









































  ARESTY  RUTGERS UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL, VOLUME I, ISSUE II 
 

 

 
 
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS 
 

 
JULIAN BOWNE is a senior at Rutgers University studying aerospace 
engineering. He is a member of the Rutgers Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, and 
he has been doing research relating to space exploration. Julian’s research 
involves control systems, robotics, and aerospace engineering. His current 
project has been an extension of a three-year long research project involving a 
traction control system for a Martian rover. First, the project was a simple ABS 
control scheme using Pacejka’s Magic Tire Formula. Then, through NASA’s Space 
Grant Consortium, the project developed into using a more complex terrain 
model, called the deformable-soil-rigid-tire model. Next, under the Aresty 
program, the project focused more on designing a controller using the sliding 
mode control method. Currently, the project’s main focus is data-driven control, 
which is an advanced control system that uses data instead of a model. This 
project continues to evolve, revealing better solutions using more advanced 
techniques. 

CONTACT: jkb144@scarletmail.rutgers.edu 
 

 
 

ROBERT BUCKELEW is a senior at Rutgers University studying aerospace 
engineering. His academic and research interests focus on the modeling, 
simulation, and control of dynamical systems. His most recent collaborative 
project gained inspiration from a DARPA initiative entitled "Robotic Servicing of 
Geosynchronous Satellites" and sought to produce a useful simulation tool for a 
complex satellite-mounted robotic arm system. Robert hopes to apply the critical 
thinking skills developed throughout his time in the Rutgers undergraduate 
research environment to solve problems of importance in the chemical 
processing industry following graduation. 

CONTACT: robert.buckelew@rutgers.edu 
 
 
 
 
 
ETHAN CATALANELLO is an undergraduate senior in Mechanical Engineering. 
His research is primarily in the field of nonlinear controller design and robotics. 
He is particularly focused on employing numerical models and computational 
analysis to create simulations of coupled dynamical systems, such as a free-
floating satellite with mounted robotic manipulators. These simulations greatly 
reduce the cost and risk associated with refining spacecraft design since they do 
not require a physical launch. Recently, he worked to design a controller that 
could potentially be utilized in the DARPA RSGS project. Ethan hopes that his 
research contributes to the proliferation of human presence in space by helping 
to encourage private organizations to allocate more resources to developing the 
next era of spacecraft. 

CONTACT: ethan.catalanello@rutgers.edu 



  ARESTY  RUTGERS UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL, VOLUME I, ISSUE II 
 

 
 
 
 
 

YUEXING HAO is a Rutgers undergraduate student majoring in computer 
science. Through her undergraduate time, she spent time doing research in 
Intelligent Visual Interface (IVI) lab and publishing papers in different leading 
journals such as Bioinformatics, IET Image Processing. Yuexing is interested in 
computer vision and machine learning. She is currently a part-time lecturer of 
Rutgers SAS signature course Data 101. In the future, Yuexing is going to pursue 
her dream as a Ph.D. student. 

CONTACT: yh599@scarletmail.rutgers.edu 
 
 
 
 
 
SHANE LE COMPTE is currently a senior at Rutgers University studying 
mechanical engineering and mathematics. He loves creating things, solving 
problems in new ways, and is always open to a challenge. Aside from academics, 
Shane enjoys classical music and playing games with friends. The broader 
context of this research fits within the JJ Slade program at Rutgers where this 
project is currently being continued. The end goal is to form a baseline from 
which real applications to space exploration can be realized within the near 
future.  

CONTACT: stl61@scarletmail.rutgers.edu 
 
 
 
 
ADRIANA SCANTEIANU is a fourth-year student in the Honors College and a 
member of the Douglass Residential College studying Mathematics with a minor 
in Urban Studies. She is a Rutgers Presidential Scholar, a Lloyd C. Gardner Fellow, 
and a recipient of the Katherine Hazard Prize in Mathematics. Adriana has also 
been recently accepted into the 3+1+1 program at the Bloustein School, which 
culminates in a Master of Public Policy. Adriana’s research experience began in 
high school when she conducted and published computational biology research 
at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. As a Rutgers student, she traveled 
to Rwanda under the Western Washington University NSF REU program to study 
Rwanda’s family planning system from both quantitative and qualitative 
perspectives. Last summer, Adriana began conducting research in quantum 
mechanics through the Rutgers DIMACS NSF REU program under Prof. Shadi 
Tahvildar-Zadeh, alongside Rutgers student Xiangyue Wang. This research 
continued throughout the academic year and was accepted for presentation at a 
Contributed Paper Session at the American Mathematical Society Spring Eastern 
Sectional Meeting. Adriana and Xiangyue have continued to work on their 
research remotely and will be working with a new Rutgers DIMACS REU cohort 
this summer. 

CONTACT: adriana.scanteianu@gmail.com 
 



  ARESTY  RUTGERS UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL, VOLUME I, ISSUE II 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

HANNAH VARKEY: For a phenomenon that affects nearly two-thirds of the 
world’s population, we have still yet to learn about the monsoonal system, 
particularly as its predictability wavers in the midst of the climate crisis. Living in 
India for a significant part of my life, I’ve come face-to-face with the effects of the 
Indian monsoon, impacting aspects that range from agriculture and economy to 
water supply and travel. My project started the summer after my first year, with 
my PI Dr. Richard Mortlock, through the Aresty Summer Science Program 2018 
Internship. To me, my motivations for this project are driven by personal 
experience—from being able to discern whether the weather is really getting 
quite worse or unbearable (as my grandparents often tell me) to being able to 
provide solutions that can change lives for the better. At Rutgers, I’m learning 
cognitive science and the geological sciences, exploring both worlds of the 
visceral and innate to the external and ever-changing. This perspective allows me 
to look at issues of climate change from being a neurological and public health 
concern to being able to appreciate to it in through a more in-depth and paleo-
climatological perspective into the monsoon trends of southern Asia. 

CONTACT: hannah.g.varkey@rutgers.edu 
 
 
 

XIANGYUE WANG is a senior in the Honors Program studying Physics, 
Mathematics, and Philosophy. He strives to find innovative and equitable 
solutions to climate change. He is a Rutgers Scarlet Scholar, an Anthony D. Kurtz 
Scholar, and a recipient of the NJ Chinese Chamber of Commerce Special 
Recognition Award. Furthermore, he represents more than 30,000 
undergraduate students in the Rutgers Senate. Xiangyue’s effort to combat 
climate change began in high school when he was selected by the AT&T Young 
Science Achievers’ Program to research the impact of ocean acidification on 
phytoplankton. Later, he searched for sustainable and reusable concrete in the 
NJIT Material Dynamics Lab. At Rutgers, Xiangyue uses physics-based machine 
learning models to improve wind energy efficiency under Prof. Ahmed Aziz Ezzat. 
Xiangyue began conducting research in quantum mechanics through the 
Rutgers DIMACS NSF REU program under Prof. Shadi Tahvildar-Zadeh, 
alongside Rutgers student Adriana Scanteianu. This research continued 
throughout the academic year and was accepted for presentation at a 
Contributed Paper Session at the American Mathematical Society Spring Eastern 
Sectional Meeting. Xiangyue and Adriana have continued to work on their 
research remotely and will be working with a new Rutgers DIMACS REU cohort 
this summer.  

CONTACT: maxwangmodc@gmail.com 

 
  
 

mailto:hannah.g.varkey@rutgers.edu

