Colin Mussman

Colin was born in Manhattan, KS in 1994, and raised in Baltimore, MD. In 2016 he graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering which was focused on antenna design and satellite communications. His undergraduate coursework was supplemented by his roles in the design of the Virginia Tech Ground Station as an undergraduate researcher with the Hume Center for National Security and Technology, where he developed the initial tracking algorithm for the ground station’s antennas as well as a satellite identification method using inverse-Doppler matching. He spent the summer of 2015 as an undergraduate researcher at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, under the guidance of Dana Whitlow, where he designed a UHF ground station for the observatory, as well as calibrated an HF radar reflector that was designed by Penn State researchers. After graduating, Colin spent 2017 to 2019 at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory as an Electronics Engineer in the Advanced Space Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Branch. There, he developed an RF record-playback system for use in studies of interference to satellite-based navigation. He also developed multiple tools to facilitate the analysis of navigation data. Colin joined CEARL in 2019 and is pursuing his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering with a focus in Electromagnetics under the direction of Dr. Douglas Werner.

His research interests have been influenced by his past work, and include antenna design, metamaterials, satellite communications, radar, and navigation systems. Outside of research, Colin enjoys spending time with his wife, Aubree, and two cats, exploring the hiking trails around Mt. Nittany, and practicing as an avid armchair historian.