Graduate Research Fellowship Past Awardees

Past Awardees

VTSGC GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS 2023-2024
Student	Degree Program	Department	Project Title
Kameron Bielawski	PhD	Computer Science	Hierarchically Structured Swarms for Exploration
Vivia Fastiggi	PhD	Cellular, Molecular, & Biomedical Sciences	Targeting Broncial Smooth Muscle Hyperreactivity through Therapeutic Ketosis
Jacob Friz-Trillo	MS	Electrical & Biomedical Engineering	Decentralized Heterogeneous Multi-Robot Systems for Collaborative SLAM
Sophie Gessman	MS	Mechanical Engineering	Effects of Humidity, Temperature, and Materials on Dust Mitigation in Space Habitats
Benjamin Howe	PhD	Physics	Metal-Halide Perovskite Response to Radiation and Temperature Cycling
Jeremy Quail	PhD	Mathematics	Graph Theoretic Tools for Space Networks
Alaina Roberts	PhD	Civil & Environmental Engineering	Real-time Fatigue Localization in Metallic Structures for Improving Structural Safety
Marit Scott	MS	Electrical & Biomedical Engineering	Quantitative MRI measures of tibiofemoral cartilage strain and composition to inform joint degeneration countermeasures in microgravity

VTSGC GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS 2022-2023
Student	Degree Program	Department	Project Title
Jack Boynton		Computer Science	Rectification and Tie-Point Matching between Ground Photo Images and Satellite Images
William Harvey	MS	Mechanical Engineering	The Overpressurization and Surface Contamination of On-Demand Pressure Systems
Jonathan Kerivan	MS	Mechanical Engineering	Dynamic Modeling, Fault Detection, and Fault Identification of Resistojet Thrusters
Peyton Lienhart	MS	Civil & Environmental Engineering	Methane consumption and nitrous oxide production by microbial communities in landfill-intermediate cover soils
Hunter Rehm	PhD	Mathematics & Statistics	Applications of Centrality Measures
Matthew Reuter
Alaina Roberts	PhD	Civil & Environmental Engineering	Improving Structural Safety with Real-time Metallic Fatigue Monitoring & Prediction

VTSGC GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS 2020-2021
Student	Degree Program	Department	Project Title
Steven Dannenberg	PhD	Chemistry	Phosphorous-Containing Small Molecules and Materials for Aerospace Systems
Samantha Fox	PhD	Electrical & Biomedical Engineering	The Skywalker: A New Hope for Reducing Muscle Atrophy in Astronauts
Caitlin Grasso	MS	Computer Science	Xenobots in Space
Matthew Reuter	PhD	Chemistry	Heterdehydrocoupling as a Route for Synthesizing Main-Group Silicon-Element Bonds
Alaina Roberts	PhD	Civil & Environmental Engineering	Structural Fatigue Monitoring, Modeling and Prediction
Leslie Sepaniac	PhD	Molecular Physiology & Biophysics	Micronucleus envelope rupture, and impact to genomic stability
Scott Vanson	PhD	Microbiology & Molecular Genetics	Structural Investigation of Polymerase θ Helicase-like Domain
Robert Worley, II	PhD	Civil & Environmental Engineering	Investigation into microbial alteration of extraterrestrial regolith simulants for cementation and induced cohesive in support of NASA's in-situ resource utilization efforts

VTSGC GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS 2019-2020
Student	Degree Program	Department	Project Title
Steven Dannenberg	MS	Chemistry	Catalytic Synthesis of Phosphorous Containing Small Molecule, Polymeric and Pre-Ceramic Materials for use in Aerospace Systems
Reed Gurchiek	PhD	Mechanical Engineering	Hybrid machine learning and physics-based estimation of human joint mechanics for remote monitoring
Blake Hewgill	MS	Electrical & Biomedical Engineering	Wearable Integrated Health Monitoring
Timothy Laracy	MS	Electrical & Biomedical Engineering	Design of a Compact Interrogation System for Frequency Doubling Reflectennas
Samuel Ligon	MS	Mechanical Engineering	Cavitating Venturi for Passive Flow Control in Micropropulsion Systems
Daniel Orfeo	PhD	Mechanical Engineering	Quantum OAM-Enhanced Radar and Microwave Communications
Joshua Powers	PhD	Computer Science	Advanced exploration of extraterrestrial objects through shape-changing robots
Drue Seksinsky	MS	Mechanical Engineering	Modeling Heat Transfer and Solidification in Melted Volcanic Ash Particle Collisions with Gas Turbine Engine Surfaces
Leslie Sepaniac	PhD	Molecular Physiology & Biophysics	Determining how micronuclei impact genomic stability
Robert Worley, II	PhD	Civil & Environmental Engineering	Investigation into hydrated, frozen and cemented soils in support of NASA’s in-situ resource utilization efforts

VTSGC GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS 2018-2019
Student	Degree Program	Department	Project Title
Adele Conde	MS	Geology	Apatite Dissolution at the Nanoscale
Thomas Heffernan	MS	Mechanical Engineering	Thermal Activation of CBA-Based CubeSat Propellants Usinf RF Heating of Embedded Metallic Nano-Particles
David Hinckley	PhD	Mechanical Engineering	Multi-Objective Trajectory Optimization for Small-Body Mapping Problem
Timothy Olszanski	MS	Physics	Investigating the Dynamics of Polar-cap Heating and Pair Plasma Generation in Pulsar B0823+26 Using NASA's NICER X-ray Observatory and Arecibo Observatory
Daniel Orfeo	PhD	Mechanical Engineering	Orbital Angular Momentum of Radio Waves for Microwave Remote Sensing
Jason Pearl	PhD	Mechanical Engineering	Higher Order Numerical Schemes for Simulation of Irregular Fields
Leslie Sepaniac	PhD	Molecular Physiology & Biophysics	Mechanisms of Micronuclear Rupture
Robert Worley, II	MS	Civil & Environmental	Investigation into hydrated, frozen and cemented soils in support of NASA's in-situ resource utilization efforts

VTSGC GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS 2017-2018
Student	Degree Program	Department	Project Title
Brandon Ackley	PhD	Chemistry	Polymer Precursors for Ceramics in 3-D Printing
Brittany Carroll	PhD	Cellular, Molecular & Biomedical Sciences	A structural look at an enzyme that protects DNA from ionizing radiation damage
Malayika Cincotta	MS	Geology	Soil Aggregates: What role do they play in the generation of dissolved organic carbon?
Robert Farrell	MS	Mechanical Engineering	Traction and sinkage on rotating wheelson Martian soil simulant
David Hinckley	PhD	Mechanical Engineering	Satellite Formation Optimization for Imaging and Sensing Applications about Small Celestial Bodies
Allison Hrycik	PhD	Biology	Combining satellite and in situ measurements to understand winter severity andsummer algal blooms
Jimmy Jamison	MS	Electrical Engineering	Measurement, modeling and mitigation of wireless channels within and about a spacecraft
Jason Pearl	PhD	Mechanical Engineering	Hybrid gravity models for asteroids with heterogeneous density distributions
Leslie Sepaniac	PhD	Molecular Physiology & Biophysics	Different Mechanisms of Micronucleus Formation and Impact to Genomic Stability

VTSGC GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS 2016-2017
Student	Degree Program	Department	Project Title
Cory Arcovitch	MS	Mechanical Engineering	Thermoelectric Performance of Stretchable Nanowire-based Composite Materials
Brittany L. Carroll	PhD	Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, College of Medine	A Structural Look at an Enzyme that Protects DNA from ionizing Radiation Damage
Taylor Ducharme	MS	Mechanical Engineering	Bubble Nucleation and Growth Behaviors in an Outer Space Environment
Christopher Farnsworth	MS	Computer Software Engineering	Lunar IceCube Flight Software
David Hinckley	PhD	Mechanical Engineering	Optimization Strategy Development for the Irregular Small Body Touring Problem
Andrew Lombardo	PhD	Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, College of Medine	Physical Challenges to Molecular Motor Cargo Transport
Ada Morse	PhD	Mathematics & Statistics	Graph-Theoretical Design Strategies for Self-Assembly
Laura Obregon	PhD	Civil Engineering	"Generating and measuring prescribed level of cohesion in soil simulants in support of NASA’s terramechanics research "
Jason Pearl	PhD	Mechanical Engineering	Transient Analysis of the Conjugate Heat Transfer in Supersonic Micronozzles with Aerospike Geometrics for Small Satellite Propulsion and Control
Andrew Reagan	PhD	Mathematics & Statistics	Quantifying Climate Change Impacts on Temperature Extremes
Stephanie Wood	MS	Mechanical Engineering	Gravitational Modeling of Near-Earth Contact Binaries