My name is Kai Nakamura. My interests are in computer science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, microcontrollers, and anything related. Joining the STEM program, I’ve enjoyed exploring a multitude of scientific topics ranging from Sports Psychology to CRISPR. After hearing one of the guest speakers talking about the Breakthrough Starshot project, I became very interested in it.

 

Starshot’s goal (aiming to accomplish in 20 years) is to deploy “ultra-light nanocrafts” with lightsails to Alpha Centauri accelerated by an extremely powerful laser beam array. As you can probably already tell, there are a plethora of challenges that the team must overcome before they can achieve this far fetched goal. For my current research project, I am working on a specific area within Starshot.

 

My research project involves creating an interface for the laser beam satellite tracking program. This will be used to determine the satellites the laser beam will intercept at various times. The program will contain multiple configurable parameters such as the location of the laser array base site, the target, the start time and end time, the duration, and the beam diameter. The GUI will contain interactive visualizations that can represent the data. By working on this project, I will able to deepen my knowledge in many areas on top of computer science including space, physics, and mathematics. I am looking forward to what I can accomplish through this research collaboration.