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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 2019 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 657) is no longer available.

Project Title Disciplines Mentor  Posted 
Videography and Visual Content for Planetary Protection    Other , Motion graphic design or mass communications Alvin Smith II (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Vision-Based Navigation for a Mars Science Helicopter    Computer Science, Computer Vision, Sensor Fusion, State Estimation Jeff Delaune (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Visual Radar    Computer Engineering, Robotics Roland Brockers (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Website and Social Media Support    Other , Earth Science Colleen Schroeder (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Technology Archive and Autonomy Catalog    Information Systems/Technology, Computer Science Joshua Vander Hook (JPL)  16-Apr-19
The Measurement of the Thermal conductivity of Planetary Regolith    Physics/Applied Physics, Mechanical Engineering Fang Zhong (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Uncertainty quantification of spectral reflectance    Computer Science, Information Systems/Technology Kerry-Anne Cawse-Nicholson (JPL)  16-Apr-19
ROBOTICS - FORMATION FLYING OF CUBESATS, QUADCOPTERS, AND BALLOONS     Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering Shahrouz Alimo (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Satellite measurements of water vapor in Earth's Planetary Boundary Layer    Earth Science, n/a Vivienne Payne (JPL)  16-Apr-19
NISAR Mission Planning    Aerospace Engineering, system engineering, computer sciene David Mohr (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Novel One-Way Geometries for Two Phase Flow    Mechanical Engineering, (Applied) Physics Scott Roberts (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Lunar Exospher Miniturze Spectrometer     Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Seyedeh Sona Hosseini (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Mars Science Helicopter Research and Technology -- SUMMER    Computer Science, robotics Gene Merewether (JPL)  16-Apr-19
High resolution laboratory spectroscopy for planetary remote sensing    Chemistry/Chemical Engineering, Earth Science Keeyoon Sung (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Imaging spectrometer atmospheric correction algorithm for coral reef observations    Mathematics, Earth Science Michelle Gierach (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Information Technology-Identity and Access Management Services    Computer Science, Information Systems/Technology Thomas Berry (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Innovation to Flight - Coordinated observation in formation flight    Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Adrian Stoica (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Interplanetary Overlay Network (ION) Deployment and Testing    Computer Engineering, systems engineering Jordan Torgerson (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Evaluation of Greenland Melt Models    Earth Science, Physics/Applied Physics Ian Fenty (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Evaluation of satellite measurements of tropospheric ozone    Earth Science, Physics/Applied Physics Vivienne Payne (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Geochemistry and Geodynamics of Icy World Oceans, Especially Europa's     Planetary Science, Astrobiology Steven Vance (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Geochemistry and Geodynamics of Icy World Oceans, Especially Europa's     Planetary Science, Astrobiology Steven Vance (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Determining the Point Source Sensitivity to Tau Neutrinos with ANITA    Astronomy/Astrophysics Andrew Romero-Wolf (JPL)  16-Apr-19
ECOSTRESS disALEXI product evaluation    Computer Science, Earth Science Kerry-Anne Cawse-Nicholson (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Cloud Science Data Systems    Computer Science, UI/UX Design Sujen Jayesh Shah (JPL)  16-Apr-19
A Planetary Broadband Seismometer using a Novel Electrostatic Frequency Reduction (EFR) Technique     Physics/Applied Physics, Mechanical Engineering Kristjan Stone (JPL)  16-Apr-19
A spatial and temporal study of biogenic volatile organic compound emissions     Earth Science, Chemistry/Chemical Engineering Carl Perdval (JPL)  16-Apr-19
Upgrading the Millikan Shaker to monitor seismic structures in the Pasadena area    Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering Zhongwen Zhan  18-Feb-19
Europa Clipper Telecom System Engineering    Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Electrical Engineering Melissa Soriano (JPL)  12-Feb-19
PO.DAAC User Facing cloud web services and API design    Computer Science, Information Systems/Technology Michael Gangl (JPL)  12-Feb-19
Europa-REASON (sounding radar) Instrument Development    Electrical Engineering, Instruments James Hoffman (JPL)  09-Feb-19
Process Monitoring with Raspberry Pi for Additive Manufacturing    Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Richard Otis (JPL)  08-Feb-19
Cyber Security Architecture Software Developer    Computer Science, Systems Engineering Thomas McVittie (JPL)  06-Feb-19
Social Parasites: Evolution of Symbioses Between Beetles and Ants     Biology, Evolution Joe Parker  05-Feb-19
Coronagraph Demonstration Module    Mechanical Engineering, physics, aerospace engineering John Trauger (JPL)  05-Feb-19
Vision-Based Navigation for a Mars Science Helicopter    Computer Science, Computer Vision, Sensor Fusion, State Estimation Jeff Delaune (JPL)  05-Feb-19
Visual Radar    Computer Engineering, Robotics Roland Brockers (JPL)  05-Feb-19
Investigating Mineralogy using UV Raman/Fluorescence    Earth Science, Mineralogy & Spectroscopy Rohit Bhartia (JPL)  05-Feb-19
Changes in Greenland Surface Melt     Earth Science, Physics/Applied Physics Ian Fenty (JPL)  04-Feb-19
Planetary Protection Support for the Mars 2020 Mission    Biology/Bioengineering, Microbiology, Molecular Biology Sarah Cruz (JPL)  04-Feb-19
Feasibility study for in-situ flow-energy harvesting in Enceladus’ vents    Mechanical Engineering Tim Colonius  04-Feb-19
Investigating Infrasound Detection Techniques Using Measurements from Stratospheric Balloon Flights    Planetary Science, Information Systems/Technology Attila Komjathy (JPL)  04-Feb-19
Investigating Multisensory Perception and Conscious Awareness using Psychophysics, Virtual Reality, and Sensory Substitution/Augmentation    Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience Shinsuke Shimojo  31-Jan-19
Finding Asteroids with the Zwicky Transient Facility    Astronomy, Planetary Science George Helou  31-Jan-19
Cost-effective monitoring of very fine airborne particulate matter    Environmental Science, Atmospheric Science David Diner (JPL)  31-Jan-19
Ultra-high time resolution superconducting nanowire single photon detectors    Physics/Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering Matthew Shaw (JPL)  30-Jan-19
Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors for Deep Space Optical Communication    Physics/Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering Matthew Shaw (JPL)  30-Jan-19
Multi-Phase, Planetary-Chemistry Modeling for Biosignatures    Chemistry/Chemical Engineering, Planetary Science Pin Chen (JPL)  30-Jan-19
SURF Fellowships at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory    Astronomy, Physics James Lamb  29-Jan-19
Uncertainty Quantification for AIRS Remote Sensing Retrievals    Mathematics, Statistics Jonathan Hobbs (JPL)  29-Jan-19
Spacecraft microbial Isolates: identification and preservation     Biology/Bioengineering, Chemistry/Chemical Engineering Wayne Schubert (JPL)  29-Jan-19
Planetary Protection Support for the Mars 2020 Mission    Biology/Bioengineering, Microbiology, Molecular Biology Sarah Cruz (JPL)  29-Jan-19
Microbial Database Development     Computer Science Emily Seto (JPL)  29-Jan-19
MISR Plume Height Project 2019    Earth Science, Environmental Science Abigail Nastan (JPL)  29-Jan-19
3D and Immersive Visualization for Mars Rovers    Computer Science, Computer Vision, Immersive Visualization Oleg Pariser (JPL)  29-Jan-19
Virtual Labs    Multidisciplinary, Data Science, Visualization George Djorgovski  29-Jan-19
Data Analysis in Virtual Reality    Multidisciplinary, Data Science George Djorgovski  29-Jan-19
Ultrasound neuromodulation of human brain    Bioengineering, Neuroscience Shinsuke Shimojo  28-Jan-19
Altered brain states in video game players    Psychology, Computer Science Shinsuke Shimojo  28-Jan-19
Real-time Co-Verification and Data Processing Firmware/Software for Next Generation Imaging Spectrometers (NGIS) with Embedded Multi Processor System-on-Chip (MPSoC) Instrument Avionics    Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Didier Keymeulen (JPL)  25-Jan-19
Contamination Control Materials Testing and Modeling    Aerospace Engineering, Materials Engineering / Science William Hoey (JPL)  24-Jan-19
Circumstellar Matter (Jets, Disks and Torii) in Young and Dying Stars    Astronomy/Astrophysics, Computational/Programming Raghvendra Sahai (JPL)  23-Jan-19
Deep Space Optical Communication User Interface    Computer Science, Information Systems/Technology Ryan Rogalin (JPL)  22-Jan-19
Nonprehensile Terrain Manipulation Behavior Development for Legged Robotic Platforms    Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering Aaron Johnson  22-Jan-19
Augmented cardiovascular imaging    Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering Albert Hsiao  22-Jan-19
Optimal design of experiments in atmospheric source inversion    Applied and Computational Mathematics Andrew Stuart  22-Jan-19
Failure of power networks    Applied and Computational Mathematics Andrew Stuart  22-Jan-19
The Initial Stellar Mass Function: Fundamental Input to Galaxy Evolution and Star Formation Modeling    Astrophysics, Electrical Engineering Barry Madore  21-Jan-19
Machine Teaching and Multi-Task Learning – SURF@Newcastle    Computer Science, Computation and Neural Systems Pablo Moscato  18-Jan-19
Can we X-ray the first black holes?    Astronomy/Astrophysics Tzu-Ching Chang (JPL)  17-Jan-19
3D Mapping of the Cosmic Web: The Cross-Correlation between CMB Lensing and 21 cm Line Intensity Mapping    Astronomy/Astrophysics Tzu-Ching Chang (JPL)  17-Jan-19
Searching for metal-poor planets with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite    Astronomy Josh Simon  16-Jan-19
Machine learning applications for formations of cubesats    Computer Science, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Shahrouz Alimo (JPL)  16-Jan-19
Machine learning applications for formations of quadcopters and balloons    Computer Science, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Shahrouz Alimo (JPL)  16-Jan-19
Cubesat technology innovations in launch and constellation applications    Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Shahrouz Alimo (JPL)  16-Jan-19
Machine Learning the Cosmos    Astronomy/Astrophysics, Computer Science Olivier Dore (JPL)  15-Jan-19
Galaxy formation and evolution over cosmic time on large scales    Astronomy/Astrophysics Tzu-Ching Chang (JPL)  15-Jan-19
Multiobjective Memetic Algorithms for Symbolic Regression – SURF@Newcastle    Mathematics, Computation and Neural Systems Pablo Moscato  15-Jan-19
The National Voter Registration Act    Political Science, History J. Morgan Kousser  15-Jan-19
Astrophysics of Massive Stars    Astronomy, Physics Jim Fuller  14-Jan-19
Aerospace Robotics    Aeronautics, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science Soon-Jo Chung  14-Jan-19
Mounting and Aligning Optics for An Image Slicer on the Magellan IMACS Spectrograph    Mechanical Engineering, Optics / Physics / Astronomy Rosalie McGurk  14-Jan-19
Probing the Ambiguous Accretion-Powered Transient ASASSN-18zp    Astronomy Tom Holoien  14-Jan-19
Test and Characterization of Europa Clippers REASON Sounding Radar    Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering Mark Fischman (JPL)  14-Jan-19
Developing an instrument for underwater methane analysis    Chemistry/Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Max Coleman (JPL)  14-Jan-19
Probing Fundamental Physics and the Large Scale Structure of the Universe with Galaxy Redshift Surveys    Astronomy/Astrophysics, Physics/Applied Physics Olivier Dore (JPL)  11-Jan-19
Explosion Mechanism of Type Ia Supernovae     Astrophysics, Astronomy Syed Uddin  10-Jan-19
In vivo analysis of a cell wall sensor on plant vascular development    Biology Elliot Meyerowitz  10-Jan-19
Simulations of the Response of the EPI-Hi Instrument on the Parker Solar Probe Spacecraft    Physics, Computer Science Mark Wiedenbeck  09-Jan-19
Psychophysical studies of human cognitive control    Computer Science, Control and Dynamical Systems Ralph Adolphs  08-Jan-19
Mars Data Analysis    Planetary Science, Earth Science Matthew Golombek (JPL)  08-Jan-19
Analyzing the significance of affinity variations of cell surface proteins at wiring the nervous system    Biology, Neuroscience Kai Zinn  08-Jan-19
Natural Gas Data Visualization    Computer Science, Electrical Engineering Lance Christensen (JPL)  08-Jan-19
Genetic inventory of microbes present on spacecraft and spacecraft associated surfaces.    Biology/Bioengineering, Genetics, Microbiology, Biochemistry Lisa Guan (JPL)  08-Jan-19
Europa Clipper    Biology/Bioengineering, Biostatistics Hyung Park (JPL)  08-Jan-19
Europa Clipper Bulk Materials Database Development     Biology/Bioengineering, Microbiology Emily Seto (JPL)  08-Jan-19
Galactic Archaeology with the Keck and Subaru Telescopes    Astronomy Evan Kirby  06-Jan-19
fMRI and intracranial recordings in epileptic patients during movie watching    Computer Science, Neurobiology Ralph Adolphs  05-Jan-19
Weak Gravitatiolnal Lensing as a Probe of Dark Matter and Dark Energy    Astronomy/Astrophysics, physics Jason Rhodes (JPL)  03-Jan-19
Defects in Metal-Halide Perovskites     Physics, Chemistry Michael Tonry  03-Jan-19
Supernova Neutrinos    Physics, Astronomy Kate Scholberg  03-Jan-19
Analysis of Dural Lymphatics in pathologic situations    Biochemistry, Neuroscience Jeff Chen  03-Jan-19
Analysis and development of a predictive model in Traumatic Brain Injury and Stroke using multimodal brain monitoring    Neuroscience, Biochemistry Jeff Chen  03-Jan-19
Single-Molecule, Nanoscale Imaging of Biological Phenomena    Physics, Bioengineering Matthew Lew  03-Jan-19
GPU Accelerated Earth Science Data to Image Pyramid Generation    Computer Science, Mathematics Joe Roberts (JPL)  03-Jan-19
Symmetry and Homogeneity as Guiding Principles in Energy Materials Design    Applied Physics, Engineering Nicholas Stadie  03-Jan-19
Differences in mutation fitness effects between populations    Biology, Computer Science Ryan Gutenkunst  03-Jan-19
Constraints on Upwelling and Subduction on Venus from Radar Imaging, Topography, Composition, and Modeling    Geological/Geophysical Engineering, mathematics Suzanne Smrekar (JPL)  03-Jan-19
Mars 2020 LVS Field Test Support    Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering Yang Cheng (JPL)  02-Jan-19
Atmospheric Rivers : Science and Applications    Earth Science, Environmental Science Duane Waliser (JPL)  26-Dec-18
Regional Climate Modeling and Evaluation    Earth Science, Computer Science Duane Waliser (JPL)  26-Dec-18
Greenhouse Gas and Pollutant Measurements in the Los Angeles Basin using Remote Sensing Spectroscopy    Environmental Science, statistics, geography Stanley Sander (JPL)  20-Dec-18
Documenting Medieval Experimental Practices    English, History Jennifer Jahner  20-Dec-18
Effect of forced boundary layer transition on a lifting hypersonic vehicle with control surfaces    Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Physics, Applied Physics Daniel Araya  19-Dec-18
Phenotypes of Antibiotic Resistance    Medical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Biology Ahmad Khalil  19-Dec-18
Investigating the Prion-like properties of mutant huntingtin     Biology, Biochemistry Ali Khoshnan  18-Dec-18
Investigating the impact of prebiotics on the progression of HD Investigating the impact of prebiotics on the progression of Huntington's disease     Biology, Biotechnology Ali Khoshnan  18-Dec-18
Programmable Conditional CRISPR/Cas9 Regulators for Scalable Synthetic Biology    Bioengineering, Synthetic Biology Niles A. Pierce  17-Dec-18
Microscopy for Life Detection    Physics/Applied Physics, Computer Science Christian Lindensmith (JPL)  14-Dec-18
Computer Simulations of polygonal patterns of vortices on Jupiter    Planetary Science, Astrophysics Andrew Ingersoll  13-Dec-18
Protein-Based Materials for Adaptive Camouflage and Bioelectronic Devices    Chemical Engineering, Chemistry Alon Gorodetsky  13-Dec-18
Novel MRI Methods    Computer Science, Mathematics Shreyas Vasanawala  11-Dec-18
GPS soil-moisture drone    Physics Jennifer Haase  10-Dec-18
Trimodal Peptide for Combined Image-Guided Surgery and Targeted Radiotherapy of Glioblastoma    Chemistry, Biology Michael Lewis  10-Dec-18
Electrify Everything: applications of electrochemical engineering for integration of renewables in the energy and chemical sectors    Chemical Engineering, Applied Physics James McKone  10-Dec-18
Engineering protein biogenesis pathways in yeast for biotechnology    Biochemistry, Bioengineering Justin Chartron  10-Dec-18
Simulating material microstructure evolution at the mesoscale    Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science Brandon Runnels  10-Dec-18
Deep Learning in the Natural Sciences (Astronomy, High-Energy Physics, Oceanography, or Climate Science)    Computer Science Peter Sadowski  10-Dec-18
Inhibition of a DNA repair enzyme to sensitize cancer cells to chemotherapy and radiation.     Biology, Biochemistry Judith Campbell  07-Dec-18
Eruption Timescales of the Columbia River Basalts    Geology, Geophysics Joseph Kirschvink  07-Dec-18
Synthetic genomes, life forms and functions    Bioengineering, Synthetic Biology Kaihang Wang  06-Dec-18
Analysis and Archiving of Near- and Mid-Infrared Observations of Jupiter and Saturn    Planetary Science, Computer Sciences Glenn Orton (JPL)  04-Dec-18
Time reversal violation in nuclear beta decay    Physics, Applied Physics John Behr  04-Dec-18
Multiple Projects in Galaxy Evolution    Astronomy, Computer Science, Physics Charles Steinhardt  30-Nov-18
Psyche Helix Tool Development    Computer Science, Other Engineering Disciplines Julie Wertz Chen (JPL)  30-Nov-18
Protein biogenesis and quality control    Biology, Biochemistry Rebecca Voorhees  27-Nov-18
Computational Approaches to Biomolecular Imaging    Computer Science, Bioengineering Mikhail Shapiro  25-Nov-18
Next generation maps of the Hedgehog pathway metabolome    Multidisciplinary, Chemical Biology Alison Ondrus  18-Nov-18
Encoding of natural odors in the brain    Neuroscience, Computation and Neural Systems Elizabeth Hong  17-Nov-18
Opinion Formation on Networks    Applied and Computational Mathematics, Physics Franca Hoffmann  16-Nov-18
Causal Inference    Philosophy, Neuroscience Frederick Eberhardt  06-Nov-18
Interface Design for the Complex Data Explorer (CODEX)    Computer Science, Interface Design Jack Lightholder (JPL)  31-Oct-18
Characterization of ISS microorganisms: Antibiotic profiling, biofilm formation, countermeasure development     Biology/Bioengineering, Computer Science Kasthuri Venkateswaran (JPL)  17-Oct-18
Sensor network development for Mars exploration    Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering Michael Wolf (JPL)  08-Oct-18
Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors for Deep Space Optical Communication    Physics/Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering Matthew Shaw (JPL)  08-Oct-18
Mars Exploration Software Test Suite Development    Computer Engineering, Computer Science Walker Dula (JPL)  08-Oct-18
Holographic Examination for Life-like Motility (HELM)    Computer Science, Any physical science, esp biology Lukas Mandrake (JPL)  08-Oct-18
Supercritical CO2 Extraction and on-line Chromatography for Ocean Worlds    Chemistry/Chemical Engineering, Instrument Development Bryana Henderson (JPL)  13-Sep-18
Mars 2020 Contamination Control    Chemistry/Chemical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering Carlos Soares (JPL)  13-Sep-18
Kronoseismology: Saturn's Normal-Mode Oscillations    Planetary Science, Astronomy/Astrophysics Andrew Friedson (JPL)  13-Sep-18