Dashiell D. (IN A NUTSHELL)

Dashiell is a sophomore at MIT pursuing a major in Aerospace Engineering and a minor in Public Policy. He is from Miami, FL, where he graduated from Ransom Everglades cum laude. There, he was the president of the robotics program and the captain of the congressional debate team. While Dashiell is excited to work on any engineering problem, and is interested in policy and social justice, his primary passion is all things space—he even keeps a telescope in his dorm room to take out on clear nights. In high school, he did a Curious Cardinals passion project of his own, where he worked with a mentor to design a liquid rocket engine. This was a formative experience for him not just as an engineer, but as a learner, and he is thrilled at the opportunity to pass it on. Dashiell is now a researcher at MIT’s Space Propulsion Laboratory, where he is attempting to better measure the behavior of electrospray thrusters for small satellites. To that end, he has developed a new imaging and image processing technique for experiments in the lab, and designed, manufactured, and test-fired a novel thruster design. In the future, he hopes to work on propulsion systems for human spaceflight. In his free time, Dashiell loves hiking, watersports, or just being outside. He’s an avid reader of mainly science fiction, but his favorite book is Ignition! by John D. Clark. His friends would describe him as outgoing, caring, and hard-working, if a little silly. He is a dreamer at heart, and is excited to work with students to fulfill theirs!