Faculty
Prof. Elaine Petro | Lab Director | Assistant Professor
(461 Upson Hall)
Elaine Petro is an Assistant Professor in the Cornell Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Director of the Cornell ASTRA lab. Her research interests include spacecraft electric propulsion, sustainable space exploration through in-situ resource utilization, and plasma science. Petro received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she studied water-based plasma propulsion. Prior to joining the faculty in Cornell MAE, she spent time as post-doctoral researcher in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Space Propulsion Laboratory, studying electrospray thrusters for small satellite propulsion. (Google Scholar, LinkedIn, Email)
Dr. Andrew van Paridon | Senior Research Associate and Senior Lecturer
Andrew van Paridon is a senior lecturer and research associate in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His research includes thermal modelling, spacecraft propulsion, and mission planning. Currently, he is investigating the performance of ceramic radiators with embedded heat pipes that would facilitate nuclear electric propulsion engines, as well as developing mission concepts for smallsats, including a demonstration of soft robotic grippers in space. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oxford, UK, where he studied the effects of thermal control on the fatigue life of turbine discs. (LinkedIn, Email)
Zach Ulibarri is a postdoctoral associate at Cornell University in the ASTRALab. His research interests focus on laboratory experiments to study how complex organics and isotopic ratios may be measured by time-of-flight mass spectrometer systems, especially those utilizing hypervelocity capture or impact ionization of icy dust grains during flybys of icy ocean worlds, and how these measurements can be applied to understanding the origin of terrestrial life and the possibility of life elsewhere. During his doctoral studies at CU Boulder, he was a graduate student affiliate of the Surface Dust Analyzer (SUDA) mass spectrometer instrument on the upcoming Europa Clipper mission. He also received two awards from NASA SSERVI and was the head organizer of the LunGradCon graduate student conference for five years.
Bryce Kingsley is a postdoctoral associate at Cornell University in the ASTRALab. His current research is focused on the fabrication and experimental evaluation of additively-manufactured nano- and micro-porous emitters for use as electrospray thrusters in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) systems, as part of the DARPA TALOS grant. He received his Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering from Binghamton University, where he studied additive electrospray deposition of polymer coatings in electronics packaging and healthcare systems.
McKenna Davis Breddan is a postdoctoral associate at Cornell University in the ASTRALab. Her research interests include electric propulsion, scientific modeling, and applied machine learning. She received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, where her dissertation focused on simulating and analyzing electrospray plume evolution. Prior to her graduate studies, she received a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. She has been awarded the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, NASA Space Grant, Women in Aerospace Scholarship, and Goldwater Scholarship for her research.
Graduate Students
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Carl Geiger | Ph.D. Candidate
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Carl Geiger is a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His research interests include spacecraft propulsion, ion plume diagnostics, and mission design. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he studied Mathematics and Physics. Before coming to Cornell, he worked in the Vibro-Acoustic Systems and Controls Lab at North Carolina State University where he worked on the detection and evaluation of composite damage. His current research is focused on developing diagnostics for assessing and improving electrospray propulsion systems lifetime.
Rafid Bendimerad | Ph.D. Candidate
Rafid Bendimerad is a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His research interests include spacecraft propulsion, astronomy, and Scientific Machine Learning. He received his bachelor's degree from Ecole Nationale Polytechnique in Algeria, and his master's degree from Ecole Polytechnique (l'X) in France, where he majored in Mechanical Engineering. His current research is about molecular dynamics simulations of ionic liquids used in electrospray propulsion. (LinkedIn, Google Scholar).
Abu Taqui Md Tahsin | Ph.D. Candidate
Abu Taqui Md Tahsin is a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His research interests include Spacecraft Propulsion, Molecular Dynamics, and Astrodynamics. He received his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, in Bangladesh. His current research is focused on the Molecular Dynamics simulations of inter-propellant interactions in the electrospray plume. (LinkedIn, ResearchGate, Google Scholar)
Stefan Bell is a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His research interests include spacecraft propulsion and GNC. He received his bachelor's and master's of engineering degrees from Cornell University in mechanical and aerospace engineering respectively. Stefan has worked in a variety of research areas over the years, spanning compressible turbulence, millimeter wave RF, and spacecraft constellation communications. Stefan has worked for the Airforce Research Lab performing directed energy research and MIT Lincoln Lab performing systems architecture analysis. His current research is focused on the development and characterization of a Liquid Nanoparticle Ion Source (LNIS) for a Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) thruster system, as part of the DARPA TALOS grant.
Giuliana Hofheins | Ph.D. Candidate
Giuliana Hofheins is a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Her research interests include electric space propulsion, space mission design, and design optimization. She received her bachelor's degree from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN where she studied Physics with a minor in mathematics. Prior to Cornell, she worked on the Rhodes College CubeSat program (RHOK-SAT), a 1U CubeSat to characterize space hardiness of novel photovoltaic solar cells. Her current research is in electrospray propulsion systems and diagnostics.
Adler Smith | Ph.D. Candidate
Adler Smith is a Ph.D candidate within the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His research focuses on the development and application of high performance simulation methods for novel electric propulsion systems. He received his bachelors degree from Cornell University and while there was the flight software team lead on various satellite programs working with Dr. Mason Peck - including two that have been launched into orbit! Graduating from Cornell in 2018, he has spent four years in industry as an Advanced Methods & Software Engineer working on the design and optimization of both military and commercial aircraft engines at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Returning for an MEng and Doctorate degree, he currently works with the Air Force Research lab on scaling plasma dynamics simulations to sizes relevant to Electrospray Thrusters and Spacecraft-Plume interactions.
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Kaylin Borders | Ph.D. Student
Kaylin Borders is a Ph.D. student at Cornell Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Her research interests include thermal management for high-power electric propulsion thrusters and space nuclear propulsion. She received her bachelor's degree from San Diego State University where she conducted research in the computational guidance, navigation, and control lab under Dr. Ping Lu. Before coming to ASTRA lab she has worked on space-based solar power and wireless power beaming experiments at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, powered ascent guidance at NASA Johnson Space Center and thermoelectric device optimization for radioisotope thermoelectric generators at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Her current research is investigating and implementing cooling techniques for hall effect thrusters.
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Nicholas Laws | Post-baccalaureate Researcher
Nick Laws is a post-baccalaureate researcher at Cornell Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His research interests include molecular dynamics and ion chemistry. He received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Harvard College. Before joining ASTRALab, he conducted research in plasma-assisted combustion at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under Professor Carmen Guerra-Garcia and at NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory in high-power electric propulsion thrust stand design under Dr. Jay Polk. His current research focus is in molecular dynamics simulations of inter-propellant collisional interactions in the plume of electrospray thrusters.
Undergraduate Students
Jack Meyer | Undergraduate Student
Jack is an Undergraduate student at the Cornell Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His research interests include computational modeling and software development/integration. Jack was previously a member of Cornell Hyperloop on the Structures sub-team and has worked as a Test and Evaluation Intern for Northrop Grumman Aeronautics.
Anna Schaldenbrand | Undergraduate Student
Anna Schaldenbrand is junior studying mechanical engineering in Cornell's College of Engineering. Her research interests include electric propulsion, spacecraft design, and sustainable aerospace applications. Outside of AstraLab, she is a member Women of Aeronautics and Astronautics (WoAA) as well as the drivetrain and steering subteam in Cornell's Solar Boat undergraduate project team
Hannah Sherman| Undergraduate Student
Alumni
Ben Inbar
Christian Harris
