Robyn Woollands

Robyn Woollands
Robyn Woollands
Assistant Professor

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Education

  • BS Physics, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2006
  • MS Astronomy, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2008
  • Graduate Certificate Antarctic Studies, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2008
  • MS Aerospace Engineering, University of Minnesota, 2010
  • PhD Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University, 2016

Academic Positions

  • Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M, 2017
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University, 2017-2020
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2021-present (100%)

Other Professional Employment

  • Junior Scientist, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Nova Neutrino Detector, University of Minnesota, 2011-2012
  • Mission Design Engineer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 2017-2020; JPL Affiliate (2021-present)

Research Interests

  • Optimization
  • Astrodynamics
  • Space Mission Design
  • Picard-Chebyshev Methods
  • High-fidelity Propagation
  • Space Domain Awareness

Research Areas

Selected Articles in Journals

Honors

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Young Investigator Career Award (2024)
  • Distinguished Graduate Student Doctoral Award, Texas A&M University (2017)
  • John V. Breakwell Student Paper Award, AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference (2015)
  • Outstanding Achievement in Guidance, Navigation and Control, Student Paper Award, AAS Guidance, Navigation & Control Conference (2014)

Recent Courses Taught

  • AE 402 - Orbital Mechanics
  • AE 403 - Spacecraft Attitude Control
  • AE 502 - Advanced Orbital Mechanics
  • AE 508 - Optimal Space Trajectories