Mission to Mars: CMU Alumni Discuss Their Work on Perseverance Rover

When
May 3, 2022 4:00pm - May 3, 2022 5:00pm

Where
Virtual Panel - ET

Description
What comes next in our collective human endeavor to Mars? Let's journey together to find out! Join the School of Computer Science as we explore the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover mission through the insider eyes of three SCS alumni at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Hear about their experiences, and then participate in a live Q&A moderated by space enthusiast and GeekWire editor Alan Boyle. REGISTER→ Registration for the event is required. Featuring:

► Emily Newman, Software Systems Engineer, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory — Emily Newman joined JPL in 2019 shortly after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University with an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Robotics. She was the lead developer for the telemetry processing backend of the Mars 2020 Entry Descent Landing visualization, which was used to display Perseverance’s landing live to millions of viewers. She has also worked on other projects within the Mission Control Systems section, including a cybersecurity network visualization and a system for storing mission data. She currently works on robotic operations for the Curiosity rover. ► Andrew Johnson, Principal Robotics System Engineer, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory — Since joining JPL in 1997, Dr. Andrew E. Johnson has been developing technologies and flight systems for autonomous navigation and mapping during descent to planets, moons, comets and asteroids. For the Mars Exploration Rovers, he was lead developer for the Descent Image Motion Estimation System, and on Mars 2020 he led the development of the Lander Vision System that provided surface relative position estimates for Terrain Relative Navigation. He was also the manager of the Mars 2020 Guidance Navigation and Control subsystem which included cruise, EDL and surface mission functions. ► Vandi Verma, Deputy Manager for Mobility and Robotics Systems, Chief Engineer of Robotic Operations for Mars 2020 Perseverance & Ingenuity, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory — Dr. Vandi Verma is the Deputy Manager for Mobility and Robotics Systems at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Chief Engineer of Robotic Operations for Mars 2020 Perseverance and Ingenuity. She has worked on Space Robotics and AI research and technology development tasks and has designed, developed, and operated rovers on Mars. She leads about 170 JPL roboticists developing new technology for future missions and working on a variety of JPL robotic missions. She has been engaged in robotic operations on Mars since 2008 with the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity rover, Perseverance rover, and Ingenuity helicopter. ► Alan Boyle, Contributing Editor, GeekWire — Alan Boyle is a journalist specializing in science, space and technology news. He worked for MSNBC.com and NBC News Digital as science editor from 1996 to 2015. In 2015, he became aerospace and science editor for GeekWire, and continues to write for GeekWire as a contributing editor. He is the author of "The Case for Pluto," and is also past president of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing, the official mastermind of Cosmic Log (est. 2002) and the host of the Fiction Science podcast.