Celebrating 50 Years of Moon Landing: 1969-2019
People
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Dr. Rohan SoodAssistant Professor - Lab Director
Rohan Sood was born in Shimla, a small town in the cradle of the Himalayas. He graduated from Bishop Cotton School, Shimla in March 2004. Rohan pursued his dream and love for space exploration and graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Buffalo with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering. Rohan participated in international programs at Chiang Mai University, Thailand, INSA/ENSAE/ENAC in Toulouse, France and interned at Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile (ENAC).
Rohan moved to Purdue University in the fall of 2009 and joined Professor Kathleen C. Howell’s Multi-body Dynamics Research Group. Rohan received his Master of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2012. The following year, he continued his higher education and entered the doctoral program at Purdue University. In 2014, Rohan joined the GRAIL science team and collaborated with Professor Henry J. Melosh while continuing work in astrodynamics and space applications. Upon receiving his Ph.D. in December of 2016, he joined the faculty of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Dr. Sood's research has emerged as a combination of two fields, applying engineering tools to study advanced concepts within multi-body dynamical systems and investigating scientific data to explore celestial bodies. Dr. Sood is also working with 3-D and Virtual Reality (VR) tools to enhance spacecraft trajectory design capabilities, understanding, and student classroom experience. |
Graduate Students
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Brennan Blumenthal
PhD Student
Brennan Blumenthal is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics department at The University of Alabama. Brennan received a Bachelors of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware in 2012. In 2013, he began working at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia as part of the Configuration Aerodynamics Branch, where he conducted research in the fields of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), wind-tunnel testing and applied aerodynamics for aircraft. In 2016, he graduated from Penn State University with a Masters in Aerospace Engineering. After graduating, Brennan made the switch from the world of aerodynamics to astrodynamics and was offered a position in the Trajectory Operations and Analysis Branch at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. He currently works full-time performing various orbital trajectory and operations analyses for NASA’s Orion and Boeing’s Starliner programs, and is training to be a flight controller in mission control. Brennan is currently interested in space mission design, space systems and furthering the abilities of human space exploration.
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Jake ElkinsMS Student
Jake Elkins is a first year M.S. student in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics and also enrolled in the MBA program at The University of Alabama. He completed his undergraduate education in Physics and Mathematics, and currently works as a data science and systems engineering intern at Lockheed Martin. He has dreamed of contributing to the field of spaceflight since he was little, when his parents bought him a telescope when he was five years old. He is currently exploring the applications and integration of artificial intelligence in spaceflight, in particular, spacecraft attitude dynamics. His interests include machine learning, data science, thermodynamics, propulsion, systems engineering, and engineering management.
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William LedbetterPhD Student
William Ledbetter is in his third year of PhD study after receiving a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from The University of Alabama, summa cum laude. He has been interested in space for as long as he can remember, and learned how to code by reading the TI-83 Plus manual. As the capstone of his senior year he participated in design projects performing mission architecture analysis for proposed missions to Mars. William is currently exploring autonomous mission design for swarm exploration of asteroids, including landing and rendezvous. He is also investigating embedded systems for rapid, in-situ multi-agent optimal control. William received the 2017-2018 Graduate Council Fellowship and was named the 2019 Aerospace Engineering graduate student of the year at UA by the Engineering Council of Birmingham. He was recently selected as the 2019-2020 Alabama Space Grant Consortium Fellow.
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James PezentPhD Student
James Pezent is a first-year PhD student at The University of Alabama. He graduated from The University of Alabama in Spring 2019 with a degree in Aerospace Engineering. As an undergraduate, James worked in the ASRL conducting research on trajectory design, optimization, and virtual reality. During the course of his undergraduate career, he published two conference papers and a journal paper on solar sail trajectory design. James has interned as a trajectory designer in the EV/42 Guidance Navigation and Mission Analysis branch at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and as mechanical engineer at the Phifer Wire Corporation. He was awarded the 2018 and 2019 Randall Outstanding Undergraduate Research awards as well as the 2019 UA College of Engineering Student of the Year award. In the Spring of 2019, James was selected for both The University of Alabama's prestigious Francko Fellowship as well as the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program.
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Ari RubinsztejnPhD Student
Ari Rubinsztejn is a second-year PhD student who received his undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering from the University at Buffalo (SUNY). While at Buffalo, he acted as the Science lead for GLADOS, a space debris detecting CubeSat set for a hand-off to the AFRL in 2019. He has interned at NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Draper Labs. During his undergrad, he was a member of the University at Buffalo Nanosatellite Lab and Controls Dynamics and Estimation Lab under Dr. Crassidis and Dr. Singh, respectively. Some hobbies of his are high power rocketry, backpacking (longest single trip 130 miles, 9 days), and photography. His research interests are deep space trajectories, nonlinear dynamics, and numerical methods. Ari is currently interning at NASA JPL exploring applications of Artificial Intelligence to Mars Sample Return trajectory analysis.
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Luke SchoenwetterMS Student
Luke Schoenwetter is in his fourth year of undergraduate study in the Aerospace Engineering and
Mechanics program, and is participating in the Accelerated Masters Program. His past research has involved multi-body dynamics and numerical methods. Luke interned as a mission analyst/software developer with a.i. solutions during the summer of 2019. He is currently exploring satellite de-orbiting techniques and three body trajectories. Areas of interest include trajectory design, relative motion, and scientific computing. |
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Jared Sikes
PhD Student
Jared Sikes is a first year PhD student at The University of Alabama. He began working with Dr. Sood as a sophomore in multi-body dynamical systems. He is currently investigating resonant orbits and cost-effective transfer trajectories. His interests also include virtual reality and 3-D visualization. Jared was recently awarded a National Alumni Association Fellowship for the 2019-2020 academic year.
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Russell SolomonMS Student
Russell Solomon is a Distance Learning M.S. student in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics at The University of Alabama. He graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Physics from Louisiana State University where he focused on Astrophysics. He worked as a Mechanical Engineer before enrolling in the M.S. program at The University of Alabama. Russell has previously worked on Systems Engineering and Integration for the ISS Program in Houston, Texas. Beginning June 2019, Russell started working for the U.S. Navy in the field of satellite tracking. His areas of interest include Orbital Mechanics, Trajectory Design and GN&C.
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Andrew SweetenMS Student
Andrew Sweeten is a second-year Distance Learning M.S. student in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics at The University of Alabama. Andrew completed his Bachelors of Science in Aerospace Engineering from San Diego State University in 2017. He currently works full-time as an Orbital Analyst for Protected MILSATCOM at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, CO. He is beginning to pursue research in order to gain relevant knowledge both educationally and professionally. His tentative research interests include trajectory design, space systems, and relative motion of spacecraft.
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