Zenith Fellow Intern, Class of 2025
Carnegie Mellon University, Bachelors in Computer Science
Host Organization: Mission Control
Mentor: Kris Lehnhardt

Sophia Zhao is a student at Carnegie Mellon University studying computer science with a concentration in robotics. She has a deep interest in developing autonomous solutions for software products and robotics.

Going into university, Sophia had always been interested in exploring space and developing the technologies to do so. She has pursued this during university by being a club officer for CMU Rocket Command, where she programs and builds onboard rocket electronics—such as the recovery subsystem and the altitude targeting system—for the NASA USLI competition. As an officer for the avionics subteam, she leads the students to write technical reports, code the electronics, and build components by hand.

Beyond clubs, Sophia has also sought to apply her interests to research experience to learn about the forefront of space technologies. In her college career, she has programmed CubeSat flight software and simulations at CMU's Robotic Exploration Lab and created datasets to classify James Webb Space Telescope images with convolutional neural networks.

In the future, Sophia is excited to apply her machine learning and robotics knowledge to build new innovations on Earth and in space. She eagerly seeks new opportunities to collaborate with others and create autonomy for the greater good.