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 | Visiting Scientist
Andrew van Paridon is a visiting scientist in the Cornell Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His research includes spacecraft propulsion, thermal modelling, and system optimization. Dr Van Paridon 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. His postdoctoral work at the Oxford Thermofluids Institute continued this research, expanding it develop a novel experimental architectures for pressurized, temperature controlled, rotating facilities.(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.
Graduate Students
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Carl Geiger | Ph.D. Student
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. Student
Rafid Bendimerad is a Ph.D. student 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. Student
Abu Taqui Md Tahsin is a Ph.D. student 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. student 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. Before ASTRAlab, Stefan has worked on the characterization of compressible turbulence in the Bewley Applied Turbulence lab, the polyhedral rover prototype in the Space Systems Design Studio, and led the 15 pound robot team in Combat Robotics at Cornell. In the summer of 2022, he worked at Turion Space Corp. on the development of a gridded ion thruster. His current research is focused on the development of diagnostic techniques for the detection and quantificatication of trace ion deposition on surfaces.
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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.
Audrey Sackey | Undergraduate Student
I am a senior studying Electrical and Computer Engineering. My research interests include satellites, space robotics and spacecraft propulsion systems. I am the e-systems team lead for the Cornell Autoboat project team and after graduation, will work as an FPGA circuit design engineer for the space systems division at lockheed martin.
Adiba Sajed | Undergraduate Student
Adiba is a second-year undergraduate student at the Cornell Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Her research interests include spacecraft design and space exploration. Prior to joining the lab, she worked at a Technology startup, and a nonprofit organization promoting STEM research in third-world countries
Aastha Bagree | Undergraduate Student
Aastha Bagree is an undergraduate sophomore studying Physics and Mathematics at the College of Arts&Sciences. Her research interests include exoplanet exploration, star formation and dynamics, and rocket propulsion systems. She is also part of the project team CU GeoData. She is also part of Cornell’s Indian Classical Dance Team.
Adam Yonas | Undergraduate Student
Adam is a Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Junior at Cornell University. His research interests include spacecraft propulsion and design along with space exploration. After his undergraduate studies, he is going to receive his master's in aerospace engineering. Outside ASTRA lab, he is part of Mars Rover, and the Alpha CubeSat team within Cornell's Space System's Design Studio.
Alumni
Ben Inbar
Christian Harris
Giuliana Hofheins | Ph.D. Student
Giuliana Hofheins is a Ph.D. student 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 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.
Luke D'Cruz | Ph.D. Student
Luke D'Cruz is a Ph.D. student at Cornell Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and a recipient of the Department of Defense Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) fellowship. His research interests include spacecraft propulsion, nanofabrication, and space mission design. He received his bachelor's degree and master's degree from Columbia University, where he studied mechanical engineering with a minor in computer science. At Columbia, Luke worked in the Hone Lab, where his research focused on the material characterization of graphene. He also led the development of Columbia's first suborbital payload that launched on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket in 2021. Luke's current research is focused on the fabrication and testing of ceramic electrospray emitters. (Linkedin)