I am a senior in Aerospace Engineering here at Iowa State University, where I will be receiving my Bachelor of Science in May of 2012. During my time at Iowa State University I have involved myself in projects and activities including the Iowa State Space Society, NASA’s University Student Launch Initiative (USLI) and CanSat. Last year, as USLI team captain, I led the design and construction of a controlled descent vehicle. After graduation in May I hope to pursue a graduate degree and continue research in astrodynamics.
I am currently developing a FORTRAN 90 N-body propagator and mission design program for the design of future asteroid deflection missions. My hope is to develop a light, stable, adaptable, and accurate computational tool to assist in the research efforts of the Asteroid Deflection Research Center. This modeling tool may then be combined with vehicle dynamics, asteroid projection, nuclear impactor simulation, and debree tracking tools developed by other researchers at the Asteroid Deflection Research Center.