Dr. Alvar Saenz-Otero – NESC Academy Biography

Dr. Saenz-Otero is the Director of the MIT Space Systems Laboratory at the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.  He directly manages the SPHERES program research activities aboard the International Space Station and in ground facilities, as well as working with NASA Ames Research Center.  In addition he oversees the other projects of the SSL.  He also runs the only student competition which annually concludes in space: Zero Robotics. This outreach program allows both Middle-and High-school students to write programs for the SPHERES satellites aboard the ISS.

Academically, he has been a mentor in seven capstone design classes at MIT, working closely with Prof. David W. Miller.