Manan Arya
Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Bio
Manan Arya leads the Morphing Space Structures Lab. His research is on shape-changing structures, including spacecraft structures that are folded for launch and then unfolded in space, and also morphing robots. Previously, he was a technologist in the Advanced Deployable Structures Group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is managed for NASA by Caltech.
Program Affiliations
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Stanford SystemX Alliance
Professional Education
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PhD, California Institute of Technology (2016)
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Masters, California Institute of Technology (2012)
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BASc in Engineering Science, University of Toronto (2011)
Current Research and Scholarly Interests
Manan Arya leads the Morphing Space Structures Laboratory. His research is on structures that can adapt their shape to respond to changing requirements. Examples include deployable structures for spacecraft that can stow in constrained volumes for launch and then unfold to larger sizes in space, terrestrial structures with variable geometry, and morphing robots. Key research thrusts include lightweight fiber-reinforced composite materials to enable innovative designs for flexible structures, and the algorithmic generation of the geometry of morphing structures – the arrangement of stiff and compliant elements – to enable novel folding mechanisms.
He has published more than 20 journal and conference papers and has been awarded 5 US patents. Prior to joining Stanford, he was a Technologist at the Advanced Deployable Structures Laboratory at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, where he developed and tested breakthrough designs for space structures, including deployable reflectarrays, starshades, and solar arrays.
2024-25 Courses
- Introduction to Aeronautics and Astronautics
AA 100 (Aut) - Spacecraft Design Laboratory
AA 236B (Win) - Stability of Structures
AA 245 (Spr) -
Independent Studies (4)
- Directed Research and Writing in Aero/Astro
AA 190 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Independent Study in Aero/Astro
AA 199 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Practical Training
AA 291 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Problems in Aero/Astro
AA 290 (Aut, Win, Spr)
- Directed Research and Writing in Aero/Astro
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Prior Year Courses
2023-24 Courses
- Introduction to Aeronautics and Astronautics
AA 100 (Win) - Spacecraft Design
AA 236A (Aut) - Stability of Structures
AA 245 (Spr)
2022-23 Courses
- Introduction to Aeronautics and Astronautics
AA 100 (Win) - Spacecraft Design
AA 236A (Aut) - Stability of Structures
AA 245 (Spr)
2021-22 Courses
- Lightweight Structures
AA 151 (Spr)
- Introduction to Aeronautics and Astronautics
Stanford Advisees
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Doctoral Dissertation Reader (AC)
Faisal As'ad -
Doctoral Dissertation Advisor (AC)
Alexandra Haraszti, Connie Liou, Megan Ochalek -
Master's Program Advisor
Brian Check, Angela Cheng, Kadin Hendricks, Cameron Hilman, Zain Jamal, Faress Zwain, Mehmed Emin Özcan -
Doctoral (Program)
Emily Ellison, Gary Li, Kevin Murillo
All Publications
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Stowage Analysis of a Flat Flexure Elastic Hinge for Deployable Space Structures
AIAA JOURNAL
2024
View details for DOI 10.2514/1.J064266
View details for Web of Science ID 001315867200001
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Modelling science return from the lunar crater radio telescope on the far side of the moon.
Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
2024; 382 (2271): 20230073
Abstract
The era following the separation of CMB photons from matter, until the emergence of the first stars and galaxies, is known as the Cosmic Dark Ages. Studying the electromagnetic radiation emitted by neutral hydrogen having the 21 cm rest wavelength is the only way to explore this significant phase in the Universe's history, offering opportunities to investigate essential questions about dark matter physics, the standard cosmological model and inflation. Due to cosmological redshift, this signal is now only observable at frequencies inaccessible from the Earth's surface due to ionospheric absorption and reflection. With the Lunar Crater Radio Telescope (LCRT), we aim to conduct unprecedented measurements of the sky-averaged redshifted signal spectrum in the 4.7-47 MHz band, by deploying a 350 m diameter parabolic reflector mesh inside a lunar crater on the far side of the Moon and suspending a receiver at its focus. This work discusses the feasibility of the LCRT science goals through the development of a science model, with emphasis on post-processing techniques to extract the Dark Ages signal from the galactic foreground dominating the expected raw data. This model can be used to vary critical instrument and mission parameters to understand their effect on the quality of the retrieved signal. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Astronomy from the Moon: the next decades (part 2)'.
View details for DOI 10.1098/rsta.2023.0073
View details for PubMedID 38522463
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Free Vibration of a Panel Supported by a Shear Compliant Two-Flexure Hinge
AIAA JOURNAL
2024
View details for DOI 10.2514/1.J063165
View details for Web of Science ID 001160721200001
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Origami-Wrapped Structures with Corrugated Unfolded Forms
AIAA JOURNAL
2024
View details for DOI 10.2514/1.J063441
View details for Web of Science ID 001153454400001
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NASA's starshade technology development activity
SPIE-INT SOC OPTICAL ENGINEERING. 2022
View details for DOI 10.1117/12.2635326
View details for Web of Science ID 000865466600072
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Crease-free biaxial packaging of thick membranes with slipping folds
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOLIDS AND STRUCTURES
2017; 108: 24-39
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2016.08.013
View details for Web of Science ID 000394082000003