Graduate Student Selected as First Recipient of AEM Alumni Fellowship

Mel Nightingale, a third-year PhD student in the AEM department, is the inaugural recipient of the Michele Brekke Fellowship. Nightingale and several faculty members from the department recently had the opportunity to join Michele Brekke for lunch on campus.

During their PhD, Nightingale has been primarily focused on position, navigation, and timing research in space past our moon, referred to as deep space. Modern navigation tools, like GPS, cannot be used in this environment. Instead, Nightingale’s research has looked to using stars called pulsars and the signal they produce as a navigation beacon to come up with a solution for deep space navigation.

In order to reach this goal, there are two main steps. One is designing a sensor to better utilize these signals before launching a standalone mission that has an optimized detector and sensor package to look at the signal. The second part of the process is coming up with algorithms and simulations to find the navigation solution.

“The exciting next phase will be exploring cooperating satellites, which is using multiple spacecraft to take joint measurements, share information, and produce even better solutions once the hardware testing is complete,” says Nightingale.

Besides their research, Nightingale has also remained involved in the Small Satellite Research Laboratory (SSRL) and numerous other projects in the department.

Nightingale’s multi-faceted work in the department was among one of many factors that led to them being selected as the very first recipient of the Michele Brekke Fellowship. Before the excitement of receiving the fellowship could wear off, Nightingale was informed that they would also have the opportunity to meet Brekke at a lunch organized on campus. The experience was one that Nightingale won’t soon forget.

“I think the coolest part was hearing about her experience as a flight director and how it was something she worked really hard for and did well at,” recalls Nightingale. “Hearing about how she advanced her career within NASA and the challenges she faced before finding her niche spot where she could do what she wanted to do was inspirational.”

Michele Brekke received her Bachelors of Science in 1975 and her Masters of Science in 1977 from the AEM department. She would go on to join NASA’s Mission Control Center shortly after graduation and eventually became the first woman flight director at NASA. Brekke would hold various roles throughout the agency for 37 years before retiring.

Brekke also gave valuable advice and words of encouragement to Nightingale, guidance that has helped as they navigate their next steps.

“I've been trying to learn as much about what professors do, what research-active positions are available outside universities, and get a better idea of where PhD's fit into companies. I’m still figuring that out," Nightingale said. "Hopefully afterward I’ll be solving challenging problems that are interesting and advancing technology, that’s the dream. Based on Michelle Brekke’s advice, as long as I keep my options open, I’ll find something.”

With an open horizon ahead, Nightingale leaves the experience not with certainty about their destination, but with assurance that they’re on the right path.