Ansh Pathak - Aerospace research · US patent

US patent holder for SWEEP, a space-debris capture platform presented at AAS 248. Seven papers and preprints, and a flight simulator validated to 1.5% against a Boeing 737-800.

I am a driven and adept senior at Heritage High School with a strong passion for STEM fields, especially aerospace engineering and quantum mechanics. Backed by 7+ years of programming and engineering experience and a demonstrated ability to solve complex problems and create innovative solutions, I actively seek opportunities to pursue professional development, innovate, lead, and apply my skills in real-world projects through hands-on work, rigor, and impactful collaborations.

Heritage High School, Frisco, TX. Email: pathakansh10@gmail.com

Research (7 papers and preprints)

Space Debris Mitigation (2025, AAS 248 - Pasadena, CA): SWEEP, a US-patented spacecraft that captures orbital debris, compacts it into dense pellets, and fires them out of orbit from electromagnetic railguns - using the recoil to maneuver. Presented at AAS 248.
Traffic Optimization Through Fluid Dynamics (2026, Pending): Treats traffic as fluid flow, using Navier-Stokes modeling to find bottlenecks and predict congestion waves in real time, then issues adaptive speed guidance that dissipates them faster than passive routing.
Probabilistic Optimization of Continuous-Morphing Airfoil Geometries via Gaussian Process Surrogates and QAOA-Based Discrete Sampling (2025, Pending): Pairs Gaussian-process surrogate models with a quantum sampler (QAOA) to search morphing-airfoil shapes. The best design, checked in XFOIL, cut drag 9.3% and raised lift 37% over a NACA 2412 baseline.
Which Error Sources Dominate Hybrid Quantum–Classical Inertial Navigation? A Sobol’ Variance Decomposition Across Atmospheric GNSS-Denied and Cislunar Regimes (2026, Preprint): An open-source simulator of a cold-atom and classical hybrid navigator. Across 27,648 runs it holds a median 7.6 m after five minutes of GNSS jamming - 4.9× tighter than classical-only - and shows which error sources dominate.
The Joint Pareto Envelope of Heliocentric Circular Displaced Non-Keplerian Orbits Under the McInnes Optical Sail Force Model (2026, Preprint): Maps which solar-sail orbits stay reachable once a realistic optical sail replaces the ideal reflector: required lightness rises a median 1.23×, and a 55.5° thrust-cone ceiling removes 4.9% of the Earth-synchronous family.
Rao Revisited: A Reproducible Pareto Atlas of Supersonic Nozzle Contours via the Method of Characteristics with Compressible Boundary-Layer Correction (2026, Preprint · Open dataset): nozzlemoc, an open, tested Method-of-Characteristics reference implementation for supersonic rocket-nozzle design with a DOI-archived paper and dataset. It matches the textbook benchmark to 0.011%, reproduces the 1952 NACA Mach-10 nozzle, and finds a near-universal 0.550 turning ratio.
A Wave-Count Stability Atlas for the Koch–Kurosaka–Knowlen–Kutz Rotating Detonation Engine Analog (2026, Preprint · Open dataset): A rotating detonation engine picks its own wave count - push more propellant in and it jumps from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 waves. 5,856 GPU simulations build the first two-parameter regime map of the standard reduced-order model, checked against engine data from six laboratories.

Projects

SWEEP: US-patented platform that captures orbital debris, compacts it into pellets, and fires them out of orbit - the recoil doubles as thrust
FlowState: Calibrated digital twins of real highway corridors that test smoothing controllers and variable speed limits against stop-and-go waves
STRATOS: Subsonic flight-performance simulator, validated to 1.5% against Boeing 737-800 stall speed
PORKCHOP: Lambert-solver Δv maps and multi-flyby Grand Tours, checked against Voyager 2 flyby dates and Perseverance C3
Propulsion Studio: Assemble any of 9+ propulsion families and read live thrust, specific impulse, and thermal load
Data Science Libraries: R libraries used internationally on Quarto-based data-science teaching templates
The Resonance Foundation: Student-led 501(c)(3) bringing music to people without the financial means to pursue it

Awards

NASA TAS Moonshot - 1st Place: First place in the NASA TAS Moonshot challenge.
FIRST Robotics · Team 6369: State Champion and World Championship Division Finalist. Two-time World Championship qualifier and three-time State qualifier, with two FIRST Impact Awards, three Engineering Inspiration Awards and the Autonomous Award. Won FIT Belton, San Antonio, Waco and Amarillo.
AIME Qualifier: Scored 118.5/150 on the AMC 12 to qualify for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME), then 7/15 on the AIME - the top 1% of all AMC competitors.
Business Professionals of America (BPA): 2026-27 Chapter President. Regional Champion in 2025 and 2026 (1st place, two-time State qualifier) and a two-time National Torch Award recipient. Top 10 finalist at the 2026 National Leadership Conference.
Conrad Challenge Innovator: 2026 Conrad Challenge Innovator.
Heritage HS Wind Ensemble & Drumline: 1st place at the 2025 International Percussion Ensemble competition, performed at PASIC50 in Indianapolis. Outstanding Snare Line at the 2025 North Texas Drumline Contest, and contest winner in 2024. Three-time All-Region selection; currently on snare, at 40+ hours a week during peak season.
Bhagavad Gita Memorizer & World Record Participant: Memorized 800+ verses - 10,000+ Sanskrit words - of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita across a year of 30-40 hour weeks. Guinness World Records title holder for 'Largest simultaneous Hindu text recital', which took 2+ years of preparation.
HHS Computer Science Club: Scored Top 50 across Texas in 10th Grade & 5A Divisions.
HHS Math Honors Society: 1st Place General Math Team at UIL District Meet 2024-25.
Heritage High School Key Club: Secretary with over 150 members and various events throughout the year.

Experience

Engineering Intern, NASA Glenn Research Center (Jul 2026): Designed aeroacoustic liners to reduce jet noise Developed smart power systems for future space stations Engineered non-pneumatic wheels and grousers for lunar and Martian terrain
Systems Engineer · Moonshot, NASA (Oct 2025 – Present): Systems engineer and team leader of a large multidisciplinary team on an Artemis design competition, leading subteams, technical discussions, systems integration and final presentations. 1st place overall, out of thousands statewide Invited to a residential experience at Johnson Space Center (<2% selection rate) Nominated by peers for NASA's Rising Star Award
Co-Founder, FlowState (Mar 2026 – Present): Vehicle-by-vehicle simulations of real highways that test ramp metering, variable speed limits and smoothing vehicles against stop-and-go waves before anything is built. Now piloting with North Texas agencies. Calibrated on I-24 MOTION, US-101 NGSIM and I-94 data, including 179,000+ measured lane changes Smoothing vehicles at 20% of traffic cut stop-and-go speed swings by up to 56% on US-101
Founder, Loop UGC (Apr 2026 – Present): User-generated content marketplace connecting companies with creators. 300 companies, 500 creators, 37 million views
Founder, The Resonance Foundation (Aug 2024 – Present): Student-led 501(c)(3) bringing music to people without the financial means to pursue it. Built its internal operations platform end to end in Next.js, TypeScript and Supabase. 50,000+ impacted, 150+ members, $18,000 raised
Data Science Engineer, Harvard · Preceptor David Kane (Jun 2025 – Jul 2025): Improved a collegiate Bayesian data-science bootcamp, building and maintaining R libraries used internationally and debugging course tutorials at 30+ hours a week.
Quantum Computing Practicum, The University of Texas at Dallas (May 2025 – Aug 2025): Studied quantum algorithms, circuits and applications with Dr. Dan Gibney and Dr. Andrew Nemec, working toward a publication on quantum algorithms in cryptocurrency mining.
Chapter President, Business Professionals of America (Apr 2026 – Present): Lead the officer team and operations of Heritage's largest student organization, after a year as Vice President coordinating competition prep for 300+ members.
STEM Instructor, Stemtree of McKinney (Jan 2025 – Aug 2025): Taught STEM and robotics to elementary and middle school students through hands-on, individually tailored lessons.
AI Intern and STEM Instructor, iCode School Franchise (Mar 2024 – Jul 2024): Built AI-driven tools for a curriculum used by instructors nationwide, and taught weekly and summer camps.
BigFuture Ambassador, The College Board (Aug 2025 – Present): Support peers in exploring career paths, planning for college and finding scholarships through BigFuture, collaborating monthly with fellow ambassadors to share resources and opportunities.
Teen Court Attorney & Juror, City of Allen (Jan 2025 – Jan 2026): Represented teenagers charged with Class C misdemeanors through court proceedings, and served as a juror alongside peers to sentence offenders.

Independent Study & Mentorship

I spent my ISM year building STRATOS, a flight-performance simulator, under Dr. Giuseppe Cataldo, Assistant Chief for Technology at NASA Goddard - alongside five research assessments on quantum aerospace, CFD, autonomous flight, and supersonic versus subsonic flight, plus interviews with engineers at Lockheed Martin, NASA, and an aerospace startup. ISM is a competitive Frisco ISD elective that lets juniors and seniors study one career field independently through research, professional interviews, and mentorship.

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