Riccardo Bevilacqua (principal investigator) is an Assistant Professor of the Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering Department, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Dr. Bevilacqua holds a M. Sc. in Aerospace Engineering (2002), and a Ph. D. in Applied Mathematics (2007), both earned at the University of Rome, "Sapienza", Italy. He was a US National Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellow from 2007 to 2010, before joining RPI. He also worked as project engineer in Mission Analysis at Grupo Mecanica del Vuelo, in Madrid, Spain, during 2003. Dr. Bevilacqua's research interests focus on Guidance, Navigation, and Control of multiple spacecraft systems and multiple robot systems. His work involves theoretical investigation, numerical simulations and hardware-in-the-loop laboratory experimentation. (updated April 2012)

 

 

 

David Pérez is a Ph.D. candidate in the Mechanical Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering Department at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York. He is the lab manager at the ADvanced Autonomous MUltiple Spacecraft Laboratory. David’s main research interests are guidance, navigation and control of autonomous Spacecraft and Robotics. He received his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering in 2008 from the St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota and his M.Eng in Mechanical Engineering in 2009 from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York.(updated April 2012)

 

 

 

Daniele Gallardo is a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY. After a Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Politecnico di Torino, Italy, Daniele continued his studies with a Master in Mechanical Engineering in the same university. Daniele spent one year of his Master at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a research assistant where he developed his thesis related to PEM fuel cells degradation.  The foci of Daniele’s PhD research are the study of flow-structure interactions and the development of novel mathematical models tailored for control purposes and based on reduced order modeling techniques to analyze the structures of the flow.  His current projects are related to vibration mitigation in wind turbines and modeling of the cross wind response of tall building.
Daniele is contributing to the AFOSR project during Fall 2012, investigating poly-topic systems theory that could support David’s research. (updated August 2012)

 

 

 

Grace Tilton graduated from Concord High School in 2009, top 10% of her class. Pursuing Dual B.S. in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. Expected graduation May 2014. Recipient of the 2011 RPI Founders Award. Plans to continue to graduate school for M.S. and PhD. Eventual goal to apply to NASA Astronaut Candidacy Program and to teach at the college level. (updated April 2012)

 

 

 

Colin Mason is currently pursuing a dual B.S. in Aerospace and Mechanical
Engineering at Rensselaer.  He is working on the CubeSat differential drag
sail, focusing on manufacturing.  He plans on continuing on to graduate
school for his M.S. and PhD.  He hopes to apply to the NASA Astronaut
Candidacy Program and eventually work in the commercial space industry.

(updated May 2012)

 

Chris Kraemer is currently a senior pursuing a dual B.S. in Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering with minors in Management & Technology and Psychology at RPI. He has been an undergraduate research assistant in the ADAMUS Lab since its inception in Fall of 2010. He just returned from a summer internship at Pratt and Whitney in test systems engineering. He plans to continue into test engineering in the aerospace industry after graduating in May. (updated October 2012)
 

 

 

Skyler Kleinschmidt is a senior studying aerospace engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His passion for origami has led him to perform research for Professor Bevilacqua in differential drag. In particular, his work involves designing and creating a drag sail for a CubeSat.  In June, Skyler will be interning with NASA at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He intends on pursuing higher education and applying to the NASA Astronaut Candidacy Program. (updated April 2012)