Robyn Woollands was selected by the Association of Former Students for a 2017 Distinguished Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Research – Doctoral. Woollands received her doctorate in aerospace engineering from Texas A&M University in December. She was nominated by her advisor, Dr. John Junkins, Distinguished Professor of Aerospace Engineering, for her significant contributions to research.
The Distinguished Graduate Student Awards recognize the exemplary accomplishments of students pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees at Texas A&M.
Woollands’ research, while pursuing her doctoral degree, involved the development of software for improved satellite tracking. The software is currently being used by several industrial partners: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), the Air Force Research Laboratory, Applied Defense Solutions and Cummings Aerospace. Woollands has accepted an offer from JPL where she will work as a guidance and control engineer in the inner planets mission analysis group.
During her graduate studies, Woollands spent two summers interning at JPL developing advanced numerical integration software to aid in the solution of numerous orbit problems. She has authored 10 peer-reviewed journal papers, has two more currently under review and another two in preparation.
Prior to studying at Texas A&M, Woollands completed her Bachelor of Science in physics and her Master of Science in astronomy from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. While at Canterbury, she was selected to attend the International School for Young Astronomers, Malaysia, and she was selected to participate in the university’s Antarctic program and traveled to Antarctica to conduct scientific experiments. Following this, she completed a Master of Science in aerospace engineering at the University of Minnesota.
Woollands was among 16 distinguished students who were recognized at an awards ceremony Monday at the Stark Galleries at Texas A&M.