Robyn Woollands
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Education
- BS Physics, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2006
- MS Astronomy, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2008
- Graduate Certificate Antarctic Studies, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2008
- MS Aerospace Engineering, University of Minnesota, 2010
- PhD Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University, 2016
Academic Positions
- Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M, 2017
- Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University, 2017-2020
- Assistant Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2021-present (100%)
Other Professional Employment
- Mission Design Engineer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 2017-2020; JPL Affiliate (2021-present)
- Junior Scientist, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Nova Neutrino Detector, University of Minnesota, 2011-2012
Research Interests
- Optimization
- Astrodynamics
- Space Mission Design
- Picard-Chebyshev Methods
- High-fidelity Propagation
- Space Domain Awareness
Research Areas
Selected Articles in Journals
- “Nonlinear Differential Equations Solvers via Adaptive Picard-Chebyshev Iteration: Applications in Astrodynamics”, R.M. Woollands and J.L. Junkins, Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics, May, 2019.
- “Efficient Computation of Optimal Low Thrust Perturbed Orbit Transfers”, R.M. Woollands, E. Taheri and J.L. Junkins, Journal of Astronautical Sciences, May, 2019.
- "Maximizing Dust Devil Follow-up Observations on Mars using Cubesats and On-board Scheduling", R.M. Woollands, F. Rossi, T. Stegun Vaquero, M. Sanchez Net, S. Bae, V. Bickel, J. Vander Hook, Journal of Astronautical Sciences, May 2022.
- Analytical Radial Adaptive Method for Spherical Harmonic Gravity Models", A.M. Atallah, A. Bani Younes, R.M. Woollands, J.L. Junkins, Journal of Astronautical Sciences, May 2022.
Honors
- Distinguished Graduate Student Doctoral Award, Texas A&M University (2017)
- John V. Breakwell Student Paper Award, AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference (2015)
- Outstanding Achievement in Guidance, Navigation and Control, Student Paper Award, AAS Guidance, Navigation & Control Conference (2014)
Recent Courses Taught
- AE 402 - Orbital Mechanics
- AE 403 - Spacecraft Attitude Control
- AE 502 - Advanced Orbital Mechanics
- AE 508 - Optimal Space Trajectories