MIT Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics | September 2021 |
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On August 31, we hosted an on-campus event Aug. 31 that marked a new research engagement between MIT and the United States Space Force (USSF) to explore mutual interests and identify opportunities in research and education. Gen. John W. "Jay" Raymond, chief of space operations for the USSF, met with members of AeroAstro faculty, representatives of MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and MIT Provost Martin Schmidt to discuss the importance of space as a domain for national defense, the USSF's newly-created University Partnership Program, and MIT's ongoing interest in space research, education, and innovation.
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Send your voice to space! A student-run initiative, the Humanity United with MIT Art and Nanotechnology in Space (HUMANS) project aims to send the message that space is for everyone. All are invited to submit a message to the project website — either text or audio, or both! — sharing what space means to them and to humanity in their native languages. Taking inspiration from One.MIT, a project to etch more than 270,000 names from the MIT community on a 6-inch wafer, they have partnered with MIT.nano to etch both text and audio waveforms onto a 6-inch disk. Finally, in collaboration with the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) at the MIT Media Lab, this new “record of our voices” will travel to the International Space Station (ISS) on a future mission.
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Welcome to AeroAstro, Sonya T. Smith! Sonya is one of the nine Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Visiting Professors and Scholars that MIT is hosting this year. Sonya was the first female professor of mechanical engineering at Howard University. Her research involves computational fluid dynamics and thermal management of electronics for air and space vehicles. She is looking forward to serving as a mentor to underrepresented students across MIT and fostering new research collaborations with her home lab at Howard.
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Our new website launched! To access internal pages and resources, click “Login” on the top-right menu to log in via Touchstone. Email aa-website@mit.edu with questions, comments, and any other feedback.
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Calling AeroAstro grad students, postdocs, and staff! Innovation through entrepreneurship is the future of aerospace, and we want to show you how to get there! The Certificate in Aerospace Innovation is a new, optional program offered by the Department in collaboration with the MIT Innovation Initiative and the Martin Trust MIT Center for Entrepreneurship. The program is taking place this Fall, IAP, and Spring semesters, and is comprised of three elements: a cross-disciplinary curriculum that consists of coursework in the aerospace-focused domain and in the entrepreneurship-focused domain offered by the Sloan School of Management; the Aerospace Innovator’s Seminar Series featuring speakers from some of the biggest names in entrepreneurial aerospace — many of whom started as students in AeroAstro; and the Aerospace Innovation Workshop held during IAP where participants will draft an aerospace startup business plan and pitch it to a panel of judges for a chance to win $10K. Registration is open until Oct. 8. Learn more and register. |
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Dan Hastings was named associate dean of MIT’s School of Engineering, where he will focus on advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across the school.
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Sertac Karaman was named director of the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS.)
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Olivier de Weck was named the Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics and Engineering Systems.
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Ufuoma Ovienmhada received a Takeda Fellowship, which provides graduate student support to students conducting research at the intersection of artificial intelligence and health in the School of Engineering.
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Kevin Wang received the Airline Group of the International Federation of Operational Research Societies (AGIFORS) 2021 Ken Wang Researcher Scholars Award.
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Danielle Wood appeared on The Week on MSNBC with host Joshua Johnson and Margaret Weitekamp, curator for space memorabilia and science fiction at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, to discuss the key role space technologies can play in advancing equity on Earth, if we make the choice to design with sustainability in mind.
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Spot Award recipients for the months of July, August, and September include: Karen Bruce (x5!!) Jess Johnson, Joyce Light (x2), Beth Marois, Becky Masterson, Brían O'Conaill, Marie Stuppard, Kathryn Fischer (x2), Hannah Ovaska (x2), Ping Lee, Fran Marrone, Raina Puels, Todd Billings (x2), Dave Robertson (x2), Beata Shuster, and Pam Fradkin. Learn more about how you can recognize your colleagues (note: click "LOGIN" on the top right menu to log in via Touchstone to view internal pages) with AeroAstro's Spot Recognition program.
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Julia Milton and Bryce Doerr participated this summer in JPL’s Planetary Science Summer School, a selective three-month course where you develop an early mission concept study in response to a recent NASA announcement of opportunity. We both really enjoyed the experience and wanted to spread the word about it in case others are interested in applying next year.
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Maya Nasr received the 2021 Soffen Memorial Fund Travel Grant from the Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Fund Committee and the NASA Academy Alumni Association to attend the 72nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC).
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New algorithm could enable fast, nimble drones for time-critical operations such as search and rescue.
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A human-aware motion planning algorithm addresses the safety gap in collaboration between robots and humans.
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An optimization tool from the Department of Air Force–MIT AI Accelerator is transforming the laborious process of staffing C-17 cargo flights.
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MIT researchers are co-leading the design of a global Space Sustainability Rating system that will soon be operational.
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From our Conference Correspondents |
Sept. 14-17: Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies (AMOS) Conference
The AMOS Conference focuses on space situational awareness/space domain awareness.
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Rachel Morgan - Ph.D candidate in STARlab: "Operations Update for the Deformable Mirror Demonstration Mission (DeMi) CubeSat" (picture in link below)
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Axel Garcia - Ph.D candidate in ARClab: "Electric Propulsion Intelligent Control (EPIC) Toolbox for Proximity Operations in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO)"
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Alexander Koenig - undergraduate researcher: "Risk Maps for Conjunction Potential Throughout the Cislunar Domain"
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June 27-July 1: AIAA AVIATION Forum
The AIAA AVIATION Forum covers the entire integrated spectrum of aviation business, research, development, and technology.
The Aerospace Plasma Group presented three articles:
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Nov. 8-11: 2021 Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL)
Members of the REALM lab submitted the following papers that were accepted to CoRL:
"Safe Nonlinear Control Using Robust Neural Lyapunov-Barrier Functions" by Charles Dawson, Zengyi Qin, Sicun Gao, and Chuchu Fan
This paper addresses questions about how to build reliable, trustworthy control systems out of neural networks, while providing guarantees on how well those controllers will generalize to systems with uncertain model parameters (like changed mass or damping, or changed aerodynamic properties).
This paper provides an efficient method for calculating the likelihood that an autonomous system will reach some region, using neural networks to learn the future density distribution of the system. This could allow system designers to easily calculate, for example, the probability of colliding with an obstacle or reaching the goal, as well as provide online monitoring for system safety.
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Diversity, Inclusion, & Innovation (DI&I) |
Join the DI&I Committee!
We would like to invite you to participate in the department’s Diversity, Inclusion, and Innovation (DI&I) Committee.
We thank last year’s members for their insights, time, and energy in making AeroAstro a more inclusive place. If you’d like to remain on the committee, or if you’re interested in becoming a new member, please complete the Google interest form by 15 October 2021.
The second DI&I committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, 28 September 2021, via zoom. To ensure represented and diverse voices and opinions at the meetings, the committee meetings are open to the entire AeroAstro community.
Your participation in the DI&I Committee is voluntary. We certainly encourage your engagement on diversity, equity, and inclusion issues in AeroAstro. As part of the committee, you can expect a time commitment of at least two hours a week for the 2021-2022 academic year. Here is the link to our Diversity, Inclusion & Innovation Committee work (note: click "LOGIN" on the top right menu to log in via Touchstone to view the Diversity Dashboard) so you can better understand the Strategic and Implementation Plans.
For additional information, please get in touch with Denise Phillips at dap1@mit.edu.
DI&I Fall 2021 Meeting Dates:
- Sept. 28
- Oct. 12
- Oct. 26
- Nov. 9
- Nov. 30
- Dec. 14
DI&I Best Practices:
Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month September 15- October 15, 2021
“Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.”
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Friday, Oct. 1:
DI&I Kick-Off Event!
On Friday, October 1, 2021 from 11 AM - 12 PM, the AeroAstro DI&I Committee will be hosting A Conversation with Women of Color in Aerospace.
Join to hear our speakers discuss their career paths, the challenges they have faced as women of color in aerospace and STEM, and how they have overcome roadblocks along their journeys. Panelists will include MIT AeroAstro alumnae Krystal Arroyo-Flores, SB '13, Ayanna Samuels, SB '02, SM '05, and Dr. Aprille Ericsson, SB '86. Denise Phillips, the AeroAstro Diversity Officer, will be moderating this event.
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As we all learn to navigate the new COVID policies as a community, it’s important that we continue to hold one another accountable. Here are some ways you can ask people to remember their masks if they are either not wearing a mask at all, or if they are not wearing their mask correctly (i.e. if it is not covering their nose.) This is certainly not an all-inclusive list, but we hope these phrases will be a helpful starting point as we navigate the transition back to campus.
- “Please make sure you are wearing your mask.”
- “Per MIT policy, we all need to wear our masks while indoors on campus.”
- “It looks like you forgot your mask. Here is an extra one.”
- “I see that your mark is not covering your nose. Please make sure your mask is covering your nose and mouth.”
- “Remember: your nose and mouth need to be covered.”
- “Hey there, how are you doing? Please remember to wear your mask.”
- “Hello. I noticed you’re not wearing a mask. Please remember to wear a mask while on MIT campus.”
- “Hey! Mask up, please!”
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Successful Thesis Defenders |
Dr. Max Li
Spectral Models for Air Transportation Networks
June 22
Dr. Aaron Baumgarten
Development of Models for Mixtures of Fluids and Granular Sediments
June 30
Dr. Alejandro Trujillo
A Model-based Methodology for Strategic Reuse of Legacy Designs in Space Mission Architecting
July 21
Dr. Lawrence Wong Enabling Effective Safety Learning in Healthcare: Implementing CAST and Designing the STAMP-Based Reporting System
August 5
Dr. Heng Zuo
Femtosecond Laser Micromachining for Correction of Thin Optics for Next Generation X-ray Telescopes
August 11
Dr. Ankit Shah
A Bayesian Model of Interactive Robotic Training for Complex Tasks
August 10
Dr. Thibaud Fritz
Plume to Global-scale Atmospheric Impacts of Aviation Emissions
Sept. 1
Dr. Ines Sanz Morere Constraining Climate Impacts Uncertainties from Future Aviation
Sept. 2
Did you successfully defend your graduate thesis? Send a photo to aa-communications@mit.edu to be featured as one of our Successful Defenders!
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Pioneer in the science of humans in space remembered for far-reaching impact on his field and the people closest to him.
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Lagacé, an expert on composite materials and structures, was passionate about MIT and the Boston Red Sox.
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Below are a few highlights of AeroAstro publications and media coverage: |
Kerri Cahoy
Science Clear+Vivid Podcast
Dava Newman
Forbes
Fast Company
Julie Shah
MIT News
Steven Barrett & Sebastian Eastham
Engineering & Technology
Paul Lagacé
Boston Globe
An MIT professor whose cheers were heard throughout Fenway Park, Paul Lagacé dies at 63
Olivier de Weck & Maja Haji
Cape Cod Times
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Heng Yang, PhD Candidate
SPARK Lab
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Victoria Preston, PhD Candidate,
Robust Robotics Group
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Congratulations to the MIT team for taking the top prize in the 2021 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkages (RASC-AL) (RASC-AL) Special Edition: Moon to Mars Ice & Prospecting Challenge competition! Ten university teams designed and built systems intended to harvest water frozen below the surface of the Moon and Mars. The teams put their prototypes to the test during the 2021 Moon to Mars Ice & Prospecting Challenge held September 23-25 at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton, Virginia. The team’s project, HYDRATION III: High Yield Dihydrogen-monoxide Retrieval And Terrain Identification On New worlds, was cited for Most Water Collected (24,335 mL) and Best Digital Poster. Congratulations to the team: George Lordos, Roland de Filippi, Prakash Manandhar, Palak Patel, Fabio Castro, Tao Sevigny, Sophie Yang, Eric Bui, Marcellin Feasson; and their advisors: Jeffrey Hoffman, Olivier de Weck, Martin Culpepper, Herbert Einstein, and Michael Hecht.
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Marie Stuppard, Luca Carlone, and Carmen Guerra-Garcia organized this year’s First Year’s Exploration of the AeroAstro Department on September 2. The event included a welcome to the department by DH Dan Hastings, Lightning talks by all junior faculty, a visit to the new wind tunnel, led by Prof. Drela, and interactions with the rocket team.
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Eric Hinterman presented " The Next Great Frontier: How Space Exploration Benefits Humanity on Earth" at TEDx MIT. |
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The Aerospace Plasma Group has inaugurated their new lab space in Building 17, Room 201! There is exciting research coming up in the fields of plasma-assisted combustion, plasma-CO2 conversion, and various aspects related to atmospheric electricity and lightning protection of aircraft and wind turbines. Be sure to stop by and check them out! |
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Do you have highlights to include in future editions of the
Monthly Roundup?
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