University of Michigan¶
Type: University (Academia) Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan SST projects: 3 Key labs: Magnetometer Lab (Moldwin), MEMS Lab (Rais-Zadeh → JPL), Space Mobility Research Group (Jia-Richards) Last updated: Session 38, 2026-04-14
SST Portfolio¶
| Project | PI | Period | TRL | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 94109 Boomless Magnetometer Quad-Mag | Mark Moldwin | 2016–2018 | 3→6 | transitioned (JGR publication, MAGPRIME open-source) |
| 91596 Phonon Trap Timing | Mina Rais-Zadeh | 2015–2018 | 3→6 | transitioned (PI moved to JPL, technology continued) |
| 155364 SmallSat Steward | Oliver Jia-Richards | 2023–2025 | 3→3 | no-visible-outcome (too recent, TRL stall) |
Hit rate: 2 of 3 (67%) have visible downstream — above portfolio average.
Principal Investigators¶
Mark Moldwin — Boomless Magnetometer (94109)¶
Moldwin's SST project developed a boom-free magnetometer system for CubeSats. Traditional spacecraft magnetometers require deployable booms to distance sensors from the spacecraft's own magnetic interference. The Quad-Mag approach places four magnetometers on and inside the satellite bus, then uses Underdetermined Blind Source Separation (UBSS) algorithms to isolate the ambient field from spacecraft noise.
This is the SST portfolio's strongest academic publication outcome:
- Hoffmann, Moldwin, Strabel, Ojeda — "Enabling Boomless CubeSat Magnetic Field Measurements With the Quad-Mag Magnetometer and an Improved Underdetermined Blind Source Separation Algorithm" — Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 128, 2023 (NTRS 53950636251698). JGR is a top-tier geophysics journal.
- Strabel, Regoli, Moldwin, Ojeda — "Quad-Mag Board for CubeSat Applications" — EGUsphere, 2022. Hardware design paper.
- Hoffmann, Moldwin — "Wavelet-Adaptive Interference Cancellation for Underdetermined Platforms" — IEEE Trans. Aerospace & Electronic Systems, Vol. 59, Dec 2023. Extended the algorithms beyond magnetometry.
- Hoffmann, Moldwin, Imajo, Finley, Sheinker — "MAGPRIME: An open-source library for benchmarking and developing interference removal algorithms for spaceborne magnetometers" — Earth and Space Science, 2024. Open-source tool release.
Downstream: The Quad-Mag concept has not yet flown on a dedicated mission, but the open-source MAGPRIME library makes the algorithms freely available. The technique is broadly applicable to any CubeSat carrying a magnetometer — no boom needed means simpler mechanical design and lower mass. Student Alex Hoffmann produced 3+ first-author publications from this SST seed, an unusually productive student pipeline.
Confidence: JGR publication confirmed (NTRS, Wiley). MAGPRIME confirmed (Earth and Space Science, 2024). No known flight yet — suggestive that technique could enable future boomless CubeSat magnetometry missions.
Mina Rais-Zadeh — Phonon Trap Timing (91596)¶
Rais-Zadeh developed a chip-scale timing unit based on phonon trap resonators — all-silicon MEMS devices offering orders-of-magnitude better frequency stability than quartz oscillators, with lower acceleration sensitivity. The SST project reached TRL 6 (3→6) and has "Advanced From" outcomes in TechPort, indicating prior work fed into it.
People chain (confirmed): Rais-Zadeh left Michigan and became Group Supervisor of the Advanced MicroSensors and Microsystems Group at NASA JPL (as of 2022). This is a direct SST PI → NASA center transition. Her MEMS timing expertise is now embedded in JPL's sensor development pipeline.
Lunar Flashlight connection (session 38): Rais-Zadeh co-authored the Lunar Flashlight SWIR laser reflectometer instrument paper (NTRS: 20210008744, 2018). This means two SST people chains — Rais-Zadeh (phonon trap) and Lightsey (AR&D) — converge on Lunar Flashlight 106819, the most-published SST mission (61 NTRS citations). See JPL org page.
Technology context: Chip-scale precision clocks are critical for smallsat PNT (positioning, navigation, and timing). The SST portfolio has a PNT thread: CHOMPTT (91488, chip-scale atomic clock, TRL 9) and the ultrastable microphotonic clocks project (155361, Caltech/JPL). Rais-Zadeh's phonon trap is a complementary approach — MEMS-based rather than atomic or photonic. Her move to JPL places her adjacent to these other timing efforts.
Confidence: PI→JPL move confirmed (JPL research profile page). TRL 6 confirmed (TechPort). Ongoing influence at JPL: suggestive (her group works on MEMS sensors, timing is in scope, but no specific phonon-trap-to-JPL-product link found).
Oliver Jia-Richards — SmallSat Steward (155364)¶
Jia-Richards is an Assistant Professor who joined Michigan's Aerospace Engineering department and leads the Space Mobility Research Group. His SST project (USTP award, up to $450K over 2 years) develops autonomous inspection algorithms for small spacecraft operating near cislunar space stations, using the "Dyna" framework for real-time model updates and trajectory planning.
People chain (confirmed): Jia-Richards came from MIT Space Propulsion Lab (Lozano's lab). His MIT SPL page is still active. This is a direct MIT SPL → Michigan faculty pipeline. Combined with Lozano's other downstream connections (Accion, Espace, GPDM), MIT SPL is seeding PIs, companies, AND suppliers across the SST network.
TRL stall: The project ended at TRL 3 (same as start), despite a 2-year timeline (2023–2025). This suggests the work remained at algorithm/simulation level without hardware demonstration. However, the project is very recent — downstream impact may emerge later. JPL is named as a collaborator.
Confidence: MIT SPL origin confirmed (MIT SPL website). TRL stall confirmed (TechPort: TRL 3→3). Too early to judge downstream.
Cross-References¶
- MIT → org page (Jia-Richards people chain from MIT SPL)
- JPL → org page (Rais-Zadeh people chain to JPL)
- PNT topic → topic (phonon trap in PNT context)
- Thermal, Power, Sensors → topic (Quad-Mag magnetometer)
- Autonomy, GN&C → topic (SmallSat Steward)
Patterns¶
Michigan exemplifies Archetype #4 (People Chain) in both directions: - Inbound: Jia-Richards arrived from MIT SPL (Lozano's lab) - Outbound: Rais-Zadeh departed to JPL as Group Supervisor
It also shows the academic TRL ceiling pattern: 2 of 3 projects reached TRL 5–6 but no flights. The Quad-Mag is notable because the publication output (JGR + IEEE + open-source library) creates lasting academic impact even without a flight. This is the "publication as product" variant of university SST outcomes.
Michigan is also a node in the emerging timing/PNT network: Rais-Zadeh (phonon trap) → JPL → alongside Caltech (microphotonic clocks) and UF/ARC (CHOMPTT atomic clock).
Confidence summary: - Moldwin Quad-Mag publications: confirmed (JGR, IEEE, NTRS) - Rais-Zadeh → JPL: confirmed (JPL profile) - Jia-Richards ← MIT SPL: confirmed (MIT SPL website) - SmallSat Steward TRL stall: confirmed (TechPort) - No Michigan SST project has flown: confirmed