Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0150
Phone: 404.894.7783
Fax: 404.894.2760
HomeAbout SSDLStaffCurrent StudentsCurrent ProjectsHonors & AwardsAcademic ProgramProspective StudentsSSDL AlumniSSDL PapersDesign ToolsSponsorsCongratulations to SSDL graduate student Zarrin Chua, who sucessfully completed her Ph.D. proposal in May 2011.
Congratulations to SSDL graduate student Grant Wells, who completed his Ph.D. in May 2011 and graduated in the spring semester. His dissertation is entitled, "A Comparison of Multiple Techniques for the Reconstruction of Entry, Descent, and Landing Trajectories and Atmospheres."
Congratulations to SSDL graduate student Greg Dubos, who completed his Ph.D. in March 2011 and graduated in the spring semester. His dissertation is entitled, "Stochastic Modeling of Responsiveness, Schedule Risk and Obsolescence of Space Systems and Implications for Design Choices."
Congratulations to SSDL graduate student Sarah McNeese, who completed her M.S. in May 2011 and graduated in the spring semester.
Congratulations to SSDL graduate student Chris Tanner, who sucessfully completed his Ph.D. proposal in the spring semester.
Congratulations to SSDL graduate student Som Dutta, who received the Sam Nunn Security Fellowship.
Congratulations to SSDL graduate student Zach Putnam, who passed the Ph.D. qualifying exams in April 2011.
The AIAA honored Professor Braun with the Von Karman Lectureship in Astronautics on January 6, 2011. The award is given annually to someone who has performed notably and distinguished themselves technically in the field of astronautics. Braun was recognized for significantly advancing the understanding of the challenge of Mars entry, descent, and landing, and for the development of systems concepts and technologies enabling Martian exploration programs.
Congratulations to SSDL graduate student Brandon Smith, who completed his M.S. in December 2010 and graduated in the fall semester.
Congratulations to SSDL graduate student Gregory Lantoine, who completed his Ph.D. in December 2010 and graduated in the fall semester. His dissertation is entitled, "A Methodology for Robust Optimization of Low-Thrust Trajectories in Multi-Body Environments."
Congratulations to SSDL graduate students Joy Brathwaite, Michael Grant, Ashley Korzun, Jarret Lafleur, and Richard Otero, who sucessfully completed their Ph.D. proposals in the fall semester.
SSDL graduate student Mike Grant and his co-authors were awarded the Best Atmospheric Flight Mechanics paper at the 2010 AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference (August 2010 in Toronto, Canada). His paper, AIAA 2010-7810, is entitled, "Rapid Entry Corridor Trajectory Optimization for Conceptual Design," and was conducted in collaboration with personnel at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory. This is the fourth consecutive year that an SSDL student has won an AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics best paper award and the third such award for Mike.
In January 2011, Professor Braun was awarded the Von Karman Lectureship in Astronautics for advancing the understanding of the challenge of Mars entry, descent, and landing, and for the development of systems concepts and technologies enabling Martian exploration programs.
In September 2010, SSDL students met with NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden (center and far right). During his visit, General Bolden spoke with the students regarding NASA's plan for robotic and human exploration, discussed the contributions young people could make to our future in space, and answered questions.
SSDL graduate students Ashley Korzun (pictured) and Chris Cordell have been supporting the testing of supersonic retropropulsion in the NASA Langley Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel.