Why did you choose to attend the University of Illinois?

In-state tuition for one of the best ranked aerospace engineering programs in the country… it was a no-brainer!

Were you active in any extracurricular groups on campus? How did those experiences influence your career path?

One of my favorite things about UIUC, aside from the academics, is the abundance and caliber of the student organizations. I joined several extracurriculars freshman year, but by far the most impactful for me was the Illinois Space Society. I made lifelong friends, visited aerospace hubs across the country, began building my professional network, and gained valuable leadership and teamwork experience.

My senior year I was director of the club when we proudly launched our first technical rocket project, road-tripped for NASA symposiums and aerospace company tours, and hosted the national conference for the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space.

 It’s inspiring to see all the ways ISS is thriving these days, at a scale 10x what it was a decade ago!

How have your career goals changed over the years?

When I was 16, I set a guidepost that has helped me navigate many career decisions: to in some way contribute to expanding the collective scientific understanding of our universe, solar system, and origins. I feel so fortunate to have achieved this in many ways during the first decade of my career, and I continue to evaluate new opportunities against this guidepost.

What I love about working in planetary exploration is not only the satisfaction from helping to answer the questions we venture out seeking, but also the surprises and discoveries that lead to new questions, inspiring further scientific exploration

You went on a study abroad program in 2009, right? Looking back, what was significant?

I studied abroad in the UK during the spring semester of my sophomore year and thoroughly enjoyed the adventure. I’m so appreciative to the college for incentivizing students to plan for study abroad as early as the start of freshman year, as it allowed me to make it work with my academic requirements. Living and learning in another country, making friends from all over the world, and traveling independently made for a truly experiential, fun semester.

What's something you learned at Illinois that you continue to use?

I regularly apply knowledge gained from orbital mechanics, linear algebra, differential equations, and observational astronomy – to name a few. I also learned the value of camaraderie within my AE study groups and have fostered this culture while building my optical navigation team at KinetX. 

What's the coolest thing you've done since graduating?

Hard to choose between being at the driver’s seat for the first ever reconnaissance of the Pluto system or collecting a sample of primitive asteroid material and witnessing it returning to Earth!

 A couple of recent cool things: 

I had a full-circle moment this year. The Illinois Space Society has a long and storied history attending the American Astronautical Society’s Goddard Space Science Symposium and I attended several times while at UIUC. This past spring, I spoke on a panel at the symposium to an audience of UIUC students sitting front and center, asking great questions among an auditorium of distinguished colleagues and industry leaders. It was a proud Illini moment.

I recently had an opportunity to see the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample unveiling as well as tour the meteorite collection in the depths of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. It was amazing to see Bennu regolith up close and to hold some special astromaterials, including meteorites from the moon and Mars!

What do you do in your current position?

As the Optical Navigation Lead at KinetX, I manage a team of engineers that enable several robotic space exploration missions and technology development projects. At the highest level, we extract measurements from images taken by spacecraft instruments to aid in the navigation and scientific mission objectives. To achieve this, we develop in-house software and techniques for image processing and modeling, perform precise calibrations and characterizations, and conduct many analyses to predict performance, sensitivities, and image quality.

In my role as Deputy Navigation Chief on NASA’s Lucy mission, I help lead the navigation team as well as interface with the science and operations teams - many of whom are colleagues and mentors from my first mission, New Horizons. As OSIRIS-APEX begins ramping up, I will be helping develop the mission concept of operations for navigation and early characterization of asteroid Apophis when the spacecraft arrives in 2029. I also support programs developing autonomous navigation flight software, as KinetX continues to push the frontiers of interplanetary spaceflight. Lastly, I actively support civil and commercial business development to expand KinetX' impact on meaningful global and space-based challenges.

What is a typical day like?

Working in a matrix organization with leadership roles on missions and managing a team calls for a lot of meetings, switching gears, and being as efficient as possible. I’m grateful to work with a talented, fun, supportive team, and support some awesome customers across the industry.

You were featured in the NOVA documentary "Touching the Asteroid" which aired in 2021. Can you describe that experience?

I had an awesome experience working with the producer of the show to help highlight the unique, challenging, and exciting aspects of the OSIRIS-REx mission. I thought the show really succeeded in showing how the team triumphed over the many challenges we faced over the course of the mission, and how dedication, diligence, and teamwork enabled mission success every step of the way. Watch "Touching the Asteroid."

What's a project you particularly enjoyed working on?

OSIRIS-REx is very near to my heart, as I’ve worked as the optical navigation lead since the mission was first selected by NASA in 2011. From mission development, through proximity operations and ultimately sample collection, I’ve learned and grown so much and worked alongside some amazing colleagues and mentors.

I was also fortunate to be involved in the scientific discovery and characterization of Bennu’s active asteroid phenomenon, which was particularly rewarding because scientific exploration has always been the driving guidepost in my educational and professional trajectory.

In your role as navigator and science co-investigator on OSIRIS-APophis EXplorer or OSIRIS-APEX what will you be doing?

Apophis is going to present new challenges for the mission because the asteroid is going to be significantly affected by the Earth’s gravity when it flies by at one tenth the lunar distance just a few weeks before rendezvous with OSIRIS-APEX. During this close encounter with Earth, the asteroid’s orbit and spin state will be torqued, and there’s a possibility that mass could be shed from the surface.

My role as the astrometry lead on the science team involves searching for evidence of mass shedding and gleaning early insights into the rotation state when the asteroid is still an unresolved point source in the images.

My role on the navigation team will involve characterizing Apophis’ tumbling (non-principal axis) spin state and subsequently modeling the shape and building 3D maps of the surface for navigation. Once the spacecraft gets into orbit, I will lead a science campaign to search for particle ejections off the surface of Apophis, a phenomenon we discovered on active-asteroid Bennu.

What is a specific challenge you face and how do you handle it?

The biggest challenge I face is one that is present daily: communication. In my opinion, communication is the essential element required to achieve anything - no matter how challenging the problem or complex the solution. It’s something I focus a lot of energy on as a leader, and it pays dividends.

What is the biggest adjustment you've had to make?

I took on a part-time master’s program about two years after I started working at KinetX. It was a big adjustment to daily life, but it was well worth it to fill in specific knowledge gaps for my job and career.