Puneet Singla

Dr. Puneet Singla is an Associate Professor of Aerospace engineering at the Pennsylvania State University (PSU). He received his bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India in 2000 and earned his master’s and doctoral degree in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station in 2002 and 2006, respectively. Prior to his arrival at PSU, he was a faculty member of the department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at University at Buffalo (UB). His research efforts are concentrated on the development of scalable algorithms for uncertainty quantification, nonlinear filtering, data association, dynamic sensing and data driven modeling  to realize a composable framework for accurate Resident Space Object (RSO) characterization and tracking.

He has secured several research grants as a PI or co-PI from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA). He is a recipient of the competitive NSF CAREER award for his work on Uncertainty Propagation and Data Assimilation for Toxic Cloud Prediction and the AFOSR Young Investigator Award for his work on Information Collection and Fusion for Space Situational Awareness. He has also been awarded the UB’s “Exceptional Scholar” Young Investigator Award and the Texas A&M University’s Young Aerospace Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award in recognition of his scholarly activities. He has authored several articles and a book covering a wide array of problems, including: stochastic systems, estimation and control, celestial mechanics, adaptive control, distributed parameter systems modeling and control, approximation theory, including novel methods for solving Fokker-Planck-Kolmogorov equation (FPKE) for uncertainty propagation. His work in attitude estimation included algorithms supporting a successful experiment, StarNav that flew on the STS-107. His work on uncertainty propagation was used to compute a probabilistic spatial-temporal estimate of ash presence during the April 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland.

Areas of Expertise: Space Domain Awareness (SDA), Astrodynamics, Optimal Control of Aerospace Vehicles, System Identification, Distributed Parameter Systems Modeling and Control.

Research Lab Website: https://cass.psu.edu/

Contact Dr. Singla at pxs433@psu.edu

Robert G. Melton

Professor Melton performs research in low-thrust spacecraft trajectories, including the use of perturbation methods and the related development of alternative characterizations of unperturbed Keplerian trajectories. Increasingly, spacecraft will employ higher-efficiency, low-thrust engines for maneuvering, station-keeping. Earth-escape and planetary capture; efficient orbital motion under the influence of low-thrust and other non-gravitational influences. Professor Melton also studies satellite attitude dynamics and control of multi-body and flexible-body spacecraft. His students engage in analytical and computational studies of these problems.

Professor Melton received the Milton S. Eisenhower Award for Distinguished Teaching (2006), the Lawrence J. Perez Memorial Student Advocate Award (2001), the PSES Premier Teaching Award (1992), PSES Outstanding Advising Award (1986), SAE Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award (1986), and the PSES Outstanding Teaching Award (1985), and was president of the Penn State chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society (1989-92). He is an Associate Fellow of AIAA and a Fellow of the American Astronautical Society (AAS), where he has chaired the Space Flight Mechanics technical committee and served as Vice President-Technical, Vice President-Publications, and as a member of the Board of Directors. He has also been a member of the International Astronautics Federation Astrodynamics Technical Committee.

Areas of Expertise: Astrodynamics, orbital mechanics, spacecraft design, trajectory optimization, spacecraft attitude dynamics and control

Contact Dr. Melton at rgmelton@psu.edu

Roshan T. Eapen

Dr. Roshan Eapen is an Assistant Professor of Aerospace engineering at the Pennsylvania State University (PSU). He received his bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Karunya University, Coimbatore, India in 2014, earned his MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana in 2017, and his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University in 2021. His research efforts lie at the intersection of astrodynamics, Dynamical Systems Theory (DST), and Computer Vision (CV).  

In his work, Dr. Eapen seeks to combine these broad fields explaining the physical world — known as dynamical systems — with other research focuses. He is interested in the effects of gravity and other forces on rockets and other devices supporting space travel and communication. His development goals include low-energy space transport systems for exploring within the moon’s orbit and beyond, as well as operational frameworks for extant or planned ground- and space-based telescopes.

With another research interest in enabling computers to recognize and describe the physical attributes of objects depicted in images, Dr. Eapen hopes to improve a variety of applications from autonomous navigation and spacecraft proximity operations to space environment simulations.

Areas of Expertise: Orbital mechanics, spacecraft dynamics and control, orbit and attitude determination, artificial satellite theories, modern computational astrodynamics, computer vision, photorealistic image generation, space environment modeling & simulation, multi-body dynamical systems.

Contact Dr. Eapen at reapen@psu.edu