Michael Kapteyn

“There are definitely plenty of people who have a defining moment that got them to where they are, but for me it’s probably a little less exciting. After high school I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. It was going to be either Engineering or Science, but I ultimately picked Engineering, and I specialised in Engineering Science because of my interest in mathematics and mathematical modelling. I realised it was a really good way to keep learning and developing in the subjects I enjoyed the most and be able to apply them to any field.

“What led me to where I am now has always been my interest in Space. I was really intrigued by the prospect of a Mars mission, and that was something that I thought would really align with my career time-wise. There’ll be predictions about how this may happen in 2030 and I’ll be 35 then, so that would all collide at a perfect time.

“After my Engineering Science degree, I knew I wanted to move on to postgraduate study and was looking for somewhere to apply everything I’d learnt so far. Aerospace Engineering stood out as a really good avenue for this.

“Things haven’t entirely turned out the way I expected. When I got to MIT, I looked through the Space labs and chatted with everyone, took a class on satellite engineering, and then ultimately decided that it wasn’t really what I was looking for.

“It did however become clear to me that the methods underlying both air and Space are actually very similar, as are the work we do in things like control and autonomous vehicles. One thing that particularly appealed to me with air as opposed to Space was pacing — projects can be accomplished in much shorter timeframes. Space generally involves a lot more time, though the methods we’re developing can definitely be applied to it.

“My first semester at MIT involved teaching with Karen (Willcox). A spot opened up in a research project with her on autonomous drones (UAVs) and I realised then that’s what I wanted to do.”

“I think variety and applicability had always been at the core the appeal of Engineering Science. My Part IV project involved modelling a micro-cantilever that vibrates when detecting stiffness in a biological cell. This was just something on the list of research projects I could take on then. As an undergraduate, I also got the opportunity to take on a research internship in Japan to develop small turbines for generating electricity from crashing waves on the beach.

“A lot of my research now is on methods rather than directly building drones. It’s mostly on data processing on drones with an ultimate goal of making them more self-aware and more intelligent. One of the things we’re doing is using sensor data on board an aircraft and combining the wealth of information with data science, machine learning and engineering algorithms to gain insights about a particular operation. So hypothetically, if an aircraft gets damaged mid-flight, we can detect the damage and use sensor data to update its flight capability.

“Drones are particularly interesting to me right now and I see them becoming ubiquitous and are everywhere — from package delivery to air taxis, and we’re seeing the beginnings of those hybrids between aircrafts, helicopters and drones. There’s also that really cool work going on with medicine delivery and reaching areas where regular methods of dispensing help isn’t possible otherwise.

“That being said, I think the middle ground between theoretical and experimental research is computational — and that’s where I’m sitting at the moment. We do a lot of computational work but experiments are required to validate your data, so there’s plenty of balance and variety. We’re currently building a UAV with a 16-foot wingspan and equipping it with sensors to generate a bunch of data to study later.”

“I like that I can spend some time now to really get into research, eventually become an expert in some field and really push the boundaries a little bit, and then after that, there’s always plenty of time to work in industry. I’ve always known I’ve wanted to pursue postgraduate study so it’s great that I can while I’m excited about the whole prospect of it.

“For me part of it is about being able to contribute something novel, and something that hasn't been done before. Hopefully my career is long enough that I can do that! I think I really would like to be in an expert in something and just be a person that people can come to for some particular topic — I don't know what topic that is yet though!”

“I have some interesting ideas, and I think in the future it’ll be great to go back to my old schools sometime in the future to apply them. I’m learning a lot about outreach from Karen. We were recently down in Dunedin volunteering for the International Science Festival and ran a water rocket workshop, and I realised I enjoy doing workshops and showing hands-on activities. It’s something that a lot of schools don’t have at the moment, so that’s been on my mind. Part of their effectiveness, I think, is that I’m actually studying Engineering myself, and have a direct exposure to and experience with stuff like drones and robotics.

“I think Karen and I really push that –we’re both from West Auckland and my high school, Kelston Boys’, was a low decile school. Growing up, there was no space industry and you don’t hear about big engineering projects, but now there’s a booming space industry here and there’s plenty of demand for aerospace engineers overseas. I think I’d just love to give back, whether it be coming home to New Zealand or doing outreach to show that careers in engineering can be really exciting, fun, and good for humanity.”

“One of the most memorable things about studying Engineering Science at the University of Auckland was its tight-knit family. We have the building up the road to ourselves and everyone was collegial — I guess we all knew each other well and the Professors were really approachable and you can’t just stop by without having a chat. My cohort was a good balance of competitive and supportive too. Everyone’s your friend and wants each other to succeed, but also competitive enough to give you that drive to do well.

“The best part of being at MIT was definitely the environment. To just be completely surrounded by like-minded people — not just in Engineering but Aerospace Engineering — was great. You'd have experts in every field and astronauts walking around the hallways and it's all really exciting and interesting. The one that everyone talks about is Jeff Hoffman, who worked on the mission that corrected the lens on the Hubble! And of course, Karen herself made it into the final selection to be an astronaut, which is really inspiring.

“With MIT, every now and then you have to take a step back and realize that these are the people you're interacting with. On the other hand, it does become normal in some ways. It becomes the standard to uphold — that those around you are world leaders in the field.”

“I think it’s very easy when you’re coming from a relatively small place like New Zealand or West Auckland to think you can’t compete on a world stage. We have a great university and great technological industries here, so it’s possible to be in New Zealand and still make it to the global stage, be it in research or within industry.

“At the same time, the world is insignificant compared to the rest of the universe and in that sense, if we’re trying to get into Space, New Zealand is on the same team as every other country, I think. It’s sort of a unifying force we can rely on — anyone throughout the world can look towards Space, together.”