Allan Shtofenmakher wins Best Student Paper at the 2025 Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference

PhD student Allan Shtofenmakher (DINaMo) received the Best Student Paper Award at the 2025 Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies (AMOS) Conference. Titled “Optimal Tasking and Scheduling of Satellite Constellations for Space Situational Awareness, the paper was co-authored by Prof. Hamsa Balakrishnan.

The paper proposes an optimization framework to improve how space-based sensors track the growing number of objects in low Earth orbit (LEO). As the population of satellites and debris increases, the U.S. Space Surveillance Network’s ground-based radars and telescopes face mounting strain. Shtofenmakher and Balakrishnan use an integer programming model to optimally task and schedule a constellation of agile spacecraft equipped with optical sensors dedicated to space situational awareness.

In addition to funding and recognition, Shtofenmakher received a custom engraved trophy crafted from Hawaiian koa wood, carved in the shape of an outrigger paddle, signifying the wayfinding of Polynesian voyagers and their reliance on the night sky. He joins previous Course XVI award winner Julia Briden PhD ‘24, who won Best Paper at AMOS in 2022.