Katherine C
- Research Program Mentor
MS at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Expertise
Aerospace Engineering, Rocket Science, Systems Engineering, Modeling and Simulation, Sociotechnical Systems, Being a Woman in STEM
Bio
I am an aerospace engineer and recently graduated with my master's degree from MIT in the Engineering Systems Lab. As a master's student, I worked on modeling and simulating large complex aerospace systems. Originally from Urbana, IL, I graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with my bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering in 2019. Throughout my education, I have also interned at companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, NASA JPL, and The Aerospace Corporation. In 2017, I became part of the inaugural class of Brooke Owens Fellows and am passionate about advancing gender diversity in STEM. I get excited about deep space exploration, human spaceflight, and complex problems that intersect technology and society. Outside of classes and research, I enjoy staying active! I like to play tennis, go hiking, ski, and rock climb. I've also developed a deep appreciation for long walks, cooking, and reading. I also enjoy practicing instruments like flute, violin, and guitar and listen to lots of music and podcasts.Project ideas
Optimization study of aerospace vehicle performance
Aerospace vehicles, like aircraft, spacecraft, and rockets, are some of the most complex systems to model. Their performance can be analyzed across dimensions such as range, speed, capacity, power utilization, fuel efficiency, etc. In this project, you will develop a generic model of an aerospace vehicle which follows basic laws of physics and aerodynamics. A single dimension of performance will be chosen and optimized across the set of decision variables. Based on the complexity of the model, a heuristic optimization study may also be conducted by using a simulated annealing algorithm or genetic algorithm. In this project, you will learn about the challenges of modeling aerospace systems, the simplifications that are required in modeling, as well as constraints in setting up different optimization problems.
Sociotechnical systems modeling and an overview of human decision-making
Sociotechnical systems lie at the intersection of technology and society, and can be very challenging to model given their scale and complexity. In this project, you will develop a foundation for examples of sociotechnical systems and what makes them unique, as well as develop skills on how to best analyze these complex systems. You will choose a sociotechnical system to model and create a first-order simulation to evaluate the performance of that system. This simulation can be based in physics, or a discrete simulation technique can be used (like System Dynamics or Agent-Based Modeling), which may be developed in a software like AnyLogic. In addition to diving into a system of your interest, you will develop a basic vocabulary for discussing human decision-making in simulation.