YouAlberta
Can you tell me a bit about yourself?
I’m in my final year of a master of science in electrical engineering, having previously completed a bachelor of science in engineering physics at the U of A in 2022.
My research outlines a novel method to perform satellite orbit determination, made possible by recent advances in laser communications. During my master’s degree, I led the PEPPER-X sounding rocket experiment team, which successfully flight-qualified two space weather research instruments ahead of their inclusion in the RADICALS microsatellite, led by Ian Mann (Physics). I was honoured to receive two teaching awards for my work with the computer engineering capstone course last year, placing in the top seven teaching assistants out of more than 3,000 candidates throughout the university.
I became involved in aerospace after joining the AlbertaSat student group in high school, and I haven’t looked back since. I’ve enjoyed applying my engineering knowledge to personal creative projects, such as designing guitar effects pedals, launching high-altitude weather balloons and amateur radio operations. In my personal time, you can most often find me reading, playing team sports or skiing in the backcountry.
You recently led the PEPPER-X mission. Can you tell us more about this?
PEPPER-X stands for Payload for Energetic Particle Precipitation Education and Research - eXperiment. What a mouthful! The mission served as a technology demonstration for two scientific instruments developed for the $20M RADICALS microsatellite, which will study the long-term impacts of space radiation on Earth’s climate.
The payload, student-designed and built, went through a full mission life cycle, from design and prototyping to final system testing. Our team of undergraduate and graduate students started work on the project back in April 2023, with the project being supported by a Flights and Fieldwork for the Advancement of Science and Technology grant from the Canadian Space Agency.
Following a successful launch of our instruments from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on August 13, 2024, the data generated during the flight shows we met all of our scientific and engineering objectives for the mission.
We received this opportunity through NASA’s annual RockSat-X programme, which gives American university student teams the chance to fly a payload of their own choosing. We were the first ever non-American team allowed to participate, and I’m happy to say that it was a resounding success.
You were the student lead on this project. What did you learn from this experience?
Throughout this experience, I learned valuable personal, professional, technical and emotional lessons. Much of what I learned came from engaging with or mentoring others. One trap I fell into initially was trying to take the perfect first action, which delayed decision-making instead of going with my best judgment and refining the trajectory afterwards.
There’s a quote from General George Patton that I like on this topic: “A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.” I found that once I embraced this mindset and became less “paralyzed by analysis,” the project went a lot more smoothly.
How did you balance the commitments of this project with the rest of your studies and personal life?
I think one thing that people, myself included, get hung up on is establishing the perfect schedule to accommodate our many commitments. Our responsibilities are governed by dynamic processes, so expecting a static solution is nonsense. Routine and structure are good, but there are times when it's important to break apart that structure and adapt it to a particular case. Balance is a dynamic process, and flexibility is necessary for adapting to the demands of a given situation.
Thankfully, I had very supportive supervisors and teammates I knew I could rely on to pick up the slack when I was away at conferences or deep in the books during exam periods. Of course, despite my best efforts, sometimes the to-dos would stack up. In those situations, I found it helpful to cancel all outside commitments for a few days and focus solely on getting caught up. It’s far better to “suffer through it” for an acute period of one to three days and start again with a clean slate rather than allow the cumulative stress load to eat away at morale over a multi-week period.
Erik skiing.
I’ve found that being in good physical shape helps increase resilience to stress — your brain is an organ and part of your body, after all. I find intense physical exercise to be one of the best “brain breaks” out there. In addition to the health benefits, it’s quite hard to be stressed when you have a heavy barbell on your back at the bottom of a squat.
How has U of A helped you move towards your research goals?
I would have never had this opportunity, or the previous ones that prepared me for it, if I hadn’t come to the U of A and joined Ian Mann’s Space Physics Research Group. My work with AlbertaSat and other extracurricular experiences supported my preparation for this experience. I encourage others to join student clubs, especially ones that put you outside your comfort zone, even if they aren’t engineering-focused. I love working at the university because it brings together so many people of different backgrounds and experience levels. This diversity of perspectives is essential for finding solutions to any problem.