The Big Picture

I am a PhD¹ candidate in Carnegie Mellon University. I joined the program in Process Systems Engineering in September, 2002. My advisor is Dr. Lorenz T. Biegler, for whom I have great appreciation and admiration.

Before joining Carnegie Mellon, I studied my B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering at Universidad Iberoamericana in my beloved Mexico City.

I am currently working as an intern for Analytical Mechanics Associates, designing optimal Earth-Moon trajectories to help NASA evaluate given mission scenarios.

My Research

My line of research is Systems Engineering. I'm specially interested in Aerospace and Astronautic systems engineering. Due to the existance of many branches in such a complex field, I'm currently focusing in the following aspects:

design, control, and optimization of spacecraft trajectories,
analysis and optimization of low-thrust and low-energy trajectories,
real time optimal navigation, and
feasibility analysis of space colonization concepts.

I try to remain in the middlepoint between tactical and strategic mission design, as I believe they are intimatelly related (a fact that is often overlooked).

The Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro) field has always been appealing to me. The unatainable immensity of space can not be but a source of dreams and inspiration. The very best of our engineering is trying to keep up with our long standing desire of going farther in distance and further in understanding.

Space harbors many hopes for humanity. We most keep doing our best to reach a tiny part of the infinity surrounding us. Let me borrow the words of largely superior spirits:

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (Константин Эдуардович Циолковский): The Earth is the cradle of mankind, but one cannot live in the cradle forever.

Systems Engineering

Systems Engineering (SE) looks from above. It coordinates the solution of a problem as a whole. It does not only consider individual parts of the solution, but how do the parts join together to solve the full problem.

Mathematics can provide a consistent —unequivocal— description of large and complex systems; they are the language we choose to do so.

The following are important examples of systems

The Mars Rover Sojourner
The Hubble Space Telescope
An oil refinery or a nuclear power plant
A Ferrari

SE is necesarily multidisciplinary. One-sided thinking can be catastrophic. For that reason, I consider my backgound in Chemical Engineering an asset, rather than a drawback when it comes to approach AeroAstro problems.

1: PhD is the abreviation of the latin word Philosophiae Doctor (Doctor of Philosophy). It is now accepted to write it as presented, ommiting the periods and space in between (as in Ph. D.). A PhD corresponds to an academic degree (it is not the same as a Doctorate degree) granted by a university to an individual who has produced original research and received aproval of his/her peers in a specific field of knowledge . An interesting discussion about the term, can be found in Wikipedia.

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» List of Publications » Conferences Calendar » AMA-Access » Curriculum Vitae » A section for my Astrodynamics Fellows » Aerospace Optimization » Optimal Low-Thrust Orbit Transfers » Earth-Moon Trajectories » Nonlinear Analysis in Celestial Mechanics » Ephemerides Interpolation » Large-Scale Optimal Control » Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC)	The Big Picture I am a PhD¹ candidate in Carnegie Mellon University. I joined the program in Process Systems Engineering in September, 2002. My advisor is Dr. Lorenz T. Biegler, for whom I have great appreciation and admiration. Before joining Carnegie Mellon, I studied my B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering at Universidad Iberoamericana in my beloved Mexico City. I am currently working as an intern for Analytical Mechanics Associates, designing optimal Earth-Moon trajectories to help NASA evaluate given mission scenarios. My Research My line of research is Systems Engineering. I'm specially interested in Aerospace and Astronautic systems engineering. Due to the existance of many branches in such a complex field, I'm currently focusing in the following aspects: design, control, and optimization of spacecraft trajectories, analysis and optimization of low-thrust and low-energy trajectories, real time optimal navigation, and feasibility analysis of space colonization concepts. I try to remain in the middlepoint between tactical and strategic mission design, as I believe they are intimatelly related (a fact that is often overlooked). The Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro) field has always been appealing to me. The unatainable immensity of space can not be but a source of dreams and inspiration. The very best of our engineering is trying to keep up with our long standing desire of going farther in distance and further in understanding. Space harbors many hopes for humanity. We most keep doing our best to reach a tiny part of the infinity surrounding us. Let me borrow the words of largely superior spirits: Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (Константин Эдуардович Циолковский): The Earth is the cradle of mankind, but one cannot live in the cradle forever. Systems Engineering Systems Engineering (SE) looks from above. It coordinates the solution of a problem as a whole. It does not only consider individual parts of the solution, but how do the parts join together to solve the full problem. Mathematics can provide a consistent —unequivocal— description of large and complex systems; they are the language we choose to do so. The following are important examples of systems The Mars Rover Sojourner The Hubble Space Telescope An oil refinery or a nuclear power plant A Ferrari SE is necesarily multidisciplinary. One-sided thinking can be catastrophic. For that reason, I consider my backgound in Chemical Engineering an asset, rather than a drawback when it comes to approach AeroAstro problems. 1: PhD is the abreviation of the latin word Philosophiae Doctor (Doctor of Philosophy). It is now accepted to write it as presented, ommiting the periods and space in between (as in Ph. D.). A PhD corresponds to an academic degree (it is not the same as a Doctorate degree) granted by a university to an individual who has produced original research and received aproval of his/her peers in a specific field of knowledge . An interesting discussion about the term, can be found in Wikipedia.
(C) 2002-2007 Juan José Arrieta—Camacho last modification: 011008@140308EDT