Awarded by the Aerospace Engineering satellite laser communications research group, I collaborated with a team of 8 students over a 3-month period to design and develop a highly constrained, flight-ready laser communications terminal.
Rapid Prototyping: Pioneered the project's first attempt at SLA printing a custom lens with a specific focal length for integration and testing within the receiving terminal.
System Constraints: Engineered the entire terminal design to fit strictly within a 1U volume, ensuring theoretical viability for deployment on upcoming Delfi missions.
Control Systems Engineering: Developed and implemented a closed-loop PID control system bridging a photodiode sensing element with a fine steering mirror to maintain precise mechanism control and link accuracy.
As part of the Space Engineering Practical, I co-developed and tested a free-space optical communication link to investigate the impact of pointing errors on the Bit Error Rate (BER). The project included:
Hardware Integration: Constructed transmitting and receiving terminals directly on optical breadboards. The setup integrated off-the-shelf optical components and an Avalanche Photodiode , requiring precise manual alignment to achieve a confident Gaussian beam spread across the detector.
Jitter Simulation: Implemented and actively controlled a Fast Steering Mirror at the transmitter to induce a defined jitter environment. This allowed for testing of how pointing inaccuracies affect the laser signal's stability.
Signal Processing & Analysis: Evaluated the system's performance by transmitting both On-Off Keying and Pseudo Random Binary Sequence data streams. The resulting experimental BER data was then processed and compared against theoretical simulations to validate our optical models.
As part of the advanced MicroPropulsion course, I performed a preliminary design of a complete monopropellant storage and feed system for a hypothetical Lunar CubeSat mission.
Propellant Trade-off: Conducted a comprehensive trade-off study on "green" alternatives to Hydrazine, ultimately selecting the HAN-based AF-M315E propellant due to its high volumetric specific impulse, excellent handling safety, and REACH compliance.
System Architecture: Designed a pump-fed feed system. By utilizing a micro-pump to elevate the propellant pressure before the thruster, I eliminated the need for a heavy, high-pressure pressurant system, ensuring the design remained strictly within the 12U CubeSat mass and volume constraints.
Hardware & Sizing: Calculated and sized a Ti-6Al-4V cylindrical tank with hemispherical end-caps using thin-walled pressure vessel theory. Additionally, I selected Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components for the Balance of Plant (valves, filters, transducers) to ensure a realistic and flight-ready design.
As part of the Machine Learning course (ME44312), I co-authored a study investigating predictive models for Electric Vehicle (EV) disconnect times to help optimize charging infrastructure and grid availability.
Data Engineering: Processed and clustered the ACN-Data dataset, comprising over 30,000 real-world EV charging sessions across California, to identify behavioral user patterns.
Model Development: Trained and evaluated multiple predictive models, progressing from baseline Linear Regression to advanced models including Random Forest Regressors and a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) neural network.
Performance Optimization: Executed extensive hyperparameter tuning and dataset partitioning based on clustering results to minimize Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and maximize predictive accuracy .
In collaboration with offshore engineering firm Allseas, I worked within an interdisciplinary team of eight students to analyze the feasibility and strategic placement of a first-of-a-kind Small Modular Reactor (SMR) in the Netherlands.
Grid Integration & Systems Design: Investigated national grid capacity limitations and proposed an integrated system coupling the SMR with hydrogen production, providing critical behind-the-meter energy storage and flexibility.
Safety & Regulatory Analysis: Evaluated the nuclear safety constraints, specifically analyzing the Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) requirements for a 25 MWe reactor and navigating the complex Dutch nuclear licensing framework.
Stakeholder Governance: Assessed the socio-political landscape of Zeeland, developing strategies for municipal engagement, NGO transparency, and navigating public hearings to ensure project viability.
Navigating the Moon is based on the 'Moonlight' initiative by ESA that aims to become the first off-planet (in this case Lunar) commercial telecoms and satellite navigation provider.
The project ranged from a conceptual exploration phase where many systems engineering documents were prepared and design concepts were created, to the detailed design of a constellation and the satellites present.
My role within the project was that of the Project Manager, challenging me on a more social level. Additionally, I took on the technical roles of Electrical Power System and Thermal Management System Engineer, focusing on both power and signal bus, as well as the thermal needs of a satellite. From these roles I learned all about team composition and synergy.
After completion of the project, we as a team were invited to present our conceptual design at ESA ESTEC in front of a team of engineers working on the 'Moonlight' initiative.