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EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

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EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY

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GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

B.S. Aerospace Engineering '19

Concentration: Astronautics
Minors: Computational and Applied Mathematics
Orgs:
McNair Scholar
Office of Undergraduate Research Ambassador
American Institute Aeronautics and Astronautics
National Society of Collegiate Scholars
Embry-Riddle Dancing Eagles (Founder)
ERAU Society of Women in Space Exploration
ERAU National Society of Black Engineers
ERAU Experimental Rocket Propulsion Lab
ERAU Kappa Mu Epsilon, National Mathematical Honor Society

Aerospace Engineering PhD Student

High-Power Electric Propulsion Lab

Orgs:

GEM Fellow

NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Fellow

GT Black Graduate Students Association

My Work: My Work

RESEARCH

My Work: Projects
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SUB-KILOWATT ELECTRIC PROPULSION PROJECT (SKEP)

Pathways Intern

NASA Glenn Research Center

Summer '18

SKEP is a small sub-kilowatt hall-effect thruster project. My responsibilities ranging from systems to testing. For systems, I worked on the requirements matrixand performed a literature review on the propulsion trade space. Participated in test build-up and served as test operator for anode orifice testing, anode flow uniformity mapping, LM1 thruster tests, and thruster characterization. Calculated discharge coefficient measurements, generated data visualization, and test statistics, and supported data analysis.

LANL VECTOR PARTICLE-IN-CELL SIMULATION OF PLASMA FLOW IN A HALL EFFECT THRUSTER

GEM Fellow/Graduate Research Scientist

Los Alamos National Laboratories

Summer '19

Ran large-scale, parallel simulations of collisionless plasmas using LANL's Vector Particle-in-Cell code (VPIC), a fully relativistic kinetic code that solves the Maxwell-Boltzmann equations in an energy-conserving scheme. Initially examined shock development in mildly relativistic, unmagnetized collisionless counter-streaming flows (applicable to a wide range of astrophysical problems). Developed Hall Effect thruster (HET) model for VPIC by determining the relevant PIC parameters to model the HET in VPIC. Then explored the effect of varying ion-to-electron mass ratios in the HET simulations, employing an ion-to-electron mass ratio of up to 1000. Discovered plasma instabilities appear more readily as the mass ratio increases.

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ALBUS CUBESAT

Pathways Intern

NASA Glenn Research Center

Summer '17

This project was performed while at my summer internship as a NASA Glenn Pathways student. I worked as the Assembly Integration and Test Systems engineer on a high-power density CubeSat. Responsible for writing the environmental test plans (Random Shock and Vibrations, Deployer Fit Check, and Thermal Vacuum Tests) for the flight hardware as well as performing a dry run of the Thermal Vacuum test. Designed test hardware and the electronics stack up to mimic flight hardware for test to validate thermal models and test profiles for the run for records test with the flight hardware.

PRESENTATIONS

Technical

LA Astro Distinguished Seminar Series – ‘VPIC simulations of Astrophysical Outflows and Hall Thrusters’, 2019 

Los Alamos National Lab Student Research Symposium, August 2019 

American Institute Aeronautics and Astronautics Space and Astronautics Forum, September 2018 

American Institute Aeronautics and Astronautics Propulsion and Energy Forum, July 2018 

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Discovery Day, April 2018 

Region 3 National Society of Black Engineers Fall Regional Conference Research Symposium, Nov. 2017 

Florida International University McNair Undergraduate Research Conference, Oct. 2017 

Non-Technical

2020 Space Gals x Engineering Gals Youtube Live Seminar - Speaker and Panelist

2020 Annual STEM Conference, St. Mark's School of Texas - Speaker and Panelist

2019 Empowerment: Making and shaping History: Women in Space Science, University of Louisville - Keynote Speaker

2018 NSBE Jr. Presentation, Mt. Sinai Church Orlando - Keynote

My Work: Text

Song: Able by Pharrell *I do not own the rights to this song*

VOLUNTEER WORK

STEAM Outreach

Vision of Flight, Orlando - Volunteer

Tech Sassy Girlz, Orlando - Speaker, Volunteer

Dreams Soar Inc., Daytona Beach - Volunteer

100 Girls of Code, Conyers - Volunteer, Workshop Host

Freedom Middle School Project Lead the Way, Orlando - Speaker

iRise2STEAM, Daytona Beach - Speaker, Workshop Host, Volunteer

BEST Academy, Los Alamos - Speaker, Volunteer

My Work: Text

PUBLICATIONS LIST

Sub-Kilowatt Electric Propulsion (SKEP)

Benavides GF, Kamhawi H, Liu T, Pinero LR, Sarver-Verhey TR, Rhodes CR, Yim J, Mackey J, Gray TG, Butler-Craig NI, Myers JL. "Development of a High-Propellant Throughput Small Spacecraft Electric Propulsion System to Enable Lower Cost NASA Science Missions." AIAA Propulsion and Energy 2019 Forum. 2019.

Benavides, G., Liu, T., Kamhawi, H., Yim, J., Verhey, T., Rhodes, C., Pinero, L., Butler-Craig, N., Meyers, J., Gray, T., Mackey, J.  “Performance, Stability, and Wear Characterization of a Sub-Kilowatt Hall Thruster,” IEPC (2019) 

Presentation: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20190030680.pdf 

Senior Capstone: CubeSat Microgravity Experiment 

Cox, S., Engel, J., Butler-Craig, N., Gaddes, Joseph., Schaffer, A., Guevarez, T., Stinne, T., White, Z. "CubeSat Payload to Explore the Effects of Space Radiation Exposure on Cell Population Growth." (2019).

Advanced Electrical Bus (ALBus) CubeSat

Naia I. Butler-Craig. “An Investigation of the Thermal Behavior of High-Power Density 3U CubeSats Capable of Supporting High Impulse Missions,” 2018 Joint Propulsion Conference, AIAA Propulsion and Energy Forum, (AIAA 2018-4972)

Butler-Craig, Naia I. (2018) "An Investigation of the System Architecture of High-Power Density 3U CubeSats Capable of Supporting High Impulse Missions," McNair Scholars Research Journal: Vol. 5, Article 6.

LANL Vector Particle-In-Cell Sim of Plasma Flow in Hall-Effect Thruster

Poster available upon request.

My Work: List
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