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SURF: Announcements of Opportunity

Below are Announcements of Opportunity posted by Caltech faculty and JPL technical staff for the SURF program. Additional AOs for the Amgen Scholars program can be found here.

Specific GROWTH projects being offerred for summer 2018 can be found here.

Each AO indicates whether or not it is open to non-Caltech students. If an AO is NOT open to non-Caltech students, please DO NOT contact the mentor.

Announcements of Opportunity are posted as they are received. Please check back regularly for new AO submissions! Remember: This is just one way that you can go about identifying a suitable project and/or mentor.

Announcements for external summer programs are listed here.

Students pursuing opportunities at JPL must be
U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents.

The requested research listing (ID 1841) is no longer available.

Project Title Disciplines Mentor  Posted 
Europa-REASON (sounding radar) Instrument Development    Electrical Engineering, Instruments James Hoffman (JPL)  09-Apr-18
Flight Instrument Electronics    Electrical Engineering, Physics/Applied Physics Jacob Shelton (JPL)  03-Apr-18
Visualizing 16 Years of Data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua Satellite    Earth Science, Data Visualization Sharon Ray (JPL)  29-Mar-18
Spring-Launched Multirotors    Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering Jacob Izraelevitz (JPL)  29-Mar-18
Starshade formation flying    Aerospace Engineering, Optics Michael Bottom (JPL)  27-Mar-18
Spaceflight Photon Counting Detector Analysis and Simulation    Physics/Applied Physics, Astronomy Patrick Morrissey (JPL)  21-Mar-18
Spring-Launched Multirotors    Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering Jacob Izraelevitz (JPL)  20-Mar-18
Mars 2020 SCS Structural Analysis    Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Mechanics; Civil Engineering Matthew Orzewalla (JPL)  19-Mar-18
Citizen Science Sensor Development- Evapotranspiration and Soil Moisture    Environmental Science, Earth Science Erika Podest (JPL)  14-Mar-18
Natural Robot Control Interfaces Using Wearable Sensors    Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering Christopher Assad (JPL)  09-Mar-18
On-board Autonomy for a Small, Foldable Robot    Computer Science, Robotics Jean-Pierre de la Croix (JPL)  06-Mar-18
A Framework for Multi-Agent Robotics Software Development    Computer Science, Robotics Jean-Pierre de la Croix (JPL)  06-Mar-18
Data Visualization support for navigation control    Computer Science, UX Design Emine Basak Alper Ramaswamy (JPL)  05-Mar-18
Team X Avionics Model Update    Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering Roger Klemm (JPL)  01-Mar-18
Graphic Design and Visual Content for Planetary Protection     Other , Graphic Design Alvin Smith II (JPL)  01-Mar-18
"Seam-corrected" mosaic generation and process improvement    Planetary Science, Computer Science Jacqueline Ryan (JPL)  27-Feb-18
Sample Contamination Analysis for SHERLOC    Biology/Bioengineering, Materials Engineering Rohit Bhartia (JPL)  23-Feb-18
The Influence of Expectation on Visual Perception    Computation and Neural Systems, Neuroscience Shinsuke Shimojo  16-Feb-18
Axel Rover Development    Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering Travis Brown (JPL)  15-Feb-18
Neural Signatures of Synchronization During Interpersonal Interaction    Computation and Neural Systems, Neuroscience Shinsuke Shimojo  15-Feb-18
Mechancial Engineeer to Support Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments     Mechanical Engineering Jonathan Sauder (JPL)  13-Feb-18
Investigating ice composition and potential for habitability in the Solar System    Planetary Science, Chemistry/Chemical Engineering Robert Hodyss (JPL)  13-Feb-18
Controls and Autonomy Software for Planetary Body Sampling and Manipulation    Mechanical Engineering, Robotics Paul Backes (JPL)  09-Feb-18
Novel means to obtain quantitative surface chemical information from synchrotron-based XPS on aqueous solutions    Physics, Applied Physics, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Nonne Prisle  07-Feb-18
Data Analysis in Virtual Reality    Data Science, Computer Science George Djorgovski  06-Feb-18
Virtual Labs    Multidisciplinary, CS, Physics, Biology, or Astronomy George Djorgovski  06-Feb-18
Memetic Programming for Symbolic Regression - SURF@Newcastle    Mathematics, Computer Science, Applied and Computational Mathematics, Computation and Neural Systems Pablo Moscato  06-Feb-18
Learning to fold and to satisfy - SURF@Newcastle    Computation and Neural Systems, Computer Science, Applied and Computational Mathematics, Math Pablo Moscato  06-Feb-18
MISR Plume Height Project    Earth Science, Environmental Science Abigail Nastan (JPL)  01-Feb-18
Dynamic Characterization of a Mechanical Waveguide    Mechanical Engineering, Applied Physics Chiara Daraio  31-Jan-18
Surface Water & Ocean Topography (SWOT) High Power Amplifier (HPA)    Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Analog and Digital Communications Jose Fernandez (JPL)  31-Jan-18
A-Team Advanced Concept Innovative Methods    Other , Technical disciplines Steven Matousek (JPL)  31-Jan-18
Impact of demographic and genetic history on the pattern of variation in humans    Biology, Computer Science Charleston Chiang  29-Jan-18
Genetic risk prediction in diverse minority human populations    Biology, Computer Science Charleston Chiang  29-Jan-18
Classifying Lung Nodules Using Machine Learning    Data Science, Computer Science Ashish Mahabal  28-Jan-18
Mars 2020 LVS    Earth Science, geographic information system Yang Cheng (JPL)  26-Jan-18
Investigating Infrared Images to Track Cloud Features on Venus    Planetary Science, Physics/Applied Physics Attila Komjathy (JPL)  25-Jan-18
Nanofabrication of Superconducting Quantum Circuit Components with a He and Ne Focused Ion Beam System    Applied Physics, Materials Science Oskar Painter  25-Jan-18
Visualization of robotic vehicle and spacecraft data    Computer Science, Mathematics Marc Pomerantz (JPL)  25-Jan-18
Galactic Archaeology    Astronomy, Astrophysics Alex Ji  24-Jan-18
Characterizing the Slow Neutron-Capture Process in the Early Universe    Astronomy, Astrophysics Terese Hansen  24-Jan-18
Data Assimilation and Machine Learning for Climate Models    Environmental Science and Engineering, Applied and Computational Mathematics Tapio Schneider  23-Jan-18
The prominence of OD/OH in the Solar System Formation and Evolution: a closer look into comets    Planetary Science, Chemistry, Physics, Seyedeh Sona Hosseini (JPL)  23-Jan-18
The Study of the Thermal Properties of Cemented Martian Regolith    Mechanical Engineering, Physics/Applied Physics Fang Zhong (JPL)  23-Jan-18
Developing a GUI program for calculating stresses on solar system bodies    Planetary Science, Computer Science Robert Pappalardo (JPL)  23-Jan-18
Analysis and Algorithms for Deep Space Optical Communication    Electrical Engineering, Computer Science Ryan Rogalin (JPL)  23-Jan-18
Characterizing LIGO Envioronmental Channels    Data Science, Astronomy Ashish Mahabal  22-Jan-18
Physical Experiments on the Mechanics of River Erosion into Bedrock    Geology, Mechanical Engineering Michael Lamb  22-Jan-18
Radio Astronomy Instrumentation    Electrical Engineering Sandy Weinreb  18-Jan-18
Machine Learning for Zwicky Transient Facility    Data Science, Astronomy Ashish Mahabal  17-Jan-18
Classifying Sparse Light-Curves Using Deep Learning    Data Science, Astronomy Ashish Mahabal  17-Jan-18
Visual Radar    Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Roland Brockers (JPL)  16-Jan-18
Inhomogeneous cloud coverage and its effect on characterizing exoplanets    Astronomy/Astrophysics, Planetary Science Renyu Hu (JPL)  16-Jan-18
Atmosphere models of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system    Astronomy/Astrophysics, Planetary Science Renyu Hu (JPL)  16-Jan-18
Aerospace Robotics    Aeronautics, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science Soon-Jo Chung  15-Jan-18
Deep Cell - Deep Learning for Single-Cell Image Segmentation    Computer Science, Biology David Van Valen  15-Jan-18
Computing concordance invariants from involutive Heegaard Floer homology    Mathematics Yi Ni  12-Jan-18
Activity Aware Data Routing in Multi-Hop Space Networks    Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering Joshua Vander Hook (JPL)  12-Jan-18
Development of Metabolically Viable and Replication Incompetent Vaccines    Biology, Microbiology, Immunology Raymond Goodrich  12-Jan-18
Planetary Broadband Seismometer Development    Physics/Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Inseob Hahn (JPL)  12-Jan-18
Lunar Regolith Thermal Properties at Medium/High Latitudes     Planetary Science Sylvain Piqueux (JPL)  11-Jan-18
Real-time Co-Verification and Data Processing FPGA Firmware/Software for Hyperspectral Imaging Systems with Embedded Multi Processor System-on-Chip (MPSoC) Instrument Avionics    Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Didier Keymeulen (JPL)  11-Jan-18
Moonquake-triggered seismic shaking and mass movement on icy satellites    Planetary Science, Earth Science Robert Pappalardo (JPL)  09-Jan-18
Greenhouse Gas Measurements in the Los Angeles Basin using Remote Sensing Spectroscopy    Environmental Science, statistics, geography Stanley Sander (JPL)  08-Jan-18
Developing a new instrument to understand origin and distribution of water in the solar system    Physics/Applied Physics, Chemical engineering Max Coleman (JPL)  08-Jan-18
Data-Driven Methods of Measuring Stellar Compositions from Keck Spectroscopy    Astronomy, Astrophysics Evan Kirby  05-Jan-18
Impact of variable active site residues on response regulator phosphorylation and dephosphorylation kinetics.    Biology, Chemistry Robert Bourret  04-Jan-18
Ocean worlds and ice-covered moons    Planetary Science Amy Hofmann (JPL)  04-Jan-18
Evolution of the Moon's surface    Planetary Science, Earth Science Catherine Elder (JPL)  04-Jan-18
Needles in a Cosmic Haystack (in Copenhagen)    Astronomy, Physics, Computer Science Gabe Brammer  03-Jan-18
Augmented cardiovascular imaging    Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Bioengineering Albert Hsiao  03-Jan-18
Nanoscale Photonics and Quantum Optics    Electrical Engineering, Physics Marko Loncar  03-Jan-18
Inductive Learning of Bargaining Conventions    Economics Peter Vanderschraaf  03-Jan-18
Europa Lander Sample Acquisition    Materials Engineering, Robotics Eric Roberts (JPL)  02-Jan-18
Spectrometer Electronics Hardware Development    Electrical Engineering, Physics/Applied Physics Peter Sullivan (JPL)  31-Dec-17
All-sky survey for radio transients    Astronomy/Astrophysics, Physics/Applied Physics Walid Majid (JPL)  28-Dec-17
Constraints on Upwelling and Subduction on Venus from Radar Imaging, Topography, Composition, and Modeling    Planetary Science, Geological/Geophysical Engineering Suzanne Smrekar (JPL)  20-Dec-17
Actively cooled load for 21 cm radio telescopes    Physics, Electrical Engineering Josef Frisch  19-Dec-17
Guidance Navigation and Path Planning for Turbulent Seas    Computer Science, Mathematics Joshua Vander Hook (JPL)  19-Dec-17
Onboard Data Analysis to Maximize Europa Clipper Science Return    Computer Science, Planetary Science Gary Doran (JPL)  19-Dec-17
Optical and RF Spacecraft Downlink Signal Processors    Electrical Engineering, Computer Science Arby Argueta (JPL)  18-Dec-17
Digital Holographic Microscopy    Physics/Applied Physics, Microbiology/Astrobiology Christian Lindensmith (JPL)  18-Dec-17
Deciphering Infrared Transients    Astrophysics, Astronomy Mansi Kasliwal  15-Dec-17
Europa Clipper    Biology/Bioengineering, microbiology, clinical microbiology Hyung Park (JPL)  15-Dec-17
Europa Lander Sample Acquisition    Materials Engineering, Robotics Eric Roberts (JPL)  15-Dec-17
Rapid finite source modeling and tsunami early warning    Earth Science, Physics/Applied Physics Zhen Liu (JPL)  13-Dec-17
Improved time series analysis using space geodesy    Earth Science, Geological/geophysical engineering Zhen Liu (JPL)  13-Dec-17
Visualization for Mars 2020 Terrain Relative Navigation    Computer Science, robotics Andrew Johnson (JPL)  11-Dec-17
Planetary Protection Support for the Mars 2020 Mission    Biology/Bioengineering, Microbiology, Molecular Biology Timothy Shirey (JPL)  11-Dec-17
Microorganisms Associated with Mars-Bound Spacecraft: Preservation, Identification, Characterization    Biology/Bioengineering, Microbiology Arman Seuylemezian (JPL)  11-Dec-17
MALDI-TOF Isolate Database Generation & Planetary Protection Archive Upkeep    Biology/Bioengineering, Computer Science Wayne Schubert (JPL)  11-Dec-17
Heat Inactivation of Encapsulated Bacterial Spores    Biology/Bioengineering, Chemistry/Chemical Engineering Wayne Schubert (JPL)  11-Dec-17
Characterization of ISS microorganisms: Antibiotic profiling, biofilm formation, countermeasure development     Biology/Bioengineering, Computer Science Kasthuri Venkateswaran (JPL)  11-Dec-17
Battery chemistry assesment for sterilization/microbial reduction     Biology/Bioengineering, Microbiology Ganesh Babu Malli Mohan (JPL)  11-Dec-17
Kronoseismology: Saturn's Normal-Mode Oscillations    Planetary Science, Astronomy/Astrophysics Andrew Friedson (JPL)  10-Dec-17
Shaking Durations for Rapid Response Earthquake Products (ShakeMap)    Geophysics, Mathematics, Statistics/Coding (Python) David Wald  08-Dec-17
Multiple Projects in Galaxy Evolution    Astronomy, Computer Science Charles Steinhardt  07-Dec-17
Single Molecule Analysis of Protein Translocation Mechanisms    Chemistry, Biology, or Physics Siegfried Musser  07-Dec-17
Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors for Deep Space Optical Communication    Physics/Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering Matthew Shaw (JPL)  06-Dec-17
Data Analysis and Tool Development for Mars 2020 Lander Vision System    Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Nikolas Trawny (JPL)  06-Dec-17
Searching for Martian Sedimentary Iron Oxide Deposits    Planetary Science Abigail Fraeman (JPL)  06-Dec-17
Dust devils on Mars    Planetary Science, Astronomy Leslie Tamppari (JPL)  06-Dec-17
Algorithms in Markets When Humans Are Still in Control: An Experimental Investigation    Multidisciplinary, any major from EAS, Mathematics, Physics Elena Asparouhova  05-Dec-17
Europa Flight Software Test and Tool Development    Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering Cindy Oda (JPL)  04-Dec-17
Gut-Brain Interactions in Huntington's Disease     Neuroscience, Biology Ali Khoshnan  04-Dec-17
In-orbit Capture Mechanism Design for Mars Sample Return    Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering Paulo Younse (JPL)  04-Dec-17
Genetic inventory of microbes present on spacecraft and spacecraft associated surfaces.    Biology/Bioengineering, Genetics, Microbiology, Biochemistry Lisa Guan (JPL)  03-Dec-17
Development of Planetary Protection Sterilization Techniques and Processes    Biology/Bioengineering, planetary protection Laura Newlin (JPL)  03-Dec-17
Analysis of Martian Dune Activity in the Northern Hemisphere    Planetary Science Serina Diniega (JPL)  30-Nov-17
Generalizing wind farm wake models for improved wind farm layout design    Multidisciplinary, Engineering, Physics, Applied Mathematics Dennice Gayme  29-Nov-17
Measuring Galaxy Redshifts for the Dark Energy Survey (DES)    Astronomy/Astrophysics, Computer Science Jason Rhodes (JPL)  28-Nov-17
Intelligent Robotic Assistant with natural language capabilities    Computer Science, EE and CS Adrian Stoica (JPL)  28-Nov-17
Inflatable Giacometti Robots    Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical or Electrical Eng, Adrian Stoica (JPL)  28-Nov-17
Big Data Analytics and Machine Learning    Computer Science, Mathematics Adrian Stoica (JPL)  28-Nov-17
Development of targeted therapies for peroxisome biogenesis disorders    Biology, Chemistry Joseph Hacia  28-Nov-17
Physical basis of consciousness: a computational project    Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Engineering Naotsugu Tsuchiya  27-Nov-17
Time reversal violation in nuclear beta decay    Physics, Applied Physics John Behr  27-Nov-17
Supernova Neutrinos    Physics, Astronomy, Mathematics, Computer Science Kate Scholberg  27-Nov-17
Comparitive Genomics    Biology/Bioengineering, Bioinformatics Hyung Park (JPL)  27-Nov-17
Modeling the Architecture of a Simple Neural Circuit for Identifying Odors    Neuroscience, Computation and Neural Systems Elizabeth Hong  21-Nov-17
Neural Basis of Olfactory Preference Behaviors    Neuroscience, Computation and Neural Systems Elizabeth Hong  21-Nov-17
Swarms of Robot Boats Multi-Agent Planning and Autonomy Software Architecture    Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Michael Wolf (JPL)  21-Nov-17
Cancer Genome Evolution    Multidisciplinary, Physical Sciences, Computational Biology, Engineering and Applied Sciences Cheng-Zhong Zhang  20-Nov-17
MicroCT studies of nucleation and crystal growth    Chemistry, Materials Science, Biochemistry John Evans  20-Nov-17
Novel MRI Methods    Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Electrical Engineering Shreyas Vasanawala  20-Nov-17
Symmetry and Homogeneity as the Guiding Principles in Energy Materials Design    Chemistry, Materials Science Nicholas Stadie  20-Nov-17
Microorganisms Associated with Mars-Bound Spacecraft: Preservation, Identification, Characterization    Biology/Bioengineering, Microbiology Arman Seuylemezian (JPL)  20-Nov-17
COSMIC: Labels & verification for ML Change Detection onboard mars orbiters    Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Machine Learning / Data Science Lukas Mandrake (JPL)  15-Nov-17
Set Theory    Mathematics Alexander Kechris  13-Nov-17
Ismagilov Lab (microfluidics, diagnostics, devices, microbiome)    Chemical Engineering, Medical Engineering Rustem Ismagilov  13-Nov-17
Metabolic Control of the Hedgehog Signaling Pathway    Multidisciplinary, Chemistry, Biology Alison Ondrus  12-Nov-17
Mars Data Analysis    Planetary Science, Earth Science Matthew Golombek (JPL)  09-Nov-17
a synthetic genetic system to investigate neuronal connections in brain circuits    Biology, Synthetic Biology, Molecular Biology, Neuroscience Carlos Lois  09-Nov-17
Circumstellar Matter (Jets, Disks and Torii) in Young and Dying Stars    Astronomy/Astrophysics, Computational/Programming Raghvendra Sahai (JPL)  08-Nov-17
Modeling and Simulation of Planetary Space Platforms     Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Abhinandan Jain (JPL)  06-Nov-17
SWOT Xband Telecom GSE Support    Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Analog and Digital Communications Jose Fernandez (JPL)  01-Nov-17
Uncertainty Assessment of the Performance Attributes and Reliability of a Command & Data Handling Processor Board with Complex Active Components    Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Reliability Engineering Mark White (JPL)  01-Nov-17
Supercritical CO2 Extraction and on-line Chromatography for Ocean Worlds    Chemistry/Chemical Engineering, Instrument Development Bryana Henderson (JPL)  01-Nov-17
Regional Climate Modeling and Evaluation    Earth Science, Computer Science Duane Waliser (JPL)  01-Nov-17
Research in laser ranging and synthetic tracking    Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, optical engineering Inseob Hahn (JPL)  01-Nov-17
Path planning and controls for high speed boats    Computer Science, Electrical Engineering Joshua Vander Hook (JPL)  01-Nov-17
From Innovation to Flight - Pilot Projects    Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical or Electrical Eng, Adrian Stoica (JPL)  01-Nov-17
Ground Penetrating Radar Quadcopter    Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Geological/Geophysical Engineering Tushar Thrivikraman (JPL)  01-Nov-17
DTN Network Monitor and Control for Cubesats    Computer Science, Computer Engineering Jordan Torgerson (JPL)  01-Nov-17
Electrical System Design and Validation for Portable Life Detection Instrumentation    Electrical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Peter Willis (JPL)  01-Nov-17
Enhancing Analytics for Large-Scale Hybrid Cloud Science Data Systems    Computer Science, SAR processing and analysis Lan Dang (JPL)  01-Nov-17
Europa Clipper Flight System Behavior Specification    Systems Engineering, Computer Science Michel Ingham (JPL)  01-Nov-17
Europa Clipper Project Software Systems Engineering    Computer Science, Systems Engineering Michel Ingham (JPL)  01-Nov-17
Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) parts insertion into Space Systems: Innovative Methods and Techniques for Low-Cost Risk Mitigation of COTS Parts exposed to space environments    Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Reliability Engineering Mark White (JPL)  01-Nov-17
APPS Label Design Tool Development    Computer Science, Planetary Science Stirling Algermissen (JPL)  01-Nov-17
Atmospheric Rivers : Science and Applications    Earth Science, Environmental Science Duane Waliser (JPL)  01-Nov-17