Ezra Bregin Takes First Place, AIAA Region 1 Student Conference

Department of Aerospace Engineering senior Ezra Bregin took first place in the Region 1 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Student Conference held this spring in Blacksburg, Va.

Bregin’s winning paper, “Estimation of UAS Relative Position and Orientation Using Multiple Pairwise Range Measurements” explored the problem of state estimation of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) drone swarms in a GPS-denied environment. When GPS is unreliable, navigational devices can become highly inaccurate, so having an alternative to GPS coordination can be critical.

“I showed both mathematically and experimentally that if we place four Ultra-Wideband modules on each drone in the swarm, every UAS can determine the relative position and orientation of every other UAS in the swarm,” explained Bregin.

First-place regional winners are subsequently invited to take part in the AIAA Foundation International Student Conference, held during the AIAA SciTech Forum in January.

Pursuing a dual degree in Physics and Aerospace Engineering, Bregin is part of the Aerospace Honors Program and works in the Collective Dynamics and Controls Lab directed by Dr. Derek Paley.

Bregin is actively involved in TerpRockets—an interdisciplinary, student-run competition organization that designs, builds and launches high-powered rockets. Ezra joined TerpRockets his sophomore year and served as president of the team during his senior year.

After graduation Ezra will be joining the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab in the Space Exploration Sector.

AIAA’s Regional Student Conferences enable students to present research in a formal technical meeting, exchange ideas and discuss programs with students from other universities in their region.

Published April 13, 2022