Aerospace Seminar Series
12-Week Seminar Series
Every Thursday: September 4 - November 20
Time: 4-5 p.m.
Location: STEM Building, Room 1203
About
Brought to you by UHCL College of Science & Engineering in partnership with Aeroscience and Flight Mechanics Division at NASA Johnson Space Center. This weekly series showcases practical applications of aerospace engineering, taught by subject-matter experts from NASA JSC.
Schedule
September 4, 2025
An Introduction to Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Speakers:
- Siddarth Kaki, Ph.D. – Navigation Discipline Engineer, EG6 / GN&C Autonomous Flight Systems Branch, NASA Johnson Space Center
- Jacob Sullivan – EG6 / GN&C Autonomous Flight Systems Branch, NASA Johnson Space Center
September 11, 2025
Radionavigation
Speaker:
- Dr. Greg Holt - GN&C Autonomous Flight Systems Branch, NASA Johnson Space Center
Speaker Bio:
Dr. Greg Holt is the Navigation Technical Discipline lead and System Manager for the
Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle at NASA Johnson Space Center, having earned a Ph.D.
from the University of Texas at Austin and with over 15 years of NASA service. He
has enjoyed many opportunities to be active in technical leadership and is a veteran
Mission Control navigator of 8 Space Shuttle missions, the Orion Exploration Flight
Test 1, and the Artemis I lunar mission.
Abstract:
Explore the principles and evolution of RadioNavigation, a cornerstone of modern aerospace
engineering. We’ll trace the historical progression from early celestial navigation
to advanced systems like the Global Positioning System (GPS), Global Navigation Satellite
Systems (GNSS), NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN), and emerging lunar relay satellite
architectures for Artemis missions. Through technical insights, practical examples,
and discussions of triangulation, signal processing, and deep-space communication
challenges, this talk will illuminate the critical role of radio navigation in enabling
precise positioning for terrestrial and extraterrestrial exploration.
September 18, 2025
Entry, Descent, and Landing
Speaker:
- Dr. Sergio Sandoval - Guidance Engineer, NASA Johnson Space Center
Speaker Bio:
Sergio Sandoval is a guidance engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. He received
a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology
in December 2017. During his undergraduate studies, he collaborated with the Space
Systems Design Lab as part of Prox-1, the first satellite ever made by Georgia Tech
students and with the Aerospace Systems Design Lab doing Systems Engineering for NASA
projects such as the Europa Clipper and the TransHab Structure. His participation
in these projects led to a Pathways Internship offer at the Johnson Space Center starting
in August 2016, and an internship with the Jet Propulsion Lab during the summer of
2016. He completed his PhD in Aerospace Engineering at San Diego State University
and the University of California San Diego in 2023. During his time at NASA, he has
held different positions such as Systems Engineer for the Europa Clipper mission,
Trajectory Operations and Planning Engineer for the International Space Station, Structural
Engineer for experiments going to the International Space Station, and more recently
he started as a Guidance Engineer for human and robotic exploration missions to the
Moon, Mars, and beyond. He currently applies his expertise of Entry, Descent, and
Landing to support the Orion Re-entry analysis for the Artemis Program.
Abstract:
Safety, precision, and efficiency are the key ingredients for successful human-scale
entry, descent, and landing (EDL) in missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. As one
of the most dynamic and challenging phases of any interplanetary mission, it is very
important to understand the different techniques, the conditions in which we apply
these techniques, and for what reason. In this seminar, we will explore a complete
overview of entry and powered descent guidance, from its origin to the state of the
art. We will investigate successful examples that have flown to space before, as well
as dive into the requirements of a mission in the future.
September 25, 2025
Optical Navigation
Speaker:
- Dr. Paul McKee
Speaker Bio:
Paul McKee was born and raised in Averill Park, NY. He studied mechanical and aerospace
engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), getting his B.S. in 2017, his
M.S. in 2018, and his Ph.D. in 2022. His research was on autonomous spacecraft navigation.
He now works at NASA Johnson Space Center in the Aeroscience and Flight Mechanics
Division. His projects include Optical Navigation hardware and software analysis for
the Orion spacecraft, lunar surface navigation algorithm development for the Artemis
program, and he is Assistant to the Project Manager for Project TRON -- a next-gen
optical navigation early-career project. Paul is also involved in numerous outreach
efforts to grade school STEM students, and is a (remote) adjunct professor at RPI,
teaching a graduate-level course in spacecraft navigation.
Abstract:
A spacecraft can determine its position and attitude (orientation) using information
in digital images taken with an onboard camera. This is referred to as Optical Navigation
(OpNav). This begins with an understanding of cameras as navigation instruments, and
how useful data can be extracted from images. Well-established methods of OpNav for
attitude determination and localization are discussed, and then time is spent on some
of the newer and more exotic problems in OpNav. Audience participation is highly encouraged
and imagination will be a requirement.
October 2, 2025
Spacecraft Controls
Speaker:
- Dr. Omkar Mulekar
Speaker Bio:
Omkar Mulekar joined NASA Johnson Space Center in July 2024 as a navigation analyst
for the Orion Relative Navigation system and as a controls engineer for the Gateway
Controls system. He holds a PhD and a master’s degree from the University of Florida
as well as a bachelor’s degree from Auburn University. His graduate research includes
the use of neural networks to perform feedback-optimal control of nonlinear systems.
Abstract:
In this presentation, we will discuss the “Control” element of a spacecraft’s Guidance,
Navigation, and Control system. From its overarching purpose on a spacecraft to specific
examples of how we apply control logic to command actuators onboard autonomous spacecraft,
we will explore the modern challenges of maintaining control in complex, harsh environments.
October 9, 2025
How Do You Throw a Refrigerator Away in Space – The story about jettisoning a large piece of equipment from the ISS without killing anyone in a illustration of what rocket science is all about.
Speaker:
- Dr. Robert Dempsey, aka “Dr. Bob”
Speaker Bio:
Dr. Robert Dempsey, aka “Dr. Bob”, received his PhD in astrophysics from the University
of Toledo in 1984. He worked on the Hubble Space Telescope for 5 years, both as an
operator and a researcher. In his astronomy career, he published over 30 peer-reviewed
articles. After programming his job away, and because he wanted to get involved in
human space exploration, Dr. Bob literally got on a plane and cold-called United Space
Alliance in Houston. He joined the ISS program in 1997 as a Command & Data Handling
front room controller (“ODIN”) due to said programming skills, before transitioning
to Communications & Tracking (“CATO”) in 2003. After supporting numerous International
Space Station assembly missions, in 2005, he was selected as a Flight Director (call
sign “Galileo”). Over his 17+ years as Flight, he led numerous Shuttle assembly missions,
crewed and uncrewed dockings/undockings, and spacewalks, including one where the
Russians removed a live pyro bolt from the Soyuz. He helped lead the NASA Mission
Operations team that operated Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, including on the ill-fated
Orbital Flight Test in 2019. In 2022, he retired from the ISS program office and
joined Blue Origin. While at Blue Origin, he has led mission operations for the Orbital
Reef, the crewed space vehicle, and the New Shepard suborbital program, while also
contributing to the New Glenn project. Since July, he has been working part-time
at Blue Origin while also working on a book about the Commercial Crew Program, a novel
about time travel, and consulting when not baking bread or cookies.
October 16, 2025
Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Space Applications
Speaker:
- Dr. Julia Briden
Speaker Bio:
Julia Briden works as an Advanced Mission Design and GN&C Engineer at NASA Johnson
Space Center on the Amentum JETS-II Contract. She has received her PhD in Aeronautics
and Astronautics, with a major in Autonomy, from MIT in 2024 and her Master’s and
Bachelor’s, with a minor in Artificial Intelligence, from the Illinois Institute of
Technology in 2021. Her research focuses on using deep learning for efficient spacecraft
guidance.
Abstract:
This talk introduces the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and its sub-field,
machine learning (ML), through the lens of space exploration. We begin by outlining
the major categories of AI and ML and how they enable perception, reasoning, and decision-making
in autonomous systems. The discussion then distinguishes between offline applications,
where AI supports mission design and planning on the ground, and onboard implementations,
where algorithms must operate in real time under strict computational and reliability
constraints. The talk concludes with an overview of current research advancing ML
for online guidance and control, highlighting efforts to improve efficiency, adaptability,
and trustworthiness in future autonomous spacecraft.
October 23, 2025
Spacecraft Trajectory & Mission Design
Speaker:
- Dr. Stephen Scheuerle
Speaker Bio:
Stephen Scheuerle is a mission design engineer for NASA’s Gateway Program. He received
his M.S. and Ph.D. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University,
and his B.S. in aerospace engineering from NC State University in 2018. Stephen’s
graduate research focused on spacecraft trajectory design in multi-body systems, specifically
exploring propellant efficient pathways for spacecraft in the three-body and four-body
problems.
Abstract:
This talk introduces orbital mechanics, and the role it plays in spaceflight. The
presentation discusses the history of trajectory design, sharing the discoveries astronomers
and mathematicians that shape modern-day trajectory design. The presentation then
covers an overview of the types of trajectories spacecraft follow, and what it means
to work in trajectory design. Finally, the presentation will focus on the role trajectory
design and orbital mechanics play in end-to-end mission design. Looking at how constraints
and objectives drive mission planning.
October 30, 2025
Coming Soon!
November 6, 2025
Coming Soon!
November 13, 2025
Coming Soon!
November 20, 2025
Coming Soon!
Contact
Dr. Youssef Hamidi, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
281-283-3818
hamidi@uhcl.edu
STEM 2232






