Sameera Ponda, Aerospace Engineer
In her first year at MIT, Sam took "Introduction to Aerospace Engineering and Design,” a class where she learned what engineering was all about. The final project was to build a balloon-style blimp that could fly around the gym as fast as possible. Enjoying the application of math and science towards practical purposes, she decided to major in Aerospace Engineering. Sam went on to receive her PhD from MIT in the same field, focusing on how to design controllers for aerial vehicles and how to oversee autonomous fleet management and operations in uncertain environments.
These experiences led Sam to Loon, where she leads the Planning, Simulation, and Controls software team, developing algorithms for balloon navigation, autonomous fleet management, wind fusion and forecasting, monitoring fleet health and safety, and simulating future projected paths. Sam and her team also work closely with the business and engineering teams to analyze balloon performance and make decisions about the overall system, such as fleet sizing, how many batteries and solar panels we need, and what our optimal antenna choices are.