MILESTONES

Led Team Cosmic Kids for the project “Mission Four” at the NASA Space Apps Challenge, Toronto 2024,  a uniquely designed robotics based space themed board game to support astronaut mental well being during long duration space missions.

Spearheaded the game concept, logic design, and end-to-end implementation, drawing on NASA datasets related to astronaut psychology, solar flare threats, and planetary survival risks.

Developed game modules based on real NASA mission conditions featuring the Sun, Moon, Mars, and Earth, each with scientifically grounded tasks representing astronautic, emotional, and strategic decision making.

Incorporated humor, storytelling, robotics integration, and Arduino-powered contactless sensors to ensure the game could be played in simulated zero gravity or gloved conditions, making it both scientifically inspired and astronaut-safe.

Won Global Nomination and was selected among the top entries out of thousands of teams.

Selected as a standout entry in NASA’s Astrophoto Challenge for Summer 2024 for a composite image titled “Cas-A-VIRX” (Cassiopeia A in Visible, Infrared, Radio, and X-ray).

Processed and layered real astrophysical data from Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and the Very Large Array (VLA) using NASA’s JS9-4L tool to visualize multiple spectra of a supernova remnant ~11,000 light-years away.

The final image revealed the remnant’s expanding shockwaves, elemental distribution, and structural heat zones using carefully balanced color palettes to map gas temperatures and dispersion.

Received expert commendation from Nancy Wolk, Imaging Scientist at NASA’s Chandra X-ray Center, for the scientific accuracy and aesthetic balance of the image

Participated in the International Astronomical Search Collaboration, a NASA-affiliated citizen science program enabling participants to assist with the discovery of near-Earth objects. 

Analyzed real-time asteroid detection FITS datasets using Astrometrica, a software platform for precise asteroid tracking and verification.

Discovered preliminary asteroid, among one of the youngest Canadians to contribute to asteroid discovery through this program. 

Worked with celestial coordinate systems, time-synced tracking, and submission formatting for the Minor Planet Center (MPC).

Learned techniques to identify moving objects among static stars by scanning image sequences and verifying motion across frames.

Active participant in Galaxy Zoo, classifying distant galaxies based on shape, orientation, and merger activity contributing to global research on galaxy evolution and structure mapping.

Contributor to the Planet 9 Search project, analyzing infrared data from NASA’s WISE telescope to detect anomalous motion that could indicate trans-Neptunian objects or hidden planetary bodies.

Use publicly available scientific data and online classification tools to perform real-world astronomical research alongside professional scientists.

Evolving an early understanding of observational bias, pattern recognition, and the scientific validation process, while helping real teams with classification and discovery pipelines.