry.

As a child, did you imagine life as an astronaut?

I have wanted to work in the space business in some capacity since I was 10 years old. Imagining opens the door to trying, and trying is step one in achieving. I wasn’t solely focused on just flying in space, although of course that was a dream. Everyone I knew, family, teachers and friends said it could never happen.

Of your career missions, are there any that you feel especially passionate about or regard as your favorite?

There is no such thing as a bad spaceflight. They all had shining moments for me.

Can you describe the feeling of looking out at the Earth for the first time from space?

I cannot adequately express the visceral feeling of realizing you are no longer on the planet. What you see is only a sliver of the feeling.

What were some of your career goals when you were studying aerospace engineering at CU Boulder?

NASA was not hiring astronauts when I graduated from college. I applied as an engineer to the Johnson Space Center (JSC), but 1974 was a severe downtime for aerospace engineers in all industries. I also applied for 27 other jobs around the country that were not hiring at the time. I was offered and accepted a job with Abbott Laboratories, and shortly after I got a call from the JSC saying I’d been offered an engineering position in a new class — which I then accepted.

How does it feel to be selected for the Astronaut Hall of Fame?

I am honored to have been considered and selected for induction. There have been 106 men and women inducted into the AHOF since 1990, covering the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs. It is overseen by the Astronaut Scholarship Fund which, to date, has given over $8 million in scholarships to more than 790 students in STEM fields at partner universities across the country.

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Out in Space

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 16:35:58 +0000

Out in Space Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/30/2024 - 10:35

Jason Reimuller (MAeroEngr’07, PhD’11) didn’t necessarily set out to be a groundbreaker.

He likes to say he “herds the cats and tells the stories,” but his activism is more than that. Reimuller is breaking barriers, both for astronauts and for the LGBTQ+ community.

“You grow a movement, and it grows organically. And then there’s so many people that come in and bring their own expertise and expand this in ways you never thought possible,” Reimuller said. “We’re addressing gaps that need to be addressed. The questions are being asked that were far too long ignored.”

Reimuller is the founder and executive director of the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS) and of Out Astronaut, a nonprofit organization intended to increase LGBTQ+ visibility within the aerospace industry, particularly spaceflight.

Reimuller earned his PhD in aerospace engineering sciences at CU Boulder. He said the IIAS really grew from his dissertation research.

It started with clouds — noctilucent ones, to be precise. These high-altitude clouds can be seen on clear summer nights at high latitude. Reimuller’s advisor, Professor Emeritus Jeff Thayer, got him interested in the phenomena, which then led to Reimuller piloting a small instrumented plane in northern Alberta, Canada, to image the clouds at a high altitude.

“It was a bit of an adventure, being in such remote places and in an unpressurized plane at 25,000 feet,” Reimuller said.

This research led to conference presentations, which then unfolded into discussions about encouraging citizen research that would leverage a new generation of suborbital space vehicles, thereby making spaceflight research more accessible to the general public.

“Over the years, I’ve led [the IIAS] to make sure we can eliminate barriers of access so that more people can become professionals in the industry and demand a seat at the table over what the future of space will look like,” Reimuller said.

This idea of removing obstacles is also one of the driving missions of Out Astronaut. As a gay man who was twice selected by NASA as a highly qualified astronaut candidate, Reimuller knows how important LGBTQ+ representation in the science community is.

There has never been an astronaut who has openly identified with the LGBTQ+ community at the time of their selection. But Reimuller wants young people to be able to look at astronauts, scientists, researchers and others in the STEM world and see themselves, no matter their gender or sexual identity.

“Our heroes can be STEM professionals, not just actors and entertainers,” he said. “I want them to see astronauts as someone who is the best version of themselves, someone they could aspire to become. That image is so important, because it shows someone that succeeds on their merit. They’re a truly global-minded person that puts world humanity above everything else. They are someone who assumes great risks because of the importance of what they set out to do.”

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Designing autonomous robots for use on Mars and closer to home

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:54:08 +0000

Designing autonomous robots for use on Mars and closer to home Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/15/2024 - 08:54

Jeff Zehnder

Preparing to engage the robot during the MDRS mission.

Pawel Sawicki (BioMedEngr MS’22, AeroEngr PhD’23) is exploring the barren landscape of Mars and testing out critical new technologies through a one-of-a-kind experience here on Earth.

Welcome to the Mars Desert Research Station, an “analog” astronaut research facility in the remote Utah desert. Operated by the Mars Society, the center gives scientists and engineers the opportunity to test out future space experiments without a long space journey.

Sawicki, a University of Colorado Boulder master’s and PhD alumnus, recently returned from the base, where he spent two weeks as a mission commander with a six-member crew. The team lived and worked under conditions remarkably similar to what NASA astronauts will face on the red planet.

“It was pretty exciting. We lived in the station and to go outside we had to wear EVA suits,” Sawicki said. “We’re simulating life on Mars so we can learn how to design experiments, equipment, and operations for when astronauts really go and face that challenge.”

Along with a series of geological and nuclear experiments was a 30 lb., four-wheel, ground robot provided by Nisar Ahmed, an associate professor of aerospace at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Robots will be important on future Mars missions, but only if users can easily understand their capabilities and limitations, said Nick Conlon, one of Ahmed’s PhD students in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences.

Ahmed’s lab is focused on developing methods so a robot can accurately tell operators how well it will be able to do a task. Called Factorized Machine Self-Confidence, the system will give users an easy way to grasp how competent the robot is.

“The objective was to use the robot to take video autonomously in different areas to create a 360 view of the environment, like Google Maps Street View,” Conlon said. “Before the robot starts as task, it analyzes its internal models to report if it can achieve the goal. Can it drive to a certain area, does it have enough battery to get back, can it avoid obstacles? Things like that.”

Conlon delivered the robot to MDRS and demonstrated the technology prior to the analog mission beginning.

While astronauts are likely to be highly trained on their equipment, the goal of this robotics research is to make it possible for regular users to utilize the technology with little trouble.

“People have different ideas of what a robot might be capable of,” Conlon said. “We don’t want them to over trust a piece of equipment and break it or get hurt or drive off a cliff. We also don’t want people to under trust and have it sit and collect dust in a corner. We want people to use it within its limits and want to use it.”

Conlon said much of the research with the robot thus far has been in controlled environments, making Sawicki’s MDRS mission a unique deployment opportunity.

“We’ll be writing a paper from all we’ve learned from this experience,” Sawicki said. “One of the key findings is just how to make the system super robust for a field study, taking it on an EVA, and wearing a spacesuit in the process.”

Although there were some early diagnostic issues, the robot was able to complete all of the requested site surveys, and both Conlon and Sawicki are hopeful the data will be helpful for subsequent MDRS missions.

One unique challenge that will face future Mars astronauts is communicating with home. Due to the massive distance between the red planet and Earth, one way transmissions have a minimum delay of 8-10 minutes. That makes any live calls impossible. The same restrictions are imposed on the analogue astronauts.

“The isolation was definitely a mental challenge. Nick was back in Colorado and when I had to work with him on an issue with the robot, there are no phone calls and you can’t exchange messages quickly. You send an email and wait,” Sawicki said.

Participating in an MDRS mission fulfilled a goal Sawicki had held since his time as a grad student. CU Boulder offers a course called Medicine in Space and Surface Environments that takes students to MDRS, but during his PhD program Sawicki was unable to make it work with his schedule.

He reached out to MDRS after graduating to sign up for a mission on his own and they offered the opportunity to be mission commander.

“My PhD was in hypersonics but I had taken all of these bioastronautics classes and they said you’re a great fit for this mission,” Sawicki said. “I learned the trials and tribulations of what goes into an isolated mission like this, maintaining crew stability, scheduling. It was a great learning experience for me, and a unique opportunity for Ahmed and Conlon to learn about how future astronauts may one day work with, and alongside, autonomous robots.”

The MDRS 297 mission patch, with the team member names and the robot in lower left.

Pawel Sawicki is exploring the barren landscape of Mars and testing out critical new technologies through a one-of-a-kind experience here on Earth. Welcome to the Mars Desert Research Station, an...

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Atmospheric research in the most extreme place on Earth: Antarctica

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 15:10:10 +0000

Atmospheric research in the most extreme place on Earth: Antarctica Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 06/24/2024 - 09:10

Jeff Zehnder

Above: Doddi aboard the Shirase amid the Antarctic icepack.
Header Video: Adelie penguins traveling across the frozen tundra.

Abhi Doddi (PhDAeroEngr’21) is collecting scientific data outdoors in a 70 mph whiteout blizzard. It is just another day of life in Antarctica.

Doddi, a postdoctoral researcher in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder, is leading a major study involving high-altitude balloons to improve weather forecasting on the Antarctic continent.

He endured years of planning and an ocean voyage aboard an icebreaker ship to reach this remote and dangerous corner of the Earth, and despite the weather, he is excited to be here.

“This sort of data has never been collected before,” Doddi said. “We want to gather small-scale turbulence data over the polar vortex using complimentary observations from radar and balloon-based instruments. This data is very important to improve the representation of turbulence due to the atmospheric gravity waves and the polar jet stream in the current numerical weather prediction models.”

Ship Journey

Most U.S.-based researchers who study the Antarctic weather do so from McMurdo Station, a United States-run base that is surprisingly accessible, with daily flights aboard military cargo planes during the Antarctic summer.

Doddi’s research required a much more arduous journey. He needed access to a specialized mesosphere–stratosphere–troposphere (MST) radar, and there is just one on the continent – at Syowa Station, a Japanese base only accessible by ship. Japan’s naval icebreaker Shirase makes one trip there each year. Doddi boarded in Australia. From there, it took 20 days to reach Syowa and 38 to return.

“I don’t get seasick, but it gets uncomfortable when swells are 7-8 meters tall, and you’re being tossed in all directions, even while you sleep,” Doddi said.

Breaking the Ice

The ship could travel at 30 knots on the open ocean, but when they reached the Antarctic ice pack, travel slowed considerably as the vessel needed to repeatedly back up and accelerate forward to break through the ice.

The Shirase carried roughly 180 crew plus 100 scientists and engineers. Doddi and his research partner, Tyler Mixa (MAeroEngr’14, PhD’19), were the first non-Japanese researchers to visit Syowa station.

Timelapse video of the Shirase reversing and accelerating forward to break through the Antarctic icepack.

“The language barrier was the hardest thing. Of the entire crew, there were only about 10 people who spoke conversational English,” Doddi said.

With no option for quick departure in the event of a medical emergency, every person on the trip needed to be in perfect health.

“They want you to be bulletproof. If you get a cavity before the trip, until your dentist provides proof that it’s been filled, and your doctor has signed off on your health, and the Japanese medical team has reviewed the records, you’re not getting on the ship,” he said.

Research Variety

Doddi’s work focused on Antarctic atmospheric conditions, but there were a litany of other teams conducting studies across scientific disciplines. There were multiple oceanographers and aquatic life experts, as well as people doing bird studies, ice core samples, and geological surveys.

“One of the teams discovered 3-4 new species of microorganisms on the trip, which was fascinating. No one had ever laid eyes on those organisms before,” he said.

Even after reaching Antarctica, there was more travel – by air. Due to shallow water, the Shirase must anchor 10 miles off shore and ferry the crew and supplies to the base via helicopter.

Blizzard Balloon Launches

Once they landed at Syowa, Doddi’s research got underway in earnest – readying dozens of balloon payloads that would fly to 20 km in altitude while drifting up to 100 km laterally and relay turbulence measurements back in real time.

The work paired broad measurements from the MST radar with precision instruments aboard the balloon-borne instrument systems developed at CU Boulder. As a major goal is improving weather forecasting, Doddi spent plenty of time outdoors in less-than-ideal weather.

“We experienced three different blizzards, each lasting up to three days, with winds in excess of 60-70 mph,” he said. “Those conditions were hands down some of the best experiences of my life. That’s the data we want, even if it meant we were staying up for 48 hours. My sleep cycle was totally messed up,” he said.

It did not help that during the Antarctic summer, the sun never sets.

When it was not snowing, the temperature typically hovered just below freezing – practically balmy for an Antarctic summer – with the warmest days topping out at 5°C (41°F).

Abhi Doddi and Tyler Mixa launching a balloon payload on a very windy day at Syowa Station

Syowa Station, which is spread across 60 buildings, offered few comforts during down time.

“The bunks on the ship were larger and more comfortable than those on the base. It was four people to a room, with no doors on any room, just curtains, and communal baths, like a gym locker room,” Doddi said.

What's a Vegetarian?

He also faced a unique obstacle with food. Doddi is a life-long vegetarian, but base meals were via a single Navy cafeteria cooking everyone the same food.

“I’m a vegetarian from birth, and the concept of vegetarianism doesn’t exist in Japanese culture. They don’t even have a word for it. So I brought 240 shelf-stable meals as part of my personal supplies,” he said.

Although Antarctica is frozen year round, there is still plenty of local wildlife. Doddi saw hundreds of emperor penguins and over 1,000 adelie penguins, in addition to seals, petrel seabirds, and albatross. He was able to do some hiking, but safety precautions were necessary.

“If you were going beyond the perimeter of the base or to access a restricted portion, one of the Navy personnel had to go ahead of you to assess the conditions of the ice for cracks and crevasses,” he said.

Analysis Back Home

With the Antarctic field campaign complete and Doddi back in Colorado, phase two of the project begins – complex and lengthy analysis.

“This was a two-month data collection project followed by a three-year modeling program,” Doddi said. “We need massive super computers to do this modeling. The overarching goal is to provide guidance to improve the weather forecasts for people in Antarctica, so this will help researchers for years to come.”

In addition to Doddi, collaborators on the project are Dale Lawrence, a professor of aerospace engineering sciences at CU Boulder and director of the Research & Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles; Mixa from Global Atmospheric Technologies and Sciences (GATS) in Boulder; the National Institute of Polar Research in Tokyo; and Kyoto University.

Map of the Shirase's 20 day journey from Australia, to Syowa Station.
On the 38 day trip back, the ship hugged the Antarctic coast for additional research and to stop at an automated ionospheric measuring station that needed service.

Abhi Doddi (PhDAeroEngr’21) is collecting scientific data outdoors in a 70 mph whiteout blizzard. It is just another day of life in Antarctica. Doddi, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder, is leading a major study involving high-altitude balloons to improve weather forecasting on the Antarctic continent.

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Alumni, faculty honored at 2024 Smead Aerospace banquet

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 19:44:10 +0000

Alumni, faculty honored at 2024 Smead Aerospace banquet Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 04/26/2024 - 13:44

Jeff Zehnder

Header Image: Attendees at the banquet, including 2024 honoree Jack Elston (in blue tie).
Above: Prof. Hanspeter Schaub and Jen Uchida with her alumni award.

Full Photo Gallery at Flickr

The Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences has honored nine alumni for outstanding contributions to industry, for technical achievement, and public service.

The 2024 AeroBuffs Club Alumni Academy inductees were recognized during a banquet April 19 for work in business, civil, and military aerospace spheres.

“Smead Aerospace has outstanding graduates serving as leaders across the aerospace industry," said Hanspeter Schaub, professor and chair of Smead Aerospace. "We're excited to recognize these individuals for their personal achievements and what they've given to our industry as a whole. They're solving big challenges and pushing the limits of what is possible in aerospace engineering sciences."

Honorees were recognized in three categories:

Outstanding Alumni for Excellence in Commercial Enterprise

Derek Lerner (AeroEngr BS'04) (Over 40 Category) – As senior director within the Corporate Chief Technology Office at Northrop Grumman, Lerner leads the engineering and systems engineering capabilities for the corporation, with previous key roles at both Orbital ATK and Orbital Sciences.
Dave Murrow (AeroEngr BS'84) (Over 40 Category) – Murrow has served in major roles designing deep space exploration missions for Lockheed Martin, Ball Aerospace, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, retiring in 2023 after a 36 year career. He now operates his own consulting business, Space Connections.
Todd Mosher (AeroEngr MS'95, PhD'00) (Over 40 Category) – Mosher is a director at Blue Origin with more than 30 years of experience working in human and robotic spaceflight systems as a technical authority and manager, and is currently a Presidential Leadership Scholar.
Chris Ellerhorst (AeroEngr BS'08) (Under 40 Category) – Ellerhorst has served in leading roles at United Launch Alliance and Lockheed Martin, and is currently vice president of the Kuiper Program at ULA, overseeing financial, technical and operational activities of the multi-billion dollar program.
Ryan Slabaugh (AeroEngr BS'15, MS'15) (Under 40 Category) – A Marine Corps combat veteran with software engineering leadership experience at Lockheed Martin and Boeing, Slabaugh has garnered recognition for his strategic leadership in delivering mission-critical software and fostering cultural change.

Outstanding Alumni for Excellence in Public Service

Patrick Binning (AeroEngr MS'94, PhD'97) (Over 40 Category) – Binning is an aerospace defense leader and educator, directing teams that have made ground-breaking contributions to projects at the Naval Research Lab, National Reconnaissance Office, Missile Defense Agency, and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

Outstanding Alumni for Excellence in Technical Achievement

Jack Elston (ElCompEngr’03, MS’05, AeroEngr MS’07 PhD’11) (Over 40 Category) – As CEO and co-founder of Black Swift Technologies, Elston has built a startup developing uncrewed aircraft systems for extreme environments, including wildland fires, volcanoes, tornadoes, and hurricanes.
Jen Uchida (AeroEngr BS'05, MS'05) (Over 40 Category) – Uchida is a senior test program manager at Boeing with a career spanning the flight test industry from military aircraft, to civil type certification, to electric aviation. She is a former NASA Astronaut finalist, and volunteers time with CU Boulder, professional societies, and scholarship foundations for women in STEM.
Laura Stiles (AeroEngr MS'11, PhD'13) (Under 40 Category) – Stiles has served more than 10 years an aerospace engineer at Blue Origin, holding multiple design, test, and launch positions advancing private human spaceflight. She is now a Blue Origin astronaut trainer and leads multiple technical evaluation committees at the company.

The Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences has honored nine alumni for outstanding contributions to industry, for technical achievement, and public service. The 2024 AeroBuffs Club Alumni Academy inductees were recognized during a...

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Smead Aerospace recognizes 2024 alumni award winners

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 19:04:42 +0000

Smead Aerospace recognizes 2024 alumni award winners Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/25/2024 - 13:04

Jeff Zehnder

The Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences is honoring nine alumni for outstanding contributions to industry, for technical achievement, and public service.

The 2024 AeroBuffs Club Alumni Academy inductees are being recognized for work in business, civil, and military aerospace spheres.

Honorees are being recognized in three categories:

Outstanding Alumni for Excellence in Commercial Enterprise

Derek Lerner (AeroEngr BS'04) (Over 40 Category) – As senior director within the Corporate Chief Technology Office at Northrop Grumman, Lerner leads the engineering and systems engineering capabilities for the corporation, with previous key roles at both Orbital ATK and Orbital Sciences.
Dave Murrow (AeroEngr BS'84) (Over 40 Category) – Murrow has served in major roles designing deep space exploration missions for Lockheed Martin, Ball Aerospace, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, retiring in 2023 after a 36 year career. He now operates his own consulting business, Space Connections.
Todd Mosher (AeroEngr MS'95, PhD'00) (Over 40 Category) – Mosher is a director at Blue Origin with more than 30 years of experience working in human and robotic spaceflight systems as a technical authority and manager, and is currently a Presidential Leadership Scholar.
Chris Ellerhorst (AeroEngr BS'08) (Under 40 Category) – Ellerhorst has served in leading roles at United Launch Alliance and Lockheed Martin, and is currently vice president of the Kuiper Program at ULA, overseeing financial, technical and operational activities of the multi-billion dollar program.
Ryan Slabaugh (AeroEngr BS'15, MS'15) (Under 40 Category) – A Marine Corps combat veteran with software engineering leadership experience at Lockheed Martin and Boeing, Slabaugh has garnered recognition for his strategic leadership in delivering mission-critical software and fostering cultural change.

Outstanding Alumni for Excellence in Public Service

Patrick Binning (AeroEngr MS'94, PhD'97) (Over 40 Category) – Binning is an aerospace defense leader and educator, directing teams that have made ground-breaking contributions to projects at the Naval Research Lab, National Reconnaissance Office, Missile Defense Agency, and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

Outstanding Alumni for Excellence in Technical Achievement

Jack Elston (ElCompEngr’03, MS’05, AeroEngr MS’07 PhD’11) (Over 40 Category) – As CEO and co-founder of Black Swift Technologies, Elston has built a startup developing uncrewed aircraft systems for extreme environments, including wildland fires, volcanoes, tornadoes, and hurricanes.
Jen Uchida (AeroEngr BS'05, MS'05) (Over 40 Category) – Uchida is a senior test program manager at Boeing with a career spanning the flight test industry from military aircraft, to civil type certification, to electric aviation. She is a former NASA Astronaut finalist, and volunteers time with CU Boulder, professional societies, and scholarship foundations for women in STEM.
Laura Stiles (AeroEngr MS'11, PhD'13) (Under 40 Category) – Stiles has served more than 10 years an aerospace engineer at Blue Origin, holding multiple design, test, and launch positions advancing private human spaceflight. She is now a Blue Origin astronaut trainer and leads multiple technical evaluation committees at the company.

All of the honorees will be officially recognized at the 2024 AeroBuffs Club alumni banquet and awards ceremony on April 19. Registrations are still being accepted for CU Boulder aerospace alumni who would like to attend.

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PhD grad training next generation of aerospace leaders

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 22:41:02 +0000

PhD grad training next generation of aerospace leaders Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 12/08/2023 - 15:41

Jeff Zehnder

Three "generations" of PhDs: Asst. Prof. Michael Frazier (center); with his PhD advisor, CU Boulder Prof. Mahmoud Hussein (right); and Frazier's current PhD student, Jack Pechac (left).

Michael J. Frazier (AeroEngr MS’11, PhD’15) discovered the dream engineering job he never knew he was looking for: university professor.

In high school, as an undergraduate, and even as a master’s student, Frazier was sure an industry job was in his future, but a drive for more knowledge and research sent him down a different path.

Today he is performing investigations at the frontiers of science, teaching budding young engineers, and advising doctoral students of his own.

“The research is the part of the job I love most,” Frazier said. “There are unexpected and novel results. Originally, I did not plan to complete a PhD, but am glad that I did. I get to think about a variety of subjects and pursue my own scientific interests. If I had gone into industry, my tasks may have been more routine and life might be more mundane.”

Desire to Learn

Initially, Frazier just wanted to learn more. His undergraduate degree at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University gave him a strong aerospace base, but he wanted a deeper understanding, which led him to start a master’s at the University of Colorado Boulder.

“I thought I’d gain more knowledge with the MS degree, and then negotiate for a higher starting salary when I entered an industry job. But once I experienced the research aspect of grad school, I didn’t want to stop, and so I got a PhD,” he said.

After graduation, Frazier moved to Caltech, and then ETH Zurich, for a two-year postdoc. Since 2017, he has led a research laboratory at the University of California San Diego as a tenure-track assistant professor studying metamaterials – materials that have extreme or unusual properties not found nature.

Metamaterials Research

“Nature adheres to the rules of chemistry that dictate the interactions of atoms at the small scale, which ultimately influence the observed properties of materials. Metamaterials comprise 3D-printable structural units analogous to atoms in natural materials; however, since we rather than nature control every aspect of these artificial atoms, we are able to set the rules and realize materials with performance beyond nature,” Frazier said.

It is a relatively young area of research with broad applications in many fields, including optics, acoustics, mechanics, and even biology.

“I really enjoy the physics of it. We’re investigating and discovering things nobody else has previously looked at. In science, most advances are incremental; however, the prospect of uncovering some truth or developing some insight that fosters a major leap forward is a huge personal driver.”

Example of Frazier's computational research, depicting a mechanical phase transformation within a hierarchical hexagonal lattice comprising 21,120 multi-stable elements (i.e., pistons). The phases (i.e., piston heights) can be organized into custom morphologies (e.g., a bee). The results may have implications for morphable surfaces. C. Wang and M. J. Frazier (2023), "Phase patterning in multi-stable metamaterials: Transition wave stabilization and mode conversion".

It is an area of study he started in at CU Boulder, working under Professor Mahmoud Hussein, a pioneer in phononics, a broader field of research that incorporates acoustic metamaterials.

”When Michael joined my group he was a bit uncertain in the beginning about whether an academic career would be best for him. Within just a few months, the thought started creeping into his mind. I could feel it,” Hussein said. “He progressed at a most impressive rate over the years he spent with us. By his final year, I noticed that he was enjoying going deep into his research problem and attacking every aspect of it with great detail, imagination, and rigor. At that point, it was clear to me that a faculty career was a path he could pursue with success."

Student to Teacher

Making the transition from being a PhD student to advising them has been a journey. Frazier is naturally low key and has learned the importance of being direct and intentional when leading students.

“I don’t think of myself as a pushy professor, but I make it clear when expectations are not being met,” he said. “Sometimes you need to do that so students move in the right direction and at the right speed. It took me a couple years to figure that out.”

His efforts have paid off, with his first PhD student graduating earlier this year. His second is expected to defend his doctoral dissertation in spring 2024.

“During a PhD student’s doctoral defense, it’s not only the student being judged — it’s also the professor. Your colleagues want to see that you are capable of selecting a worthy topic and executing a research plan, a major part of which is effectively guiding the graduate student up to the moment of the defense,” Frazier said.

Frazier teaches mechanics and materials classes, leading instruction in structures, solid mechanics, finite elements, and dynamics.

“I really like passing on that knowledge” he said, “Hopefully, in a manner that allows students to absorb the information faster and more deeply than when I learned it”.

His biggest challenge as a professor has been funding. Conducting research requires earning grants, and Frazier said the process can be frustrating. “I spend a lot of time conceiving what I think is an interesting proposal, and then, in writing, try to convey its intellectual merit and broader impact as well as anticipate reviewer questions. Yet, this effort may still not yield the desired result.”

He earned his first large award last year — $365,000 from the National Science Foundation to develop a new class of energy-absorbing metamaterials.

Michael J. Frazier (AeroEngr MS’11, PhD’15) discovered the dream engineering job he never knew he was looking for: university professor. In high school, as an undergraduate, and even as a master’s student, Frazier was sure an industry job was in his future, but a drive for more knowledge and research sent him down a different path...

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CU Boulder grads launch startups to change the future of aerospace

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 14:00:00 +0000

CU Boulder grads launch startups to change the future of aerospace Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/09/2023 - 08:00

Jeff Zehnder

Find Out More About Alumni Startups

Advanced Space - From a condo loft to NASA contracts

Black Swift Technologies - Developing unmanned aircraft systems for extreme environments

In Orbit Aerospace - Enabling mass manufacturing and research in space

Building a startup business is intense, and for a number of University of Colorado Boulder aerospace graduates, they would not have it any other way.

The Front Range is a recognized hub for startups and technology firms; earlier this year, the CU system was honored as fifth in the nation for startup creation. With the state’s major aerospace presence, it is no surprise that many startups are aerospace-oriented.

A Startup World

“From our experiences doing research at CU Boulder we developed an appetite for solving difficult problems with uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and the tools to develop that into a career,” said Jack Elston (ElCompEngr’03, MS’05, AeroEngr MS’07 PhD’11), CEO of Black Swift Technologies.

The company, which he co-founded with Maciej Stachura (AeroEngr PhD'13), began in Elston’s living room. Today, Black Swift designs purpose-built aerial platforms for scientific research in extreme environments — think hurricanes and inside the mouth of volcanoes.

The business is one of a half dozen founded by graduates from the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences over the last 15 years, according to professor and chair Hanspeter Schaub, who notes CU Boulder and the larger Boulder community’s status as entrepreneurial hubs.

“We have classes on engineering management, there is nearby venture capital funding, and faculty have spinoff companies; students see all that,” Schaub said. “There were no startups when I was going through school. At that time, there wasn’t this idea that you could start an aerospace company with two or three people.”

Ishaan Patel (MAeroEngr’18) knows the traditional aerospace path well. He spent time at two longstanding large firms and NASA before co-founding In Orbit Aerospace, which is developing uncrewed reentry vehicles and orbital utility stations to enable lower-cost in-space manufacturing and research infrastructure.

“In Orbit finally gave me an opportunity where I saw all of my research interests integrated into one core vision,” Patel said. “Although running a start-up can feel like a rollercoaster, it’s exciting to be able to work on something I am truly passionate about in the NewSpace economy.”

Education to Business

Kathryn Wingate, an aerospace teaching assistant professor, said the department’s academic program provides tools important for engineers who plan to follow a typical career path or strike out on their own.

“We teach a lot of things people do in startups, like the iterative process and prototyping, and we follow the standard Systems V development lifecycle,” Wingate said. “A startup is a higher risk, but it’s a quicker way to change the industry. If you like the idea of being your own boss and being in control, it’s exciting.”

Bradley Cheetham (MAeroEngr’11) understands that risk and reward as co-founder of Advanced Space.

“Starting a business sounds exciting, almost sexy, but the reality is that it takes so much mental fortitude,” Cheetham said. “We started as a group of three working in a loft in my condo. If you can lean into the hard times and allow yourself to grow with the company, it becomes enjoyable. Being challenged in different ways can be exciting if you are open to the diversity of challenges that arise daily.”

Advanced Space is developing technology to enable sustainable exploration, development and settlement of space. In 2022, it launched the successful CAPSTONE satellite, which is orbiting the Moon.

Cheetham’s partner and fellow Advanced Space co-founder, Dr. Jeff Parker (MAeroEngr’03, PhD’07) said being careful and intentional about growing as a business has helped them go from three people in 2011 to 56 employees today.

“We love what we do, and Advanced Space lets us do it,” Parker said. “We have fully intended this company to be built to be a multi-generational company: something that will outlast anyone here. How often do you get the opportunity to help define interplanetary missions, test out new navigation technologies, and inspire engineers all at the same time?”

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Q&A - From a condo loft to NASA contracts: Life at Advanced Space

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Q&A - From a condo loft to NASA contracts: Life at Advanced Space Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/09/2023 - 00:00

Bradley Cheetham with a model of the successful CAPSTONE satellite.

Bradley Cheetham (MAeroEngr’11) and Dr. Jeff Parker (MAeroEngr’03, PhD’07) saw potential for sustainable exploration of space that they've turned into a booming startup company. From humble beginnings in Cheetham's loft, Advanced Space today has NASA contracts and a workforce of 56 people.

In your own words, what does your company do?

Brad: We call Advanced Space a high-tech space solutions company because we are developing critical technology to enable the sustainable exploration, development and settlement of space. In all of our work we are focused on delivering solutions to support this purpose.

We primarily focus on flight dynamics which enable spacecraft operations from low Earth orbit and geosynchronous orbit to cislunar space and beyond. We are also developing innovative solutions using artificial intelligence-driven algorithms to help automate spacecraft guidance functions. Lastly, we offer customers rapid, turn-key mission designs, helping customers identify the hardware, mission operations, and technologies necessary to achieve their objectives.

Jeff: Brad’s response is amazing. I’d also add that we are an innovative company, seeking to challenge aging approaches and to find new, robust solutions to difficult problems in spaceflight.

We see the needs for future space infrastructure and are working to develop that one step at a time. Our company is also here to inspire the next generation, working on numerous exciting projects and giving people opportunities to contribute to many exciting aspects of spaceflight.

Why did you decide to take the plunge and start a business?

Brad: For as long as I can remember, my interest in entrepreneurship was a close second to my interest in space. As an undergraduate at the University of Buffalo, I was actively involved with �鶹��Ժ for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) and met one of the Advanced Space co-founders, Darrell Cain, through the organization.

Darrell and I talked a lot about what kind of organization we wanted to work for and at the time, we could not find an organization that aligned with the purpose to enable the sustainable exploration, development, and settlement of space. Since we couldn’t find anything that aligned with what we wanted, we decided to start a company.

Starting a business sounds exciting, almost sexy, but the reality is that it takes so much mental fortitude. If you can lean into the hard times and allow yourself to grow with the company, it becomes enjoyable. Being challenged in different ways can be exciting if you are open to the diversity of challenges that arise daily.

Jeff: I saw this as an opportunity to grow and experience spaceflight far more directly than I could have otherwise. We at Advanced Space directly contribute to solving problems and innovating on the technological frontier.

How often do you get the opportunity to help define interplanetary missions, test out new navigation technologies, and inspire engineers all at the same time? We love what we do and Advanced Space lets us do it.

We have fully intended this company to be built to be a multi-generational company." - Dr. Jeff Parker

How did your education at CU Boulder prepare you for the challenge?

Brad: After completing my undergrad at UB, I knew I wanted to pursue a graduate level degree. I was accepted to a handful of programs, but CU Boulder stood out for a few reasons.

Back in 2009, CU Boulder was part of a unique partnership with a local space company that created a non-profit called eSpace: The Center for Space Entrepreneurship. The organization was the epicenter for collaboration between industry, government, and academia to accelerate the creation and development of entrepreneurial space companies. This was not something that I found at any of the other universities where I was accepted.

The late Dr. Geoge Born, founder of the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research (CCAR) also played a critical role in my decision. At CU I was able to benefit from the outstanding technical reputation and to pursue leadership positions which was foundational to building the skills I need today as a CEO.

Jeff: CU Boulder uniquely prepared me for Advanced Space. CU Boulder’s Aerospace Engineering Sciences curriculum offers an amazing combination of courses that include traditional academic courses, applied engineering courses, and very rare courses that push the boundaries of what is taught anywhere in the world.

One of those courses was developed by my business partner, Brad, and focused on entrepreneurship within the aerospace industry.

The University includes a variety of academic centers, consortiums, and laboratories that each provide opportunities to students. I was personally involved heavily within the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research (CCAR), founded by my Ph.D. advisor Dr. George Born, yet I also found enriching activities within the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and the Colorado Space Grant Consortium. These all shaped my path that led to Advanced Space.

What do you like the most about your work at Advanced Space?

Brad: My family and my purpose are what drive me. When I head out the door in the mornings my kids ask, “Why do you have to leave and why can’t you stay and play all day?” I tell them that “I have to help people go to the Moon!” It’s become a mantra in our family, “the toddler test” and a good reminder of the future we are working to build for them and everyone in future generations.

Another thing that I like the most about my work are the people on this team. I’m constantly amazed at the work they do from the technical to the business management side, they are what keep me going.

Jeff: I love contributing to the exploration, development, and settlement of space. It is simply amazing to design and fly current space missions and to develop the technologies that will enable future space missions.

How has your company grown since being founded?

Brad: We have added people as our customer needs have grown. We started as a group of three working in a loft in my condo in Boulder 12 years ago, got the first contract, got contracts after that, and were able to hire people as we did more work.

As of today (September 6), we have 56 employees, and each one has been added because we identified a specific need within the company, to support a customer, or both. Many matured from our internship program and several team members are CU Boulder grads. Because of our team, our technical capabilities have also grown. We have been awarded 1 patent and in the evaluation process for 3 more.

Jeff: Very carefully. That’s how we’ve grown. We have fully intended this company to be built to be a multi-generational company: something that will outlast anyone here. We are therefore constantly evaluating where we are and where we need to go as we grow the company so that we can grow sustainably and provide assurance that anyone on our team will be here for as long as we hold their imagination.

Find out more about Advanced Space at their website

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