MIT Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics | February 2026 | | |
Participate in the MIT Quality of Life Survey: Help MIT track important themes and trends and inspire practical solutions to better the experiences of MIT community members. The greater the AeroAstro participation, the greater the impact we can have on the direction of the Institute at large!
Upcoming events
SpaceTech 2026: The Space Innovation Ecosystem
Explore what it takes to bring research from the lab out into the world at AeroAstro's annual SpaceTech conference.
Tuesday, April 7
9:00am – 4:00pm
Earth Observation Symposium
A day-long exploration of satellite-based research and innovation for Earth Day 2026.
Wednesday, April 22
In Memoriam
We are deeply saddened at the passing of Professor of the Practice Robert Liebeck, one of the world’s leading experts on aircraft design, aerodynamics, and hydrodynamics, on Jan. 12 at age 87. Prof. Liebeck is remembered by friends and colleagues for his adventurous nature and generosity of spirit. Read his remembrance on MIT News.
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The Roundup is a monthly newsletter to keep the AeroAstro community up-to-date on research, community news, and important happenings across the department and MIT. Explore past issues of the Roundup on our website.
| | How did you spend your snow days? -38° at Jay Peak and AeroAstro/MechE grad students opted for a snow tunnel instead of a wind tunnel! | | Check out the custom clocks created at our Maker Meeting in December! Maker Meetings are a chance for staff and faculty to socialize around learning new skills in a creative context. Join the March workshop – watch for an email from Brian Mernoff! | | |
Spot Awards: Anthony Zolnik, Corrine Giordani, Ziara Queen-Walker, Echo Aodhan, Alexa Torres, Venecia Siders, Kaylie Knowlton, Karen Bruce, and Rachel Ornitz were recognized by their colleagues for their extra efforts in January and February. Have someone you would like to recognize? Submit a nomination any time – Spot Awards are open to everyone!
Nominate a colleague for the Infinite Mile and Ellen J. Mandingo Awards: Help the Institute recognize individuals or teams who have made extraordinary contributions to help the Institute carry out its mission by nominating a colleague for this special recognition.The deadline for nominations is April 3, 2026.
AeroAstro’s Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Week: Be on the lookout for ways to practice random acts of kindness during the department's RAK Week, beginning March 9.
| | PhD student Josh Rountree was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, USAF, in a ceremony at the Neumann Hangar. Surrounded by classmates, mentors, fellow officers, and family, the event brought together the two communities that shape his work and his life. | Carissma McGee (STAR Lab) has received the 2026 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award for Graduate Students as part of MIT’s annual MLK Celebration. | Grad students Mina Cezairli (ICAT) and Lilly Etzenbach (ESL) have been awarded spots in Aviation Week Network’s 20 Twenties Class of 2026. | | |
The AeroAstro Comm Lab provides 1-1 peer coaching sessions for all forms of technical communication. Make an appointment to improve the effectiveness of your next paper, poster, presentation and more!
New digital resources:
| | French Air Force pilot, European Space Agency astronaut, and Course 16 alum Sophie Adenot SM ‘04 made it to the ISS with SpaceX Crew-12 on Feb. 14. She is scheduled to remain in low Earth orbit for eight months, made possible by a recent expansion of Dragon's certified durational capabilities at the ISS. | | |
Unified Engineering students spent IAP traveling the East Coast, visiting leading aerospace companies and organizations. These tours give students a chance to see real-world projects in action and experience it all alongside the colleagues and classmates who will shape their undergraduate journey.
AeroAstro and the Office of the President co-hosted a special screening of Starman, a new documentary about alum and JPL robotics pioneer Gentry Lee. Watch the video of the Q&A with Gentry — and if you missed the screening, you can catch Starman at the Coolidge this Sunday, 2/1 at 2pm!
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For nearly a decade, the MIT Warrior-Scholar Project STEM boot camp has helped enlisted members of the military prepare for higher education. Grad student and retired Air Force Major Andrea Henshall shared her experience staffing the program with MIT News.
As a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Space Technologies, Prof. Dava Newman helped develop a Space Technologies Convergence map, a strategic framework illustrating how space-based and terrestrial technologies are increasingly intersecting to transform both space operations and industries on Earth.
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The AeroAstro community had a strong presence at the 2026 AIAA SciTech Forum, the world’s largest aerospace research and technology conference, with students and faculty sharing work that spans autonomy, space systems, and hypersonics.
How MIT’s 10th president shaped the Cold War | Prof. David Mindell provides insight on how the Killian Report set the frontiers of military technology, intelligence gathering, national security policy, and global affairs.
| | AeroAstro hosted four students and one faculty member from Tuskeegee University for a multi-day aerospace workshop, including Design X sessions where participants worked in teams to develop a pitch for Smart Glasses. | | Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion | | |
DEI Best Practice: Women in STEM: The Importance of Mentorship and Community, by Michaela Gazdik Stofer, PhD
March is Women’s History Month: This month honors the contributions, sacrifices, and achievements of women in American history, culture, and society. March 8 is International Women’s Day, dedicated to championing gender equality across the globe.
The AeroAstro Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee is excited to welcome our new 2026 Diversity Scholar, Shreya Sharma. In this role, Shreya will help organize events and initiatives that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion across the department. We invite you to share your ideas for topics to explore or cultural events to recognize here.
Upcoming events:
Feedback:
aa-diversity@mit.edu
| | Plasma and laser physics experiments push aerospace boundaries | MIT researchers, in collaboration with colleagues from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and the French Aerospace Lab (ONERA), generated electrical arcs of around 1 meter inside the Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel to replicate how lightning attaches to aircraft surfaces during flight. | | Seven papers by REALM researchers have been accepted for presentation at the 2026 International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR). Visit their website to explore their work on safe and robust reinforcement learning, ethical evaluation of autonomous systems, enhanced reasoning in large and multi-agent models, and more. | | | | |
