Sonali Sinha Roy
Graduate Student, Aeronautics and Astronautics
What are you are studying/what you are interested in studying and/or researching while at Purdue? If you have done internships or other applicable experiences, feel free to include them here.
I am a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics and my concentration area is Aerospace Systems. I have a keen interest in space mission engineering, system safety and risk assessment, mission assurance, and model-based systems engineering. My Ph.D. research focuses on risk assessment for complex space missions. Many modern space missions involve multiple interdependent spacecraft systems that fulfill different parts of a larger mission objective. A failure in any of these systems can impact the overall mission in the form of delays, cost additions, or even mission termination. In my research, I am developing a state-based probabilistic risk assessment framework that includes the system-level operations and operational risks in a mission-level model. This enables me to explore the relationship between a space mission and its constituent systems. For example, the framework can simulate different mission objectives and observe their impact on the system-level failure probabilities. It can also identify the effect of different system-level risks on the overall mission outcomes. This approach can be used for end-to-end mission analysis and comparison of alternative mission architectures. I intend for this framework to be useful for risk-informed decision-making in the planning and development stages of space missions. Apart from my dissertation research, I have worked on several other projects related to areas like reconfigurable spacecraft formations, space debris mitigation, and urban air mobility. I am preparing for an internship at the Idaho National Laboratory in Summer 2024, through which I hope to develop new skills and hone my existing ones.
What made you want to join the Leading Women Toward Space Careers program?
The Leading Women Toward Space Careers program is an exciting opportunity for students to find mentors and peers who can enrich their professional journey. I wanted to meet and talk to all the wonderfully accomplished women in this program and learn from their experiences, in the hope that their advice and guidance would help me navigate the challenges of starting a career as an aerospace engineer. Talking to professionals in various stages of their careers and with different career trajectories will give me an idea of the many possibilities for my future, thereby helping me understand and refine my path forward. I have found many mentors and friends through past networking opportunities, and I can turn to them for guidance when I need it. I anticipate that I will be able to forge many more such relationships through the Leading Women Toward Space Careers program.
What area would you like to work in after graduation? (What career path, interests, opportunities, etc., would you like to accomplish? What field are you interested in?)
I intend to pursue a career as a systems engineer in the space industry. My long-term goal is to ensure the safety and success of space missions as a mission/program management executive. I hope my multidisciplinary experience in aerospace projects, my intuitive understanding of space mission risks, and my natural inclination for leadership will enable me to integrate, manage, and execute large-scale space programs or missions.
