Our Executive Mentors

Samalis Santini De León, PHD

Samalis grew up on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. There, she earned her Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. After that, she left Puerto Rico to pursue a Master's in Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University and graduated with a doctorate in the same field in August 2021 from Texas A&M University. Her research specialization is on using artificial intelligence to assist engineers in analyzing Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) systems on Mars. Samalis has worked on analyzing simulations of the EDL system of Perseverance at both NASA Langley and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and supported operations.

She works at the John Hopkins Applied Physics Lab with the EDL team for the Dragonfly mission as the Preparation for Powered Flight Lead. This role involves ensuring that the lander is released under the right conditions from the EDL system to ensure a safe first flight. This mission is designed to explore Titan, one of Saturn's moons.

During her free time, she trains for triathlons, focusing on half-IRONMAN distances. In addition, she loves traveling and always brings her bike with her.