Current Undergraduate Studets
Carissa Vos
Education: Mechanical Engineering (Senior) – Colorado State University
Bio: I’m Carissa Vos and I am the team lead for this year’s NASA robotic mining competition team at CSU. I have a long time passion for robotics and I have been involved with FIRST robotics for more than 10 years. Over the last 6 years I interned with multiple companies including Woodward, Tolmar, and Poudre Valley REA. Currently I am an Automation Engineering Intern at Kodak Alaris and in May 2022, I will graduate with my B.S. in mechanical engineering. I am thrilled to continue exploring the field of robotics by competing in the NASA robotic mining competition team.
Hunter Pearson
Education: Mechanical Engineering (Senior) – Colorado State University
Bio: I am Hunter Pearson, the mechanical team lead for the NASA Robotic Mining Competition Team. I have interned companies such as Hewlett Packard and Poudre Valley REA and currently I work as an Engineering Intern at Muller Technologies, where I design industrial robots. I have been in FIRST robotics for many years, which was the catalyst for my love of robotics. I am looking forward to continuing my passion for robots. I’m a Fort Collins local, and proud to be a CSU Ram (Go Rams).
Mike Irlbeck
Education: Mechanical Engineering (Senior) – Colorado State University
Bio: My name is Mike Irlbeck. I have industry experience with CNCs, system assembly and wire dress out, and mechanical design. Additionally, I am interested in software development.
After graduating, I am going into a career in robotic welding.
Noah Kolda
Education: Mechanical Engineering (Senior) – Colorado State University
Bio: My name is Noah Kolda. I am experienced in CAD, prototyping, and I have many years of mechanical experience through working as a bike mechanic. Currently I am working towards a career in the aerospace industry.
Logan Litchfield
Education: Mechanical Engineering (Senior) – Colorado State University
Bio: My name is Logan Litchfield and I am a senior at Colorado State majoring in mechanical engineering! I am very excited for the opportunity to work on the NASA Robotic Mining Competition Team as it blends several of my interests, such as space exploration and mechanical engineering. I am thrilled to be using and developing several skills I have, such as mechanical design/modeling, fabrication, assembly and testing/integration. Aside from my academic interests, I am from Gilbert, Iowa and love to show cattle, water/snow ski, watch/play football, and work in agriculture!
Zelin Yang
Education: Mechanical Engineering (Senior) – Colorado State University
Bio: I’m Zelin Yang and come from China. I love sports, fitness, and basketball. For careers, I would like to be engaged in robotics, advanced manufacturing, and machine learning in the future. I am proficient in CFD & FEA, CAD, Matlab, C++, Machine Design, and Good Teamwork and Communication.
Ryan Bushue
Education: Electrical Engineering (Senior) – Colorado State University
Bio: My name is Ryan Bushue and I am a senior in electrical engineering here at Colorado State. I love engineering and working on challenging group projects and am super excited for this year’s NASA RMC! I enjoy many aspects of both the mechanical and electrical challenges of the project and hope to learn a lot from it. I really want to learn and get more experience working in the aerospace industry with a focus on system controls, mechatronics, or integration which is one of the main reasons I am on this project. In my free time, I love spending time with friends outdoors and have recently been playing a lot of disc golf and volleyball. In the future, I ideally would want to work for a small startup commercial aerospace company but would be excited if I ended up doing anything related to space and space exploration
Dylan Clem
Education: Electrical Engineering (Senior) – Colorado State University
Bio: I am a current senior Electrical Engineer looking to work in the Aerospace or robotics industry. When I have free time, I love to read, hang out with friends, play video games, or play basketball and volleyball. I wanted to work on the NASA mining project due to the great skills that will be learned or polished while working on the automated mining robot. I hope to use the skills and connections I develop this year to further the human development of space!
Corbyn Berg
Education: Mechanical Engineering (Senior) – Colorado State University
Bio: My name is Corbyn Berg, and I am a senior in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado Springs, CO. I have an interest in robotics and mechatronics, and I will be a member of the controls team for this year’s project. I have a career interest in robotics, and I’m excited to gain experience on this year’s RMC team!
Myong Seob Kim
Education: Computer Engineering (Senior) – Colorado State University
Bio: My name is Myong Seob Kim who is senior majoring in Computer Engineering. As an international student coming from South Korea, I’m excited to be part of controls team member in NASA RMC with various types of engineering students and different cultural backgrounds. In engineering career have experiences with coding Java, Python, C, MATLAB, C++ as well as machine language. I worked as the office assistance in Housing and Dining Services at Colorado State University to experience diversity and multi-culture. In the future, I would like to work as a translator/gateway between Korean and American tech companies. Aside from academics/work, I spend my free time playing the flute, baseball and video games.
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Jianguo zhao, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Site director – NSF I/UCRC for Center Next Generation Photovoltaics
Education: B. Tech. 1980, Indian Institute of Technology – Mechanical Engineering
M.E. 1982, Arizona State University – Mechanical Engineering
Ph.D. 1985, Arizona State University – Mechanical Engineering
Research Interest: Making PV electricity a major source of energy worldwide by optimizing CdTe based material processing that can be developed to be scalable and commercialized at affordable cost.
