DiffASR: a Diffusion Model for Complex-Valued Synthetic Aperture Radar Azimuth Super-Resolution
DiffASR: a Diffusion Model for Complex-Valued Synthetic Aperture Radar Azimuth Super-Resolution
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For my MSc thesis, I collaborated with the European Space Agency and developed an architecture called: DiffASR. This research addresses the trade-off between wide-swath coverage and azimuth spatial resolution. I engineered a conditional pixel-space diffusion model to handle complex-valued synthetic aperture radar data and perform spectral extrapolation.
Synthetic Aperture Radar: An active remote sensing technology that transmits radio-waves towards the Earth's surface and captures the complex-valued returned echoes, enabling imaging of the globe independent of weather or daylight.
Wide-Swath Acquisition: Operational modes (such as ScanSAR or TOPSAR) that achieve broad surface coverage by scanning across sub-swaths, compromising the azimuth Doppler bandwidth and thus spatial resolution.
Super-Resolution: Image enhancement that extrapolates high-frequency spectral bandwidth to reconstruct the complex image to that of a non-wide swath acquisition.
Diffusion Model: Adapted a conditional denoising diffusion probabilistic model to process complex-valued signals directly in the pixel space, preserving phase history and implementing a custom loss function.
Timestep-Aware Loss Function: Formulated a multi-modal loss strategy that introduces phase fidelity and structural similarity during the final denoising timesteps.
DiffASR final.pdf
Micropropulsion – 3D Printed Laser Communications Terminal
Micropropulsion – 3D Printed Laser Communications Terminal
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.
Space Engineering Practical – Free-Space Optical Link & Jitter Analysis
Space Engineering Practical – Free-Space Optical Link & Jitter Analysis
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.
Space_Engineering_Practical___Test_Results_Summary.pdfFINAL_MicroPropulsion-80d.pdfMicroPropulsion – Lunar CubeSat Monopropellant System
MicroPropulsion – Lunar CubeSat Monopropellant System
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.
Applied Machine Learning – EV Charging Disconnect Prediction
Applied Machine Learning – EV Charging Disconnect Prediction
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 .
ME44312___Machine_Learning.pdf3.3.2_Allseas_FinalReport_JIP2025.pdfJoint Interdisciplinary Project (Allseas) – SMR Placement Strategy
Joint Interdisciplinary Project (Allseas) – SMR Placement Strategy
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.
Design Synthesis Exercise – Navigating the Moon
Design Synthesis Exercise – Navigating the Moon
As a final mark towards obtaining the BSc degree in Aerospace Engineering, all have to complete the Design Synthesis Exercise. Over a period of 10 weeks, a group of 10 students completes a theoretical design on a provided topic.
As a final mark towards obtaining the BSc degree in Aerospace Engineering, all have to complete the Design Synthesis Exercise. Over a period of 10 weeks, a group of 10 students completes a theoretical design on a provided topic.
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.
Group22_NavigatingtheMoon_JurySummary_pdf.pdf
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