During my second summer interning with the JPL G&C section, I worked with my mentor Dr. Shawn Johnson to investigate the fault protection coverage of the guidance navigation and control subsystem of the Europa Clipper spacecraft. This was accomplished through injecting realistic gyroscopic faults during simulation of various spacecraft maneuvers that will occur throughout the mission. I subsequently drafted documentation and explanations for the test results and presented our analysis findings to the fault protection (FP) team. The product of this internship was well-received by the FP engineers involved.

During my first summer interning with JPL, I worked with my mentor Dr. Po-Ting Chen to derive error covariance equations for the map matching component of a LiDAR based Terrain Relative Navigation concept. To determine the accuracy of the error model we implemented the error equations within a Monte Carlo Simulation framework in MATLAB using a sample Digital Elevation Map (DEM) of the moon as reference.

As the Academic Development Co-chair of the Society of Women Engineers I coordinated the SWE mentorship program and planned a large event called Research Networking Night (see accomplishments) along with other smaller events such as Professor Talks and Resume Workshops. This role involved considerable communication with faculty and graduate students in order to provide beneficial and interactive academic resources for students.

As a member of the Electrical Engineering team I contributed to the design, assembly, testing and documentation process for the power plant and peripheral circuitry of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.

As an Electrical Assembly Manufacturing Engineering Intern at General Atomics, I had the opportunity to observe and evaluate the manufacturing and testing processes involved in the low volume production of printed wiring assembly (PWA) boards. My final project involved following a particular board through the production process and communicating with the technicians, operators and engineers involved with its assembly in order to discover sources of inefficiency. I then presented solutions that could be implemented to improve flaws in the process that had caused low realization. Other responsibilities included revising Product Test Procedures to account for issues that technicians had found, reviewing PWA schematics and observing test procedure execution, maintaining and organizing an inventory of all non-conforming materials and conducting automated testing of non-conforming PWAs.

As a member of these teams I was challenged each day to build my skills in discipline, communication, time management, teamwork and conflict resolution. Since I spent most of my time dealing with one injury or another I have learned a lot about what it means to persevere through the discouragement and challenges that one inevitably faces on the path toward success.