Research Group
Mason A. Peck
After leaving the Ph.D. program in English at the University of Chicago, Peck earned a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He worked at Bell Helicopter from 1993 to 1994 on structural dynamics. From 1994 to 2001 he was an attitude dynamics specialist and systems engineer at Hughes Space and Communications (now Boeing Satellite Systems). During his years at Boeing he served as attitude dynamics lead in the Boeing mission control center, participating in real-time spacecraft operations and helping to resolve spacecraft performance anomalies. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. at UCLA as a Howard Hughes Fellow from 1998 to 2001. In 2001 he joined Honeywell Defense and Space Systems , and in 2003 was named Principal Fellow. He has been issued several patents. In July of 2004, he joined the faculty at Cornell University, where he teaches courses in dynamics and control and in the systems engineering program. He was promoted to Associate Professor in fall 2010. In 2012 he was appointed as NASA’s Chief Technologist.
Current PhD Students
Graduate Alumni
The SSDS graduate student group back in 2019!
Elise Eckman, Ph.D. '24
NSF fellowship recipient
SSDS doctoral work: Multiscale Granular Stacking
Post-SSDS work: SLB
Katherine Wilson, Ph.D. '23
SSDS doctoral work: Eddy Current Actuators
Post-SSDS work: ASML
Aaron Zucherman, Ph.D. '23
SSDS doctoral work: Interplanetary SmallSat Cost and Risk Analysis
Post-SSDS work: SpaceRig
Kalani Danas Rivera, Ph.D. '22
SSDS doctoral work: Optical Navigation
Post-SSDS work: Draper Laboratory
Doğa Yuculan, Ph.D. '22
SSDS doctoral work: Autonomous Navigation of Relativistic Spacecraft
Post-SSDS work: Assistant Professor of Teaching at University of Buffalo
Aneesh Heintz, Ph.D. '22
SSDS doctoral work: Optical Navigation / Deep Learning
Post-SSDS work: Lockheed Martin Space
Matt Walsh, Ph.D. '20
SSDS doctoral work: Toward General Techniques for Autonomous Rendezvous
Post-SSDS work: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab
Hunter Adams, Ph.D. '19
Commercialization fellowship
SSDS doctoral work: Theory and Applications of Gram-Scale Spacecraft
Post-SSDS work: Lecturer at Cornell University
D. Sawyer Elliot, Ph.D. '19
NSTRF fellowship recipient
SSDS doctoral work: Momentum Control Systems and their Application in Robotic Systems
Post-SSDS work: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab
Kyle Doyle, Ph.D. '19
NSTRF fellowship recipient
SSDS doctoral work: Water Electrolysis Propulsion:
Systems Architecture and Technology DevelopmentPost-SSDS work: Blue Origin
Frankie Zhu, Ph.D. '19
NSTRF fellowship recipient
SSDS doctoral work: System Identification and Intelligent Systems
Post-SSDS work: Tenure-Track Faculty at University of Hawaii Manoa
Lorraine Weis, Ph.D. '16
SSDS doctoral work: ChipSat Swarm Dynamics
Post-SSDS work: Applied Defense Solutions
Zac Manchester, Ph.D. ’15
SSDS doctoral work: KickSat and ChipSats
Post-SSDS work: Tenure-Track Faculty at Stanford University
Ben Reinhardt, Ph.D. ’15
SSDS doctoral work: Eddy Current Actuation
Post-SSDS work: Magic Leap
Rodrigo Zeledon, Ph.D. ’15
SSDS doctoral work: Electrolysis Propulsion Spacecraft
Post-SSDS work: Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company
Laura Jones, Ph.D. ’12
NSF and NDSEG fellowship recipient
SSDS doctoral work: Flux-Pinned Spacecraft
Post-SSDS work: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Michael Norman, Ph.D. ’11
NASA/New York Space Grant recipient
SSDS doctoral work: Flux-Pinned Spacecraft
Post-SSDS work: Boeing
Joseph Shoer, Ph.D. ’11
NASA/New York Space Grant recipient
SSDS doctoral work: Flux-Pinned Spacecraft
Post-SSDS work: Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company
Justin Atchison, Ph.D. ’10
NSF and NDSEG fellowship recipient
SSDS doctoral work: LAO / Sprite Spacecraft
Post-SSDS work: Applied Physics Laboratory
Daniel Brown, Ph.D. ’09
NSF/IGERT fellowship recipient
SSDS doctoral work: CMG Robotics
Post-SSDS work: Ithaco Space Systems
Michele Carpenter, Ph.D. ’09
SSDS doctoral work: CMG Robotics
Post-SSDS work: Draper Laboratory
Brett Streetman, Ph.D. ’08
NSF/IGERT fellowship recipient
SSDS doctoral work: Lorentz-Augmented Orbits
Post-SSDS work: Draper Laboratory