Undergraduate Interns 2023

I am a second-year Ph.D. student in the School of Geography, Development and Environment at the University of Arizona. My research challenges environmental racism by integrating remote sensing for flood detection with the lived experience of marginalized Latinx communities along the US-Mexico border. Utilizing the human-centered design concept of co-production, in which research and community-member are equal contributors of knowledge production, I collaborate with community-based flood justice advocacy organizations in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Through these partnerships my research supports community-based organizations in their ongoing challenge against environmental racism and structural inequality. This research design requires ongoing knowledge exchanges with a diversity of organizations and community-members. In these knowledge exchange sessions, or workshops, I learn a great deal about the individualized experiences of flood vulnerability while sharing the opportunities of remote sensing as a powerful tool for challenging flood injustice. These workshops are a core element of my collaborative ethos, research design, and signal the importance of ongoing science communication and outreach. 

Kevin Chew Figueroa is a 3rd year PhD student specializing in Computational Imaging at the University of Arizona - Wyant College of Optical Sciences. He received his MS degree from the University of Southern California (USC) in Computer Science - Data Science (specializing in machine Learning, computer graphics, discrete differential geometry) and obtained his BS in Electrical & Computer Engineering (specializing in digital control systems, FPGA design, DSP) from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (CPP). He possesses a wide breadth of lab experience across a myriad of fields. This includes wet lab/biochemistry research at California Institute of Technology (Caltech), as well as synthesizing chemotherapy drug-loaded nanoparticles at California State University Los Angeles (CSULA); Dry lab/hardware work in semiconductor design, circuit analysis, signal processing, microcontroller and microprocessor design, digital control systems; and development of a 16-bit RISC single cycle processor implemented on a FPGA at CPP. He is also the recipient of the Joseph W. Goodman Graduate Student Endowed Scholarship in Optical Sciences and was one of two finalists in the international Meta (Facebook) Photonics & Optics 2022 Ph.D. Research Fellowship Competition.

Kevin's 2023 NASA research proposal, “Seeing beyond the Diffraction Limit” lies at the intersection of optical physics, computational imaging, computer vision and deep learning. He is currently under the mentorship of Prof. David Brady, with his current research goal: to contribute to emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies for array cameras utilizing Fourier Ptychography. Using long-range imaging beyond the diffraction limit and telescope arrays meant for 3D tracking and cataloging, he will pursue untracked small space debris posing threats to manned space flights and civil and military space operations.

Kevin’s research will allow for rapid development, immediate testing, generalizability over a multitude of physical phenomena, and swapping of various optical components. His work will hinge on the use of imaging modalities coupled with the latest deep neural architectures that are focused on procedurally generated 3D multiphysics-accurate space debris data. This data includes phase, polarization, coherent-effects, time-domain effects, or even optical-misalignment faced by multi-aperture systems. In addition to the research, Kevin has planned to pursue outreach opportunities with K-12 students. Kevin will be creating videos (sample here on YouTube) and a comic book focused on this research aimed at middle school, high school and community college students.

I am a second-year Ph.D student in the Department of Materials Science, and am working with Dr. Minkyu Kim to study and characterize materials for environmental safety. Previously, I attended the University of Wisconsin - Madison where I received my B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, and my current research focuses on novel bio-inspired materials as active and passive dust suppressant agents. These materials aim to reduce the generation of harmful particulate matter into the atmosphere, such as sand, soil, and mining byproducts, which are extremely detrimental to air pollution levels. Atmospheric particulate matter on Earth is also harmful to human and environmental health, so more efficient dust suppressing materials are needed to reduce these harmful effects. These novel dust management materials also have potential to be applied in non-terrestrial applications to manage lunar or extraterrestrial dust on future space missions.

I am looking forward to new opportunities for learning and outreach through the NASA Space Grant Fellowship, and I’m excited to find more ways to communicate about my work to the public. My own exposure to STEM through outreach as a younger student was what brought me to the field of engineering as an undergrad and graduate student, and I would like to also help show how fun STEM is to other students and young adults!

I am a third year Ph.D student at the Wyant College of Optical Sciences. My research involves using channeled polarimetry in the thermal IR to investigate characteristics of cirrus ice clouds. These clouds affect the Earth's radiation budget and are a major source of uncertainty in current climate models. Since light becomes polarized after interacting with particles in the atmosphere, polarization measurements contain information about the micro-physical properties of these clouds. In my first year of Space Grant, I created a week-long optical sciences class for 4th-7th graders for an educational program called Nerding. This class ran two times in June 2023 and has been permanently added to Nerding’s summer program list. In my second year, I will continue working with the Nerding teachers to improve the curriculum for next summer, as well as adapting the class to be offered in Nerding’s after school program.

I am a fourth-year graduate student in the physics department doing computational astrophysics research with Prof. Vasileios Paschalidis. I use computer simulations to model the structure of neutron stars and the light we observe from them. These stars are left over from supernova explosions, and they contain the densest matter and strongest magnetic fields in the universe. Studying them can help us understand many mysteries in fundamental physics and the history of our universe, as well as help us build new space technologies. We have increasingly advanced telescopes to observe these stars, but we need equally advanced models if we want to discover everything that they can teach us. I am excited to increase my involvement in outreach through this fellowship so I can bring more of the joy and awe that astronomy and physics have brought me to the public. I also hope to broaden ideas about what being a scientist looks like.

As a third-year Ph.D. student in the Applied Mathematics Program, my primary area of investigation is in astrobiology, focusing on the potential habitability of Jupiter's icy moon, Europa. In collaboration with Professor Regis Ferriere and colleagues, I am working on developing mathematical models that simulate and assess the possible conditions of Europa's potential subsurface biosphere.

These models are comprehensive, incorporating simulations of geochemistry, plume composition, cell metabolism, and ecosystem dynamics. A key component of our approach is the application of a Bayesian statistical framework, which facilitates the estimation of probabilities for alternate hypotheses. Importantly, this Bayesian approach enables us to analyze forthcoming data from the NASA Europa Clipper and ESA JUICE missions, helping us ascertain whether the evidence suggests abiotic processes or potential signs of life. This will enrich our understanding of Europa and other icy moons, informing future exploration and the search for extraterrestrial life.

As a NASA Space Grant fellow and an instructor for SkySchool at the University of Arizona, I look forward to bringing the scientific insights from my research to audiences of all ages. By leveraging public outreach, I aim to foster a broader appreciation for mathematical models, astrobiology, and space exploration with the goal of inspiring the next generation of scientists to further uncover the mysteries of the cosmos.