People

Ryan de Freitas Bart (he/him)
Engineering Systems Laboratory
​Contact: ryandfb@mit.edu

Ryan de Freitas Bart is a graduate student in the Engineering Systems Lab and a Draper Scholar. Ryan’s research interests are improving system engineering processes and methods for analyzing space system reusability. Ryan served as a Co-President of the Graduate Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics (GA^3) and Chair of the GSC Committee on Academics, Research, and Careers (ARC). Ryan is also a sailing instructor at the MIT Sailing Pavilion and a member of the MIT Sport Taekwondo team.

Annick Dewald (she/her)
International Center for Air Transportation
​Contact: adewald@mit.edu

Annick Dewald is a 5^th year PhD Candidate in the International Center for Air Transportation, advised by Professor John Hansman. Her work focuses on systems engineering, multidisciplinary design optimization, solar-electric aircraft design, and remote sensing techniques for climate monitoring. During her time at MIT, Annick served as a Teaching Assistant for multiple undergraduate courses, and pursed teaching opportunities via the Teaching Learning Lab by participating in the Kaufman Teaching Certificate Program and serving as a Teaching Development Fellow in mentoring. Annick has been involved in department groups by serving as Co-President of Graduate Women in Aeronautics and Astronautics (GWAE), Diversity Fellow, and was a founding member of the Queer Advocacy Space in AeroAstro (QuASAR). While in grad school, Annick spent three summers at aerospace start-up Electra.Aero working to develop a High-Altitude Long-Endurance solar aircraft for climate observation.  In her free time, Annick enjoys cooking, lifting weights, and climbing.

Chloé Gentgen (she/her)
Engineering Systems Laboratory
​Contact: cgentgen@mit.edu

Chloe Gentgen is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT and a Research Assistant in the Engineering Systems Lab with Prof. Olivier de Weck. Her research focuses on space systems engineering, mission architecture, and multi-disciplinary optimization applied to deep-space robotic exploration. Chloe interned at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and received a B.S. and M.S. in Engineering from Ecole Centrale Paris in France and an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from MIT. 

Mollie Johnson (she/her)
Engineering Systems Lab
Contact: mojohn23@mit.edu

Mollie is a first year master’s student and graduate researcher at the Engineering Systems Lab (ESL). Her current research is focused on applications and analysis of extended reality usages in aerospace engineering education. Mollie recently graduated from Georgia Tech with a BS in aerospace in 2023, is a former mission operator for the Lunar Flashlight CubeSat, and is a former Flight System Systems Engineer intern at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In her free time, she enjoys competing in NASA RASC-AL design competitions and AR/VR hackathons.

Michelle Lin (they/them)
Human Systems Lab
​Contact: shuyulin@mit.edu

Mich is a third-year graduate student in the Human Systems Lab. Their research focus is on human behavior in Isolated, Confined, and Extreme environments and how to design architecture for long-duration space exploration. Outside of research, they are a Graduate Resident Advisor for New House and have been on the Graduate Association of AeroAstro (GA^3) Exec team for two years, as the Outreach & Diversity Chair (2021) and the social media coordinator (2022). Please talk to them about: being queer at MIT, funding, human factors research, maintaining work/life balance, and community engagement! 

Chris Kwon (he/him)
necstlab
​Contact: ckwon23@mit.edu

Chris Kwon is a second-year graduate student in the Nano-engineered Composite Aerospace Structures Laboratory (necstlab) with Professor Brian Wardle. His research involves exploring the properties of nano-engineered carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs) using finite element analysis and experimental testing. Outside of research, Chris is the media coordinator for necstlab, involved in the Graduate Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics (GA^3)  Executive Committee as the Outreach and Diversity Chair, serves as the Vice President for MIT Club Golf Team, and is a Graduate Diversity Ambassador through the Office of Graduate Education. Prior to coming to MIT, he received his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2022. Beyond research, he enjoys cooking, photography, singing, watching anime, and exploring fashion. 

Adriana Mitchell (she/her)
Astrodynamics Space Robotics and Controls Lab (ARCLab)
Contact: amtchell@mit.edu

Adriana Mitchell is a fifth-year Ph.D. student in the Astrodynamics Space Robotics and Controls Lab (ARCLab) with Professor Richard Linares working to improve optical navigation during entry, descent, and landing on other planetary bodies. Her research interests are deep-space optical navigation, terrain-relative navigation, machine learning, and computer vision. She received her B.S. in Optical Sciences and Engineering from the University of Arizona and her M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from MIT.  

She has lived in on-campus graduate housing residences (Sidney-Pacific, Edgerton), interned at NASA JPL, been involved with graduate student leadership, participated in MIT’s dance team and live-action role playing clubs, been funded through (internal and external) graduate Fellowships, and has researched abroad through the MIT MISTI Italy program. She is happy to answer any questions about how to get involved/interest with these opportunities! 

Heekun Roh (he/him)
Engineering Systems Lab
Contact: hroh@mit.edu

Heekun Roh (노희건) is a PhD Student in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT and a Research Assistant in the Engineering Systems Lab. His research interest lies broadly in the domain of space systems, systems engineering, optimization, and GNC. Before joining ESL, he served as an associate AOCS systems engineer at Satrec Initiative, participating in multiple Earth-Observation satellite missions. He received his MS (’19) and BS (’17) from the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). 

Emma Shafer (she/her)
Space Telecommunications, Astronomy and Radiation Laboratory (STARLab)
Contact: shaferem@mit.edu

Emma Shafer is a first-year master’s student at the Space Telecommunications, Astronomy, and Radiation (STAR) lab under Dr. Kerri Cahoy, focusing on spacecraft thermal engineering. She is currently a TA for an undergraduate class that focuses on space systems development, and she is involved in student groups such as Disabled@MIT, the AeroAstro departmental Resources for Easing Friction and Stress (dREFS), and the Video Game Orchestra. In her free time, she likes playing in music ensembles, playing video games, and walking her dog. She is originally from Florida, and she obtained her B.S. in aerospace engineering and minor in music from the University of Central Florida.

Lorenzo Shaikewitz (he/him)
SPARKlab
Contact: lorenzos@mit.edu

Lorenzo Shaikewitz is a first year PhD student in the SPARK Lab under Prof. Luca Carlone. He works in robotics, particularly focused on perception for dynamic scenes. He grew up in Durham, North Carolina and earned his Bachelor’s in mechanical engineering at Caltech in 2023. Outside of research he plays for MIT’s ultimate frisbee team and enjoys hiking, biking, and sailing on the Charles.

Shreya Sharma (she/her)
Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment (LAE)
Contact: shreya22@mit.edu

Shreya Sharma is a second year PhD student in the Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment (LAE). Her research interests are in assessing and reducing the environmental impacts of near-future supersonic aircraft. Shreya served as the Vice President of the Graduate Women in Aerospace Engineering (GWAE) group in 2023. She is from India and received a M.Tech from IIT Kanpur in 2020 and a B.Tech from IIEST Shibpur in 2018 and worked as a product design engineer at Eaton before moving to the US. She is happy to talk about her research, being an international student, and living on campus.

Aneesa Sonawalla (she/her)
Aerospace Controls Lab (ACL)
Contact: aneesa@mit.edu

Aneesa is a first-year graduate student in the Aerospace Controls Lab with Professor Jonathan How. Her research interests center on factor graph optimization for multi-agent SLAM on small mobile robots. Prior to starting at MIT, Aneesa worked at the neighboring Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, where she developed alternative inertial navigation systems for GPS-denied environments, such as vision-aided and gravity-aided solutions. Aneesa received her B.A. in Physics from the University of Chicago (’16) and her M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech (’18). Other than research, she is happy to talk about life in Cambridge outside of MIT, returning to grad school after industry, powerlifting, and a totally objective ranking of all the coffee shops in Camberville.

Hannah Tomio (she/her)
Space Telecommunications, Astronomy and Radiation Laboratory (STARLab)
Contact: tomio@mit.edu

Hannah Tomio is a PhD student in the MIT Space Telecommunications, Astronomy, and Radiation (STAR) Lab, with Professor Kerri Cahoy. Her research focuses on enabling laser instruments on small satellite platforms for communications and remote sensing. Prior to coming to MIT, she received a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and an M.Eng. in Aerospace Engineering from Tohoku University. Outside of research, she enjoys learning languages and running along the Charles River.