Hello! My name is Kate Lampo, and I’m a 2025 Marshall Scholar and incoming MSc by Research student in Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. My interests lie at the intersection of aerospace and robotics, particularly in robotic systems that enable the scientific exploration of our universe.

This past spring, I graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. While there, I was Co-President of the Columbia Space Initiative, Columbia’s largest engineering club, where I worked in a team of undergraduates to develop two cube satellites. I also conducted research advised by Matei Ciocarlie in Columbia’s Robotic Manipulation and Mobility Lab, where I designed and built robotic grippers for various applications.

Previously, I’ve:
Conducted CFD rotor blade simulations for Dragonfly as an intern at NASA
Worked on cube satellite wildlife tracking at Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute
Designed astronaut tools that were tested in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory
Spent two summers as a software intern at Lockheed Martin Space
Analyzed stress in solar sails as a research assistant in Columbia’s astronomy department

Outside of my work, I am passionate about STEM outreach and educational equity, and I dedicate much of my free time to teaching, giving campus tours, volunteering in NYC middle schools, and enjoying good cups of coffee.

k.lampo@columbia.edu |

PUBLISHED WORK

Preprints

VibeCheck: Using Active Acoustic Tactile Sensing for Contact-Rich Manipulation
Kaidi Zhang*, Do-Gon Kim*, Eric T. Chang*, Hua-Hsuan Liang, Zhanpeng He, Kathryn Lampo, Philippe Wu, Ioannis Kymissis, Matei Ciocarlie
IROS 2025 (accepted)
arXiv

Designed & built a teleoperated robotic gripper as a testing platform for the work in this paper.

project page

Torqued Accelerator using Radiation from the Sun (TARS) for Interstellar Payloads
David Kipping, Kathryn Lampo
Journal of the British Interplanetary Society (accepted)
arXiv / video

Conducted stress analysis for a novel spinning solar sail design. Aided with material selection and speed determination.

Train Robots in a JIF: Joint Inverse and Forward Dynamics with Human and Robot Demonstrations
Gagan Khandate*, Boxuan Wang*, Sarah Park*, Weizhe Ni, Joaquin Palacios, Kathryn Lampo, Philippe Wu, Rosh Ho, Eric Chang, Matei Ciocarlie
arXiv

Designed & built (the same) teleoperated robotic gripper as a testing platform for the work in this paper.

project page

2024

The Line Imaging Orbiter for Nanosatellite-Enabled Spectrographic Surveys (LIONESS)
Matthew Werneken, David Schiminovich, Ines Khouider, David McIntosh, Bruno Rergis, Nicholas de la Cruz, Michael Kolber, Manuella Kwawu, Kathryn Lampo, Wesley Maa, Naya Nwokorie, Robert Pendergrast, Yiyang Peng, Aaroosh Ramadorai, Atri Ray, Nidhi Shah, Ruimian Zheng, Meghna Sitaram, Nicole Melso, Ioannis Kymissis, Michael Massimino
Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave
paper

Created a data downlink and charging plan for a 6U satellite housing a spectrograph. Part of larger design efforts for two different satellites.

An Architecture Study for Low-Power Satellite-Based Wildlife Tracking
Fausto Vega, James Phillips, Kathryn Lampo, Robert MacCurdy, Zachary Manchester
2024 IEEE Aerospace Conference
paper / working paper / poster

Developed a MATLAB algorithm to process radio frequency data and track a moving tag simulating a bird. Prototyped a lightweight, long-lasting radio payload to attach to a drone for experimentation.

ADDITIONAL PROJECTS

2025

Underactuated Astrobee Hand
Robotic Manipulation and Mobility Laboratory, Columbia University
Advisors: Eric Chang, Matei Ciocarlie

Made design and control updates to an underactuated tendon-driven hand built for Astrobee, the free-flying robot on the ISS. Introduced basic tactile sensing capabilities for object slip detection.

project page

Cube Satellites
Columbia Space Initiative, Columbia University
Advisor: David Schiminovich
paper

Worked for multiple years as a part of a student-led team on two different cube satellites. Focused primarily on structural design and thermal analysis; contributed to multiple successful grant proposals for launch and hardware funding.

Avalanche Airbag
MECE E3420 & MECE E3430: Senior Design, Columbia University
Instructor: Yevgeniy Yesilevskiy / Collaborators: Adriana Delagarza, Kade Jimenez, Kalen Richardson
technical report / product poster / website

Year-long project to improve avalanche safety by making avalanche airbags more accessible, faster to inflate, and more protective. Completed an entire design cycle, including ideation, design, manufacturing, and robust high-pressure and tensile testing. Mechanical engineering senior capstone.

2024

Bipedal Robot
MECE 4611: Robotics Studio, Columbia University
Instructor: Hod Lipson
journey video

Independently designed and built a bipedal robot with the goal of maximizing walking speed.

project page

Button-Pressing Linkage
MECE E3409: Machine Design, Columbia University
Instructor: Yevgeniy Yesilevskiy / Collaborators: Adriana Delagarza, Kade Jimenez, Kalen Richardson
final performance video

Designed and optimized a four-bar linkage to efficiently press buttons in a random sequence. Developed motor transmission, machined custom components, and designed a capable control system.

2023

Astronaut Rescue Boat
Columbia Space Initiative, Columbia University
Advisor: Mike Massimino
technical report / video pitch

Led a team of more than 20 undergraduate students to design and prototype an autonomous rescue boat for use by astronauts in emergency water landings.