Aerospace engineering student aiming high

Aerospace student Atilla Saadat holds an avionics bay, which will log the altitude of a rocketAerospace student Atilla Saadat holds an avionics bay, which will log the altitude of a rocket he is building with a team of UWindsor students.

A UWindsor student studying aerospace engineering is one of four province-wide to receive an Ontario Aerospace Council scholarship.

Atilla Saadat, a third-year mechanical engineering student in the aerospace stream, received a $2,500 scholarship for academic achievement and his work outside the classroom. Saadat is the founder and space systems technical lead of the University of Windsor Space & Aeronautics Team (WinSAT), a multi-disciplinary group of more than 30 students building a space-ready 3U Cube Satellite for Low Earth Orbit to compete in the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge.

“His work has already demonstrated a tangible impact at UWindsor, as WinSAT aims to increase the space and aeronautics engineering opportunities at our institution,” says Afshin Rahimi, an assistant professor in the University’s Department of Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering.

In his first year of studies, Saadat designed a prototype lunar rover for Canadensys Aerospace in Toronto and joined the University of Windsor Rocketry Team to help create and test a small aerodynamic data acquisition module for post-launch simulation of the rocket. Last year, he worked at Mujin Inc. in Tokyo, Japan as a Robotics Engineering Intern, developing a Dynamics Identification Feature for industrial robots, which is now used by industry.

Saadat is now aiding Dr. Rahimi on a research project that uses ensemble machine learning techniques for fault detection and isolation in ADCS systems for satellites.