Aerospace Engineering
As the Electrical Team Lead for VULCAN, I developed hands-on skills in soldering, wire harnessing, hardware integration, and system troubleshooting, while also earning certification to serve as pilot-in-command of our drone under FAA Advisory Circular 91-57C. For my contributions to the project, I was one of 6 individuals in my graduating class honored with a department award recognizing Outstanding Technical Leadership.
Above are photos I took of our team’s drone during some of the many flight and mission tests that our team conducted. All test and demonstration flights were conducted on the CU Boulder South Campus or in the backyard of the Aerospace Building once autonomous flight capabilities were thoroughly proven, and pilots had flown in the presence of CU Flight Ops.
Testing Our Drone
After two semesters of design, assembly, and testing, team VULCAN successfully completed our senior capstone project, working under the mentorship of Professor Jeffrey Glusman.
Our mission was to develop a semi-autonomous small Uncrewed Aircraft System (sUAS) capable of navigating to three distinct locations of interest and deploying 5 pounds of water payload on each target, serving as a proof-of-concept for wildfire mitigation. We custom-built a hexacopter drone using off-the-shelf components, then designed and fabricated our own payload-release mechanism that interfaces with our drone platform to meet these mission requirements. We validated our design through extensive flight and bench-top testing, culminating in a "day in the life" mission verification.
Thank you to our industry mentor, Mr. Brian Roth, and his wonderful colleagues at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who generously dedicated their time and expertise to support our team.
Pictured above is team VULCAN, from left to right:
Top Row: Evan Moarefi, Diego Chavez, Jason Koch, Thomas Brodeur, Alana Martinez, Samuel Uyemura
Bottom Row: Ada Forsner, Connor Larson, Joseph Krauskopf, Stefano Rivellini, Jack Wills, Wesley Parker
Photo credit: Samuel Uyemura
In May 2025, I graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences
My time at CU was filled with great learning experiences and excellent mentorship academically, and I am happy to have made some lifelong friends along the way. I am proud to say that I challenged myself every step of the way to be a better student, mentor, and person as a whole. Pursuing this degree taught me to remain curious, think deeply, solve problems creatively, and gave me opportunities to work collaboratively with other brilliant and talented engineering peers.
Boulder has and will continue to have such a special place in my heart, and I am grateful to the many people (family, friends, and faculty) who made my college experience so wonderful. I am excited to go make an impact in the aerospace industry by pushing the boundaries of what is possible and finding new ways of exploring the vast world around us! I am currently pursuing roles in aircraft design, aerodynamics, avionics, propulsion, or guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C), with a focus on contributing to the design, development, and control of advanced aircraft and spacecraft.
Video by Samuel Uyemura
Photo credit: Matan Coll
