Henry Asa.JPG

Student.
Engineer.
Maker.
Coder.

About Me!

 

I’m a student at MIT pursuing a double major in Mechanical Engineering (2) and Computer Science (6-3). My interests in engineering stem from a passion for technology, mathematics, problem-solving, and science.

 

Work Experiences

SpaceX
Oklo
MIT MechE
Columbia Business School
Atolya

Software/Mechanical Engineering Intern @ SpaceX

June 2023 - September 2023

  • Worked on the Starshield Thermal Engineering team writing software and designing a custom data architecture for automation

  • Built a Thermal and Power data repository that automatically stores satellites’ components’ properties (with component revision tracking) for use in Thermal Desktop, CAD, MATLAB, Python, Excel, and other analysis tools, improving the accuracy/validity of the satellite’s digital twin and enabling the reconstruction of thermal models using components’ part numbers

  • Developed a custom Python API for CRTech’s OpenTD to interface with Thermal Desktop, enabling thermal model creation, data population, analysis, manipulation, and data retrieval using Python, requiring zero knowledge of C# from the user

  • Built CI/CD pipelines to automatically generate/deploy documentation, validate/test data against allowable limits, and update/synchronize parameter values across satellite models, ensuring data coherence between different data repositories

  • Built a spreadsheet interface for analyzing satellite telemetry and validating that telemetry does not exceed nominal limits

 

Software/Mechanical Engineering Intern @ Oklo

June 2022 - September 2022

  • Worked on the thermal, structural supports, and software development teams at next-generation nuclear fission startup

  • Wrote and implemented software to simulate the thermal expansion/contraction of all components in nuclear reactor’s core

  • Developed tests to ensure conservation of mass of the reactor core as its components change in temperature, accounting for varying material properties and fluctuating coefficients of thermal expansion

  • Connected thermal expansion simulations to CAD to verify results and highlight overlaps between newly sized assemblies

  • Developed program to determine the center of mass for compound assemblies and added center of mass locations to component-objects in Oklo’s codebase

 

Undergraduate Researcher @ MIT Mechanical Engineering

May 2021 - May 2022

  • Designed, modeled, and fabricated an underwater holographic microscope to monitor the presence of bacteria in aquatic farms

  • Used Fusion 360 to model and build a prototype of the microscope with two independently and precisely moving planes

  • Incorporated Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and electronic stepper motors into the design to accurately adjust microscope’s positioning

  • Designed a circuit board using Autodesk Eagle to control and monitor the movement of the microscope

 

Researcher @ Columbia Business School

June 2019 - August 2021

  • Developed a model for comparing the trends and capitalizations of cryptocurrencies against 95 traditional currencies based on a variety of macroeconomic indicators over a 65 year period

  • Wrote a program that collected, analyzed, and organized over 24 million data points, returning outputs that led to the main conclusions of the study

  • Selected as a Top 300 Scholar for the Regeneron Science Talent Search for this work

 

Website Developer & IT Manager @ Atolya

April 2012 - Present

  • Launched and designed ecommerce website (Atolya.com)

  • Photograph, edit using Photoshop, and stage individual product photos for the ecommerce website

  • Work with Google Ads, Google Analytics, and Google Search Console to promote and monitor the website’s performance

Extracurricular Activities

MechE Student Government
Sloan Business Club
MIT Varsity Water Polo

Co-President @ MIT MechE Student Society

September 2022 - Present

  • Helped lead the club, recruit members, manage funds, and organized mechanical engineering department-wide events

  • Designed MIT MechE merchandise and raised funds to help subsidize costs

 

Board Member @ MIT Sloan Business Club

September 2020 - Present

  • Member of the Entrepreneurship and Finance initiatives, exploring the world of business from upperclassmen and other influential speakers

  • Presented stock pitch and startup proposal while completing rigorous education program (Board Education Program) on finance, entrepreneurship, consulting, and other business concepts

 

Varsity Team Member @ MIT Water Polo

August 2020 - December 2022

  • Member of MIT’s Varsity Water Polo team, training 5-6 days a week during the fall semester

  • Compete in the division 1 Northeast Water Polo Conference, traveling to tournaments to play against other colleges