about

I am a master's student at Georgia Tech studying Aerospace Engineering, specializing in Space Systems. I am inspired by the stars and human exploration of the unknown, and my dream is to design and build spacecraft to explore our solar system and the greater universe.

I was born and raised in the greater Seattle area, but I've lived in a variety of places for work and school, including Austin, Los Angeles, central New Jersey, and now Atlanta!

research experience

I am currently a graduate researcher in Dr. Glenn Lightsey's research group in the Space Systems Design Lab. I am working on integration and test for the VISORS mission, to be launched in 2025. I am supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program and the AAUW Selected Professions Fellowship.

During my undergraduate senior year, I conducted independent research in the TigerSats Lab at Princeton. I designed and built a prototype of a mission-agnostic, open-source PocketQube platform. This prototype will serve as a satellite bus for future PocketQubes in TigerSats and other universities. During Spring 2023, I designed, built, and tested a CubeSat-scale shaker table, which is capable of performing sine-vibration testing for small systems (up to 2 kg).

During Fall 2022, I was an undergraduate researcher at the Intelligent Robot Motion Lab. I worked on a project to demonstrate absolute depth estimation capabilities using monocular cameras for small FPV drones. I have also conducted research at the Space Physics Lab related to ion beam calibration testing.

work experience

During Summer 2024, I interned on the Starlink Power Systems Hardware team at SpaceX. I primarily focused on several test campaigns for the solar array team, including light-induced degradation testing, proton radiation testing, and validation of the solar array power model. I also had the opportunity to design several brackets for the flight vehicle.

During Summer 2023, I interned on the spacecraft vehicle design team at Rocket Lab as part of the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program. At Rocket Lab, I designed a volume and mass simulator for a large commmunications satellite, and designed a variety of smaller parts for ground testing.

During Summer 2022, I was a spacecraft avionics intern at Firefly Aerospace. I worked on projects related to the Blue Ghost lunar lander including test campaigns, qualification testing software, and PCB design and manufacturing.

I've also held a variety of teaching and tutoring roles, including at the Art of Problem Solving, PrepNorthwest, Berkshire Test Prep, and as a private tutor.

for fun!

I co-led Princeton Rocketry Club's Spaceport America Cup team in 2022-23. We competed in the 30K COTS division at the 2023 competition in Las Cruces, NM, and successfully launched our rocket to a predicted altitude of 32,000 ft. Unfortunately, due to a GPS malfunction, we were unable to recover the rocket.

Other than aerospace activities, I also enjoy cooking for friends, hiking in the PNW, playing badminton, and playing Stardew Valley!

contact

Email me at cdo32@gatech.edu :)