Office Address:
MIT Room 37-381
70 Vassar St
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel: 617.324.6827
Fax: 617.258.5940
alvarso@mit.edu
Home Address:
790 Main St #8
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel: 617.699.7311
Permanent Address:
Corregidora #143
San Jeronimo Lidice
Mexico DF 10200 MEXICO
Tel [52] (55) 5683-4546
Mexican Citizenship
F1 Student VISA w/ OPT
authorized through 10/31/05
Alvar Saenz-Otero

Objective To obtain a research and development position in the Aerospace or Electrical Engineering/Computer Science industries where I can apply my knowledge and experiences to design, build, and operate (full product cycle) state-of-the-art products that enhance our knowledge and understanding of the fields.
 
Education 1994-2005: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA Relevant courses include: Circuits and Electronics, Signals & Systems, Feedback Systems, Communication System, Digital Design, Probabilistic Systems Analysis, Engineering Design Workshop, Digital Signal Processing, Linear Control Systems, and Artificial Intelligence. Humanities concentration in technical writing.
 
Experience Summer 2005 - present
MIT Space Systems Laboratory, Cambridge, MA, Prof. David Miller
MIT Department of Aernautics & Astronautics, Cambridge, MA, Prof. Wesley Harris
Post-doctoral Associate
  • Development of miniature embedded systems in the development of space technology research facilities for the SPHERES, MOST, EMFF, and future programs.
  • Support of SPHERES operations aboard the International Space Station.
  • Development of new departamental curriculum area in applied mission critical embedded systems and software
Summer 2000 - Spring 2005
MIT Space Systems Laboratory, Cambridge, MA, Prof. David Miller
Research Assistant
  • SPHERES Project: Satellite Formation Flight testbed for the development of separated spacecraft control algorithms in a micro-gravity environment.
  • Directly responsible for the development of the avionics system: main processor (TI DSP C6701), inertial navigation, digital wireless communications, propulsion control system, and software RTOS for SPHERES.
  • Participated in all major steps to obtain NASA authorization for flight to ISS, including NASA Safety Panel Phase 0/1/2 and 3, GUI development, and astronaut training.
  • Student lead in the development of the flight hardware.
  • Principal engineer in charge of design transfer to sub-contractor the developed the fight hardware (Payload Systems Inc.)
  • SPHERES is scheduled for launch to ISS on flight STS116, on October 2005. Operations are expected for at least eight months.

Spring 1999 - Spring 2000
MIT Space Systems Laboratory, Cambridge, MA, Prof. David Miller
Teaching Assistant

  • Teaching assistant for CDIO (Conceive, Design, Implement, Operate) capstone engineering design senior level class. Project (SPHERES) involved all stages of design and testing from conception to operation. 13 students.

Summer 1997-Fall 1998
MIT Space Systems Laboratory, Cambridge, MA
Undergraduate Research Opportunity Project

  • NASA "Origins" program involving the design of the Next Generation Space Telescope.
  • Programming of DSP (TI C40) controllers with C and C++ (PC, UNIX, and VX-Works).

Summer 1998
MIT Orientation, Cambridge, MA, Elizabeth Cogliano Young
Orientation Center Head

September 1997 - June 1998
MIT Aeronautics & Astronautics, Cambridge, MA, MIT, Prof. Dava Newman
Associate Advisor
 

Publications
  • Kong, E.M.C., Saenz-Otero, A, et al, "SPHERES as a Formation Flight Algorithm Development and Validation Testbed: Current Progress and Beyond", 2004 Formation Flight Symposium, Washington DC, September 2004
  • Saenz-Otero, A, "MIT Aero/Astro CDIO: Applications at the Undergraduate Level", Texas Instruments Developers Conference, University track presentation, Houston TX, Feb 18-20, 2004
  • Enright, John, Saenz-Otero, A, et al, "The SPHERES Guest Scientist Program: Collaborative Science On the ISS", 2004 IEEE Aerospace Conference, Montana, USA, IEEAC paper #1296
  • Miller, D.W., Kong, E.M.C., and Saenz-Otero, A., "Overview of the SPHERES Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking Laboratory on the International Space Station," 26th Annual AAS Guidance and Control Conference, Breckenridge, CO, 5-9 February, 2003
  • Saenz-Otero ,A, Miller, D, "The SPHERES ISS Laboratory for Rendezvous and Formation Flight", 5th International ESA Conference On Guidance, Navigation and Control Systems, Frascati, Italy, 22-25 October 2002, paper #29
  • Saenz-Otero, A, Chen, A, Miller, D, Hilstad, M, "SPHERES: Development of an ISS Laboratory for Formation Flight and Docking Research ", 2002 IEEE Aerospace Conference, Montana, USA, Mar 8-16, 2002, IEEEAC paper #081
  • Saenz-Otero, A., Miller, D. W., and Hilstad, M., "SPHERES: a Laboratory for Formation Flight and Docking Research", DCSS Conference, Cranfield University, Cambridge, UK, July 14-18, 2002
  • Chen, A, Saenz-Otero, A, Hilstad, M, Miller, D, "Development of Formation Flight and Docking Algorithms Using the SPHERES Testbed", 15th Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites, Utah, USA, Aug 13-16, 2001, SSC01-VIIIa-2
Awards
  • MIT Institute Award: Compton Price, 2003
  • MIT Institute Award: Stewart Award, 2002
  • AIAA NE Section 2002 College Student Achievement Award for SPHERES
  • Certificate of Recognition, City of Boston, 2002
  • MasterWorks 2001 Award, MIT EECS Department
  • Great Educators Award, MIT EECS, 1999
  • The Andrew G. Morsa Memorial Award, Aeronautics & Astronautics, 1998
  • Northern Telecom/BNR Project Award, Electrical Engineering, Fall 1996

Proficiencies Proficient in C, Pascal, Perl, Java, html, DSP BIOS, and C++. Experience with Oracle, SQL, IDL, and Scheme. Support all MS Windows OS's and networking. Skilled with MS Office, MatLab, Photoshop, Illustrator, and AutoCAD, among others.

Languages: Fluent in English and Spanish, some French.
 

Leadership & Activities
  • MIT Corporation Student Advisory Group on the Presidency, 2004
  • Director & Treasurer, MIT 2003 Career Fair
  • Chair, GSC Graduate Ring Committee 2003
  • Treasurer, Graduate Student Council (GSC) 2002-2003
  • President, Association of Student Activities 2001-2002
  • Governor, Tech Model Railroad Club 1998-2003
  • Mexican Students Association
  • Executive Committee, Lecture Series Committee (LSC) 1998
  • Organizer and Group Leader MIT Undergraduate Orientation 1998
  • Manager, MIT Pritchett Grill 1995-1998

 
References Prof. David Miller
MIT Room 37-327
77 Massachusetts Av.
Cambridge, MA 02139
617.253.3288
millerd@mit.edu
Dr. Larry Benedict
Dean for Student Life
MIT Room 4-110
77 Massachusetts Av.
Cambridge, MA 02139
617.253.4052
larryben@mit.edu
Prof. Dava Newman
MIT Aero/Astro
MIT Room 33-307
77 Massachusetts Av.
Cambridge, MA 02139
617.258.8799
dnewman@mit.edu