Harvard University CubeSat (HuCSat)
Mechanical Lead
September 2024 to December 2025
HuCSat is a 2U CubeSat scheduled for launch through NASA’s prestigious CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) in the April 2026. It’s been fully assembled and vibe tested and awaiting handof on January of 2026. The primary focus of our payload design is to explore the innovative use of nitinol, a shape memory alloy, to deploy and actuate solar panels, offering a novel alternative to traditional motor-driven mechanisms. We are using a Sarrus linkage mechanism.
As the mechanical team lead, I coordinated the integration of mechanical components with electrical and software subsystems, ensuring interface compatibility and alignment across the full satellite. I oversaw tolerance analyses, structural layouts, and iterative prototyping to mitigate integration risk early in the design cycle, and I lead environmental testing efforts to validate mechanical and thermal performance under representative launch and on-orbit conditions. In addition, I supervised the development of detailed assembly and integration guides, defining assembly order, fastener specifications, handling procedures, and verification steps to ensure repeatable and reliable spacecraft builds. My role also included coordinating subsystem-level mechanical requirements, managing design reviews, and supporting system-level integration to ensure the CubeSat meets both functional and mission constraints.
Orbital & Thermal Simulations
I developed orbital and thermal simulations to predict HUCSat’s temperature behavior across sunlit and eclipse phases, starting from a simplified Python-based physics model and progressively increasing fidelity. By prioritizing first-principles energy balance and orbital geometry over CAD complexity, I built validated transient thermal models that preserved the underlying physics while remaining computationally tractable. These simulations informed thermal margins and mechanical design decisions, ensuring robust performance across the mission’s orbital environment.