About

Aerospace Engineering senior at Penn State with a focus on systems engineering, GNC, and data-driven problem solving. Academic and project experience spans spacecraft mission design, EKF-based navigation algorithm development, and aerodynamic analysis. Hands-on industry experience at Saudia Technic in airworthiness compliance and MRO operations across narrow-body and wide-body fleets.

Key Competencies

Systems EngineeringGNCEKF / INSSpacecraft DesignCompressible CFDAirworthinessMATLABANSYS FluentSolidWorksPythonSTKCAD / FEA

Professional Experience

Aircraft Engineering Intern

Saudia Technic · Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

May 2025 – Sept 2025
  • Resolved 50+ maintenance queries via CMM/AMM/SRM manuals, achieving 95% first-pass engineering order approval rate.
  • Supported line & hangar operations on A320/321, B787-9/10, and B777-300 fleets across 10+ scheduled weekly checks.
  • Verified post-maintenance airworthiness for 7 aircraft against Boeing and Airbus requirements; maintained W&B compliance prior to release.

Research Assistant

Penn State University · University Park, PA

2021 – Present
  • Focused on autonomous vehicles, GNC system design, and aerodynamic modeling.
  • Contributed to navigation algorithm development and spacecraft mission architecture research.

Projects — full docs at SalehAldhafeeri.com

Prometheus Mission I

— Autonomous On-Orbit RefuelingSystems Eng.
Aug – Dec 2025
  • Led 6-engineer team designing a 70 kg autonomous refueling payload targeting LEO satellites; carried 30 kg hydrazine for 6–10 client transfers.
  • Delivered GNC precision of ±2 mm position and ±1° attitude at docking contact via EKF-based relative navigation.
  • Directed cross-functional integration across propulsion, GNC, thermal & structures with autonomous fault response architecture.

Extended Kalman Filter

— Lunar Navigation SystemGNC
Jan – May 2025
  • Developed 9-state EKF in MATLAB at 100 Hz for lunar nav with multi-rate IMU fusion; validated within 2σ consistency bounds.

Autonomous Drone Landing

— GNC System DesignGNC
Jan – May 2025
  • Built cascaded PID/PD quadrotor guidance system for autonomous landing on a moving vehicle; achieved centimeter-level touchdown via velocity feedforward and flight-phase logic.

Turbine Blade CFD

— Aerodynamic Design & AnalysisAerodynamics
Aug – Dec 2024
  • Modeled parametric 3D blade in SolidWorks; reduced total-pressure loss by 12% and raised section L/D by 18% through CFD optimization.

Certifications

Ansys STK Grand MasterLevel 3
Ansys Fluent Certification2024
SolidWorks CSWE2024
MathWorks MATLAB Associate2023

Leadership & Activities

Treasurer

Penn State MENA Caucus Club

Dec 2023 – Dec 2024
  • Built and launched a secure finance website for 100+ members using JavaScript, Python & PostgreSQL; managed $10K event budget across 7 fundraisers.

Member

Nittany Lion Consulting Group

Jan 2023 – Dec 2025
  • Delivered 6+ client engagements; reduced average case turnaround by 20% through standardized hypothesis-driven analysis frameworks.

2026 · Saleh Aldhafeeri · Aerospace Engineering